Reading Your Way Through: Bibliotherapy with a Therapist

For those of us who have experienced reading as comforting or even as healing, the idea of structuring therapy around books or including books as part of therapy may be especially appealing. The concept of healing through a prescribed list for reading is not a new concept. The School of Life in London, founded in 2007, has perhaps become the most famous for bibliotherapy. If you’re a lover of books, one of the ways that we can structure therapy is through reading—not self help books, but poetry, fiction, and non-fiction that relates to what you are grappling with, coping with, questioning, or moving through. Bringing reading into work together can serve an important and transformative function for some clients. If you’re coping with pain and anger following infidelity, for example, reading can also serve to transport you. Reconnecting with books that are familiar, comfortable, and that return you to a time or state of joy and innocence can be helpful and a respite from your pain. Or works that challenge your perspective, books you might not have chosen on your own, can draw you into new insight and discovery. You could create your own list or we can create one together. Though I am not formally trained in bibiliotherapy, as an English major, lifelong reader, and lover of books, I would welcome working informally with you in this way. If you’d like to consider working together, I welcome your call or email. Until then, happy reading!

Set up a free half-hour consultation: laura@rekindlethespark.com || 952.806.0014

Laura Lindekugel, MS, MS, LAMFT, SEP is a partner in Rekindle Counseling.

Laura Lindekugel