Bibliotherapy is a way to help children, teens and adult to overcome their social, emotional, personal problems with books.

This can be done through literature and it allows a reader to identify with characters and problems in a book and relate them to their own lives. A reader learns how others deal with frustrations and disappointments, and allows them to gain insight into alternative solutions to their own problems (Alat, 2002 . Adams and !itre (2000 claim that reading books give clients the chance to learn and relate to the e"periences of other people. Bibliotherapy is a collaborative process between a client and his therapist which can complement other approaches. #any psychoanalytic theorists believe that behaviour is $ust a surface characteristic and for them to fully understand the behaviour they must look at the symbolic meaning and the inner workings of a person%s mind. &reud thought that the personality has three structures, which are the id, ego, and superego. The id consists of instincts, where an individual stores psychic energy, the ego deals with the demands of reality, and the superego is the branch of the person%s personality. &rom all the theories, the therapist found out bibliotherapy. Bibliotherapy has played a larger role in professional depression treatment than in many other conditions. 'ome research suggests that bibliotherapy for depression administered by a family physician may be just as effective as standard anti-depressant prescriptions. The study leaders noted that their findings present an economically efficient alternative for patients who cannot afford ongoing prescription costs (or ( who prefer a treatment that doesn%t include medication . Another study supported the relatively minimal need for follow up care in bibliotherapy applications for mild to moderate depression. Besides that Bibliotherapy can assist children in overcoming problems by having them read stories about characters who have successfully resolved a dilemma similar to their own. )dentification with a literary model can foster thought and possible resolution to a problem such as dealing with a separation, illness, death, poverty, disability, alienation, disaster, war, etc. The underlying premise of bibliotherapy is that interpreting stories is an ever*changing process to which children bring their own needs and e"periences. 'ince students often have difficulty identifying and communicating their feelings, stories can serve to facilitate open discussion and self*understanding. )f children become emotionally involved with
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literary characters, they are more able to verbali+e, act out, or draw pictures describing their innermost thoughts. ,se of bibliotherapy is not limited to crisis situations, nor is it a cure for severe psychological difficulties. )t may not meet the needs of some children, especially those who are not ready to face their specific issue. -ther students may be unable to transfer insights gained from reading into their own life, or may use literature as a form of escape. .et, these e"periences with literary characters have been shown to give benefits to many children. .oung children often have different concerns than others. The best way to learn these is to ask them or to listen to their general conversations and sometimes indirect ways. )ndirect means such as reading a book and discussing it. There is no best way to learn children%s concern. )n general, there are certain themes that address the concerns and problem of children/ self, family, friends, other people, illness and death and about world. ) would like to elaborate few concerns of children. )n self themes, there are 0uestions around their heads. 1ill ) be fat like my father2 1ill ) always be this short2 And many more. The problem can be increasing if other children noticed it and tease them. This can trigger a negative situation such as fighting and others. 3hildren need adults to help them faced the situation. 'haring a book related to the situation can enable everyone to think about their action and the effect they have on others. This kind of books can help to bring out the importance of feeling good about oneself.

In this book, the emotion of personal fear is examined

!ossibly, the important aspect in bibliotherapy is to help children deal with their fear. 4uman beings who have fears can relate to characters that have fears, even if the fears are different. )n Chicken Chickens by Valerie Gorbachev, the characters are afraid to go down the slide.

The family continues to be seen as the basic social unit of society but now it has brought many changes to it. &amilies are getting smaller and tend to spread out due to separation, divorce, single parenthood, and e"tended families. 3hildren sometimes did not understand these changes and it cause fears. 3hildren wonder if they caused the problems. The traditional causes of stress in families have never left. 5ew babies, illness sibling rivalry poverty and homelessness continue to create pressures on the young child but bibliotherapy can help them. As children grow the focus has move to from them to being a part of a group. They want to be with friends. 6ue to this they might e"perience obstacles and pitfall. Adults often wince at what the children say and do to their friends. They can be loving and very hostile. -ne can deal with this situation with discussion, understanding and the use of bibliotherapy (through reading a story that have similar situation . )t is not easy for children to make a meaningful connection between their lives and the lives of the characters in the story. )n The ittle !lue !oy by "atou #eita, they have to accept the differences of other and be friend to all. 3hildren often faced fear towards people disabilities because they are afraid they will 7catch it8. 'kin colour, dress and language that they are not familiar of can cause an"iety to them. Bibliotherapy can help decrease ignorance and focus discussion on the common humanity of all people.The goals of bibliotherapy are to help children to identify and validate their feelings. They have to reali+e that other children have problems similar to their own. 4ere they can also stimulate discussion, foster thought and self*awareness. Besides that, children can also discover the possibility of coping the skill and solution and decide on a constructive course of action. 1hat ) did in the classroom is
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basically similar with what has been suggested in applying bibliotherapy. &irst, we need to identify the needs of individuals or groups of pupils and try to locate the literature that deals with emotional and developmental difficulties or unfortunate situations your pupils may be e"periencing. 9ead the material prior to using it or recommending it. )f you choose to read aloud or to refer a child to a particular story or book, be sure it is appropriate for the child:s age, gender, maturity and background. The characters and plot should be realistic and include honest problem* solving. )f literature is not available on a particular sub$ect, consider books on tape or videos to assist children in learning ways to cope with their problems. 'eek administrator approval if you plan to use bibliotherapy on topics that may be controversial in your community. 3hose a method to involve the children with the literature. 9ead a story aloud to one child or to small or large groups of children. Also, pupils may read assigned stories or books on their own. Those children with similar concerns could meet in small groups. 5e"t, teacher can design follow*up activities such as asking open*ended 0uestions, retelling the story, acting out roles, using puppets, writing reactions, tape recording thoughts, and;or using various art materials to help children discover that other children have similar feelings when confronted with comparable circumstances, they are not the only ones who e"perience dilemmas and all children encounter some difficulties in their lives. They also need to know that everyone has strengths and weaknesses and through self*appraisal children can learn to persevere and facing a problem is the first step to solving it. 1hen deemed necessary, involve children:s parents in the process. -ffer suggestions for additional reading selections or activities to assist the students in dealing with their emotions and specific difficulties. 6avid 4. 9ussel and 3aroline 'hrodes (<=>0 in contribution of research in bibliotherapy to the ?anguage Arts !rogram, bibliotherapy can be defined as a process of dynamic interaction between the personality of the reader and literature which may be utili+ed for personality assessment, ad$ustment and growth. )t does not assume that the teacher must be a skilled therapist but it is $ust enough that all the teachers must be aware of the effect of reading.

$eferences Adams, '., !itre, 5.?. (2000 . 1ho uses bibliotherapy and why2 Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, @>(A , B@>. Alat, C. (2002 . Traumatic events and childrenD 4ow early childhood educators can help. Childhood Education, A=(< , 2*A. 6avid 4. 9ussel,3aroline 'hrodes(<=>0 Contribution of Research in Bibliotherapy to the Language Arts Program &atou Ceita(<==E The
Little Blue Boy, Junior African Writers Le!el "

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