THEthe book how emotional well-being tool, to better understand oneself, manage the most complex emotions but also overcome personal conflicts and difficulties. It is from these premises that the bibliotherapya therapeutic approachor in which the readingfar from being a simple form of entertainment, becomes, in fact, balm and cure for the soul.
Bibliotherapy: from its origins to today
From the United States to Great Britain, an ever-increasing number of people – regular and non-regular readers – are discovering the benefits of this practice, whose origins are traced back to the intuition of Dr. William Menninger. American psychiatrist of the 1930s, it was Menninger who first introduced the practice of “reading prescription” with his patients, as support for the treatment of various psychiatric disorders.
The English model
Today bibliotherapy is a rather widespread approach in the Western world and especially in the Anglo-Saxon countries. Just think that in England, where the Bibliotherapy is recognized by the National Health Service (English health service), was launched in 2013 Reading Well Books on Prescription. The programme, born from an initiative first developed in Wales in 2003, is based precisely on the idea that health professionals, where this is appropriate, can “prescribe” self-help readings taken from approved book lists available in public libraries. And this is because there is more and more evidence suggesting that this practice can provide, in some cases, therapeutic benefits.
A precious therapeutic support
The intention is not to use bibliotherapy as an alternative to traditional clinical treatments but rather as a valuable support to accompany. The model of Reading Well Books on Prescription it is now implemented by 97% of public library authorities in England. To the list of self-help books launched in 2013, one was added in 2015 second list dedicated to people suffering from dementia and their caregivers, followed in 2016 by a list for young people suffering from common mental disorders.
And in Italy?
In Italy, the famous one is taking the first steps in this direction bookstore chain Bookboywhich is preparing to launch a series of meetings from the title “Full stop: reading group and bibliotherapy, between emotions and stories”. During each appointment, participants, guided by an expert, will have the opportunity to share thoughts and reflections on the volume at the center of the meeting, discovering thus the value of the book as a panacea for the mind and spirit. The first bookshop affected by the initiative will be that of Via Bernardino Lanino 8 in Milan, on November 19th at 6pm. On this occasion, the literary protagonist will be ‘The Anthropologists by Ayşegül Savaş, Gramma Feltrinelli.
Bibliotherapy: the psychological benefits
«The basic idea is that reading is an activity that can deeply nourish from a mental and intellectual point of view because it stimulates curiosity, imagination and allows everyone to find their own safe space – explains Dr. Gianluca Frazzoni, Head of the Cognitive-Behavioral Psychotherapy Intherapy Center of Milanwho will lead some of the meetings in the Libraccio bookshops. “Every reader, when he reads, reads himself”, wrote Proust and this is also the principle of bibliotherapy as psychological well-being tool. «Reading can help identification with a story or a character – confirms the expert – offering us one key to better understanding ourselves, helping us to recognize in that narrative something that also concerns us but that perhaps we cannot see.” In fact, reading promotes the processes of introspection, leading to discover little-known aspects of one’s personality, but also to build new awareness about oneself and rework thoughts.
Bibliotherapy for dealing with difficult emotions
But if a book can become a cure for the soul it is also because reading helps to better manage complex moods.
«Books can generate psychological well-being both by facilitating contact with pleasant emotional and mental states such as tenderness, compassion and love, and by allowing a safer encounter with unpleasant or painful emotions – explains Dr. Frazzoni. – Reading allows us to observe and, in a certain way, experience those emotions from a safe distance. And this then helps us manage them.”
In this sense, it is as if reading was also able to fulfill that function of ‘catharsis‘ that Aristotle recognized in the theatre: the literary work, like the theatrical one, imitating reality, in fact, it allows the reader to experience and re-elaborate emotions in a controlled context, allowing him to find in the end a sort of relief.
The book as a support in psychotherapy
There are also other recognized benefits of reading. A book can help, for example, to review and better understand your pasta give voice to thoughts and emotions that are difficult to express and also to develop empathy. Precisely for this reason, bibliotherapy is used as precious support in psychotherapy paths.
«In this case it is the therapist who selects those books and those works which, based on his experience, could help the patient in his therapy journey – explains the expert. – In fact, some books, particularly narrative ones, such as novels, for the themes they address or even for the way they are written they can prove particularly effective in helping to make contact with those emotional aspects that are emerging during the sessions».
Bibliotherapy: the role of the therapist
Conduction by one therapeutic figure who accompanies the participants along the entire journey it is also one of the founding elements of the series of appointments proposed by Bookboy. «The presence of the therapist is fundamental – underlines Doctor Frazzoni – because allows you to guide the reader in the search for narrative elements suitable for emotional processing: the therapist can mediate between the participants’ desire to express personal contents and the group’s need to address shared themes, clarifies or proposes psychological meanings of the literary work and uses their skills to stimulate relevant reflections capable of exploring the reader’s depth.”
The benefits of reading in everyday life
For its many benefits, however, reading a book can also become a simple well-being practice to adopt in everyday life to relax and relieve stress. «The advice in this case, however, is to try to cultivate reading by abandoning perfectionism and the logic of performance which often also concerns books – concludes the expert. – To be a wellness practice, reading should be enjoyed simply. It doesn’t matter how much you can read or what. And it doesn’t even matter how much you manage to internalize or memorize. Reading does not mean absorbing a text but rework it through our thoughts, our emotional experiences, our way of seeing the world. And this is what enriches us.”