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Bibliotheraphy: Can Reading Make Us Happier?
Bibliotherapy: Can reading make us happier? An interview with a multi-disciplinary therapist, Marilyn Devonish.
I had a pretty rough start of 2020 due to an extremely painful chain of events in my personal life. Whenever I’ve felt at a loss and unable to get back on my feet after a major setback, I have always relied on books, and they have never failed me. In the words of Charles William Eliot, “books are the quietest and most constant of friends, the most accessible and wisest of counsellors, and the most patient of teachers”. For me, books have always been a lifeline; no matter how bad things are, diving into narrative gives me shelter when everything around me is falling apart, and thanks to them, I come out the other side reborn. But this time, it didn’t work; just the thought of opening a book made me feel sick and I never thought I would go back to loving reading again. creative book choices”. physical, mental, emotional, and life transformations which took place during that stories follow an archetypal journey. Books can resonate with us deeply whether the book, you gain ideas, a deeper understanding of your own issues and potential
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On one of my worst days, I stumbled across a 2015 article from The New Yorker examining whether reading could make us happier. I smirked, thinking that I no longer believed that books could make me happy and give me the stability I so desperately longed for. But then I skimmed through the article and found out that bibliotherapy is a thing and, simply put, it’s books on prescription. It’s designed to allow you to work through your feelings while rekindling you to books. I decided that this could be my solution and I wanted to know more, which is how this article came to be. I had the opportunity to speak to Marilyn Devonish, a multi-disciplinary therapist and instructor of PhotoReading, which is a form of bibliotherapy. Whether you love reading and want to become an even better, more attentive reader, or you lost your love for books and want to find it again, bibliotherapy might be just what you need. So here’s a few things you need to know.
Getting started
“If you’re reading for healing, choose books that speak to your soul. For example, the title and imagery grab your attention, or the book synopsis speaks to the situation you find yourself facing”, says Marilyn. One of the advantages of bibliotherapy is that it’s extremely accessible – if you don’t have money to spend on books, you can always get them from your local library. You’ll be surprised how far you can go without spending a single penny!
Getting lost in books
Although many people tend to think of books as scary and indecipherable tomes, actually “even the simplest words have the power to invoke thoughts and feelings, and invite us into the depths of ourselves”, reveals Marilyn. Bibliotherapy is designed to enhance your ability to get lost in words. In PhotoReading, for example, you read the book upside down and back to front, to really “transport your mind and senses to another world”.
What does a bibliotherapist do?
“It’s like your college reading list, but for your mind and body”, says Marilyn. “When ‘prescribing’ books for clients, I take the following into account: where are you now in terms of the thoughts, feelings and challenges you’re facing? What do you most want to change or improve? How does your mind work and what is your primary learning style? What are your favourite films and why? Is there a genre of films and books you most enjoy? How much time per week can you allocate to reading for pleasure? Do you have a You can go against type When approaching bibliotherapy, it’s important to remember that this technique is often used along with other kinds of more traditional therapy, for example to treat depression and anxiety. Like all kinds of therapy, it is designed to make you question your principles and assumptions so that you can make real progress. This is why it’s important to go against type. “Just because you prefer action and adventure, and your favourite films include James Bond, this doesn’t mean you should automatically go for something similar. There are times when it would be far more beneficial to read a story based on quantum physics and the holographic nature of our universe because it more easily breaks old habits and patterns and opens you up to a different way of being or perceiving the world. So long as the core of the story relates to what you’re going through, it’s sometimes beneficial to make
The power of dialogue Whether working on your own with a therapist or in a group, talking and discussing what you learned is a powerful way to gain deeper insights. I ran my first online Group Coaching Program based around a book in February 2013. Everyone received a copy of the book, daily written exercises for 28 days, and took part in a 6-week seminar series where we would sequentially discuss each chapter. The short period of time were incredible, and within days, participants reported moving from waking up feeling depressed to ‘jumping out of bed with a spring in their step’”.
The benefits of bibliotherapy In case you need more convincing, bibliotherapy also has proven benefits like improvements to your vocabulary and self-esteem, and access to a wide range of perspectives that we might not otherwise encounter in our daily lives and which broaden our horizons by introducing us to other cultures. Moreover, “all the great based upon fact or fiction, because they mirror both how we move through life and the deeper human experience. As you follow the main protagonists through favourite designated reading spot?”
strategies or steps to avoid, seeing how the story plays out. The books you choose allow you to take a mental and neurological step back, and provide perspective and insight into your own situation by observing it or seeing it through the eyes of others. Bibliotherapy also helps us see we’re not alone”.