Bibliotherapy use by welfare teams in secondary colleges

Abstract

Bibliotherapy - the use of books to heal - is a concept that dates back to the time of the philosopher Aristotle who believed that literature had healing effects and that reading fiction was a way of purging illness. But how is bibliotherapy practiced now in secondary schools? This study investigates bibliotherapy use in a regional Australian city with adolescents who have chronic illness. It explores the responses of members of welfare teams (welfare co-ordinators, school nurses and teacher-librarians) within secondary schools to questions on how books are used with students experiencing issues. Findings indicate that although bibliotherapy practice is not a formal process within schools, its central phenomenon of a reader forming a relationship with a book and then changing in some significant way as a result is a concept that most participants understood and attempted to utilize with the students in their care.