Bibliotherapy Bibliotherapy Education ProjectEducation Project

Paula McMillen & Dale-Elizabeth Paula McMillen & Dale-Elizabeth PehrssonPehrsson

Oregon State UniversityOregon State University

Hawaii International Conference on Arts & Hawaii International Conference on Arts & HumanitiesHumanities

Honolulu, HI: Jan 16, 2005Honolulu, HI: Jan 16, 2005

Bibliotherapy Education Bibliotherapy Education ProjectProject

The birth of this four year project began with a cup of coffee and a simple conversation. We pondered on the use of books by various helping professionals . Spontaneously, we posed two questions to each other,“How do therapists, teachers, etc. know what books to recommend?” and “How do they choose and evaluate materials?”…

…the project was born.

BibliotherapyBibliotherapy “a rose by any other name…”“a rose by any other name…”

• (AKA) Known by many names:

• Bilbio-counseling• Biblio-guidance• Biblio-psychology• Book matching• Literatherapy• Library Therapeutics• Literapeutics• Reading Therapy• And many more…

DefiningDefining BibliotheraBibliothera

pypy

Use of reading materials for help in solving personal problems or for psychiatric therapy

• Webster’s Collegiate 10th Ed., 1997

Literally involves treatment through books

• Pardeck & Pardeck, 1998

Guided reading of written materials to help the reader grow in self awareness

• Harris & Hodges, 1995

Process of dynamic interaction between the personality of the reader and literature under the guidance of a trained helper

• Shrodes, 1950

BenefitsBenefitsof of

BibliotheraBibliotherapypy

• Increases Empathetic Understanding of Others (cultures, lifestyles and lived experiences)

• Enhances Insight and Integration• Promotes Coping Skills• Provides Information and Alternatives• Stimulates Discussion of Feelings and Ideas• Increases Enjoyment of Literature and Reading

-Problem -Problem Statement-Statement-

• Books are widely used in clinical settings

• Limited training, tools or strategies for emerging or practicing clinicians

• Limited funds/materials for graduate students

• Criteria for selecting materials for a working collection

• Criteria for selecting materials for clients

The The Learning Learning ObjectiveObjectivess

• To increase understanding of the uses of literature in therapy• To provide a tool to help practitioners consistently evaluate materials• To offer supervision in evaluating materials & use in therapeutic settings• To build a library collection to support curriculum and research• To increase the availability of evaluated books to subsequent students• To increase the number of book evaluations available by making the

evaluation tool more widely available• To organize resources for learning about Bibliotherapy & finding books

Process: Web RelocationProcess: Web Relocation1. Reformatting the Evaluation Tool

– Paper & pencil Web based– Narrative categories,

ratings, short answers– Library school intern

2. Tooling Up to Technology– Web design– Database design

3. Usability testingGraduate counseling

students4. Communication

Regular team meetings Project E-mail list Other “stakeholders”

5. Sponsorship of the Web site Page appearance Ongoing funding mechanisms Administrative Support

ProjectProject

MethodMethodss

• Literature review• Articulate clinical criteria• Expert face validity• Learning module• Student involvement• Survey research• Cross-disciplinary

consultation • Regular communication,

feedback, input • Mutual respect for

unique contributions

Research Research DiscoveriDiscoveri

eses

• Literature Review– Widespread use– Years of research– Specific topics and populations– Few practice and evaluation

guidelines• Electronic development

– Complex– Plan infrastructure to

accommodate future research• Graduate Counseling students

tested pre- and post-learning module (self-report survey)– Significant increase in

knowledge of Bibliotherapy benefits and uses

– Significant increase in comfort level with using literature in therapy reported

• Clinical Supervision – Practice and teaching lead to

competence

Future Future DirectionsDirections

• Continued usability testing of overall Web site design

• Further development of database search options

• Increase flexibility of site and database structure for ease of maintenance

• Establish ongoing funding mechanisms

• Promote use to librarians and helping professionals to build database of evaluated literature

• Contain creativity and focus

Future ProjectsFuture Projects• Create Librarian Guide• Analyze Database• Fund Student Assistantships• Refine Evaluation Tool• Create Therapist Guide• Enhance Website Content• Upgrade Website Functions• Publish and Disseminate • Refine Teaching

Lessons Lessons LearnedLearned

• You can’t over-communicate

• Regular meetings of the collaborators are essential for progress

• Find money! Aggressively solicit grants, donors, sponsors

• Collaboration is messy & complex but worth it!

For more For more information …information …http://bibliotherapy.library.oregonstate.eduhttp://bibliotherapy.library.oregonstate.edu

Dr. Paula McMillenDr. Paula McMillenpaula.mcmillen@oregonstate.edu

Phone 541.737.7272Phone 541.737.7272Valley LibraryValley LibraryOregon State UniversityOregon State UniversityCorvallis, Oregon 97331Corvallis, Oregon 97331

Dr. Dale-Elizabeth PehrssonDr. Dale-Elizabeth Pehrssondale.pehrsson@oregonstate.edu

Phone 541.737-8551Phone 541.737-8551New School of EducationNew School of Education311 Education Hall311 Education HallOregon State UniversityOregon State UniversityCorvallis, Oregon 97331Corvallis, Oregon 97331