ABSTRACT
This chapter presents bibliotherapy as a supportive intervention in child and adolescent mental health and includes the following sections:
Introduction• Defi nition and History• Theoretical Perspectives in the Literature• Prior Research on Bibliotherapy• Therapeutic Applications with Specifi c Children and Adolescent Populations• Therapeutic Components of the Intervention• Examples of Bibliotherapy Interventions• Ethical and Cultural Considerations of Bibliotherapy• Case Study• Summary• Activities to Extend Your Learning•
Introduction
Bibliotherapy is an intervention that has been used to treat mental illnesses and emotional disturbances for many years and across diff erent groups of individuals. Th is has included populations such as war veterans, individuals seeking counseling for emotional needs, and children and adolescents in need of social skills instruction (Regan & Page, 2008). Bibliotherapy has been long been considered a strategic healing tool for addressing healthy social and emotional development of individuals with disabilities as well as helping those without disabilities to understand the issues associated with children and youth with special needs (Kurtts & Gavigan, 2008; Pardeck, 1994).
