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Jennifer A. Shirley

Mrs. Corbett

AP Literature

17, November 2011

Literature as a Therapy Tool

Throughout all of history literature has served to have many purposes. Literature has been

used to teach, entertain, and record information. But, now literature is being seen in a new light.

Literature is now being used as a therapy tool for people both young and old who suffer from a

mental illness.

Literature has been used as a therapy tool for many centuries. Poetry therapy is “the

intentional use of poetry and other forms of literature for healing and personal growth” (Fox).

Poetry especially has been used as a healing device. It has been discovered that “shamans and

witchdoctors chanted poetry for the well-being of the tribe or individual” (McCasey). Doctors

have thought that poetry has always possessed healing powers and often would recommend that

family members read to the patients. Even though, the witchdoctors use to believe that poetry

could heal actual physical illnesses their beliefs did begin a medical revolution that would spring

up centuries later. Within the first hospital of the United States doctors used literature as a form

of therapy. The treatments that were recommended consisted of “reading, writing and publishing

of [the patients] writings” (McCasey). Mentally ill patients benefit from the writing of poetry

because it is an outlet for their emotions in which they can fully express themselves without the

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fear of judgment. Also, reading poetry can be helpful to the mental state of a patient. Poetry has

been used for centuries in order to help the healing process along.

Literature was first introduced in the modern hospital in the early 1900s in the form of

chants, songs, and stories. The use of literature as a form of medication is formally called

“bibliotherapy” (McCasey). Bibliotherapy refers specifically to the use of books as a form of

therapy. Patients would read books on their own, or have them read to them. On the other hand,

poetry therapy is more a more specific form of bibliotherapy which uses “metaphor[s], imagery,

rhythm, and other poetic devices” (McCasey) to improve the mental state of patients. Poetry

therapy is unique in the sense that it taps into the emotions of the patients. Poetry therapy also

helps because patients can experiment by writing their own poetry as a form of self expression.

Poetry is a very powerful tool in the hands of the right people and doctors have found it

very helpful in the treatment of mentally ill patients. One of the most common mental disorders

treated by poetry therapy is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Most people believe that war

veterans are the only people that suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, but that is far from

being the truth. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can be caused by several different traumatic

events such as “a parent being sent to prison or mental hospital, suicide of a parent or loved one,

being exposed to violence or learning of a traumatic event occurring to a parent or loved one”

(Oord, Lucassen, and Emmerik). This proves that adolescents can also suffer from Post

Traumatic Stress Disorder as well. Furthermore, this can be extremely damaging when the child

grows older. Children are very fragile and can be easily hurt. Also, doctors believe that “If

children with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder are not treated adequately, [their] symptoms may

persist into adulthood and lead to chronic Post Traumatic Stress Disorder” (Oord, Lucassen, and

Emmerik). Traumatic events happen in the lives of children every day and since children are so

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delicate, doctors debated on a way to treat them without damaging their psyche. With that in

mind, doctors decided that it would be a good idea to experiment with the use of bibliotherapy.

Within situations concerning adults the “use of literature, discussion and creative writing” are

practical (“Poetry Therapy”). Assignments are given and then they are reviewed later with the

therapist present. These writings can also be shared with family members or a spouse. On the

other hand, children are a special case because they may not be old or mature enough to handle

the writing assignments. Because children are so unique, therapists have come up with a way to

use a modified form of bibliotherapy in order to help them. Doctors have decided that they can

use bibliotherapy with children by sitting down with the child while they write a story about how

they are feeling or even by having the child draw a picture and describing it. This may seem

unconventional, but this helps the child who is suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder to

express their feelings without them feeling uncomfortable.

Poetry therapy is not the only literary therapy that is used in the treatment of mental

illnesses. There is also open journal therapy, in which “client and therapist write to each other.

Each is free to write about whatever seems useful and germane and to reflect on what happened

in a session or on what the other has written” (Schneider, Austin, and Arney 60-61). This form of

therapy is different, yet seems to be effective. In this situation the patient can express themselves

and gather their thoughts into one place. “The writing does not replace face-to-face therapy

sessions. Rather the writing works to make the sessions more client directed and to deepen the

understanding of both client and therapist” (Schneider, Austin, and Arney 60-61). Within this

type of therapy the patient controls the sessions by bringing up topics to discuss within letters to

the therapist. Since the patients have a lot of the control it makes them feel more comfortable and

helps them more freely express their inner emotions. Open journal therapy is new, inventive, and

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helpful for a number of patients, and not only those who suffer from Post Traumatic Stress

Disorder. This form of therapy has also been studied with patients that live with the mental

illness schizophrenia. “Schizophrenia is a complex mental disorder that makes it difficult to: tell

the difference between real and unreal experiences, Think logically, Have normal emotional

responses, [and] Behave normally in social situations” (PubMed Health). Using open journal

therapy is a great tool within the treatment of patients who suffer from schizophrenia.

Considering that people who have schizophrenia have difficulty functioning in social situations

the writing is beneficial because the patients can get their inner emotions out to the therapist

without the patient having to talk to the therapist off the top of their heads. It is also helpful

because the patient already has their ideas down on paper and then the therapist can help them

expand upon those ideas.

As stated before poetry therapy is helpful in more than just cases of Post Traumatic Stress

Disorder. Poetry therapy can also be used as a treatment for the mental illness anorexia nervosa.

In most therapy settings, “treatment of women with anorexia nervosa often focus on weight gain

as the primary therapeutic goal without concurrently addressing psychological concerns”

(Robbins and Pehrsson). This is a major problem within most treatment plans, because anorexia

nervosa is in fact a mental illness. In order for a treatment to work a therapist must first begin at

the source of the problem which can often be low self esteem, abuse, or other psychological

issues. Doctors can treat the psychological issues by using “narrative and poetry therapy because

it offers women an opportunity to create an expressive and assertive voice while shifting blame

from the self to the disorder” (Robbins and Pehrsson). This is extremely effective and is helpful

in preventing a relapse within patients. Also it helps the women put their feelings onto paper

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rather than torturing themselves. The use of poetry therapy is helpful in many different

situations.

Unlike adults, children are extremely hard to treat for mental illnesses because most

children either cannot or will not directly speak to their therapists about the events going on in

their lives. Poetry therapy is very important within cases involving children because, “they help

the children to achieve a capacity for directness, clearer self-understanding, and clearer

communication with important others in their lives” (Seiden 170). Children tend to respond more

positively to interactions involving apparatuses that they are used to seeing, such as story books,

coloring pages, or toys. Being able to relate to the children in these ways will greatly improve

their success in the therapy sessions that they attend. Also, children’s books can be used as a

form of bibliotherapy, “[it] can assist children in overcoming problems by having them read

stories about characters who have successfully resolved a dilemma similar to their own”

(Davies). This is important because children learn through examples. Also, children look up to

characters of books which means that if they read about a character that has overcome the same

difficulty that they are dealing with they will have more hope to overcome the obstacle. In the

first stages of bibliotherapy the stories for children were “intensely and unapologetically

didactic” (Hundley). Books often plainly told children what to do and what not to do. They

generally involved instructions on religion or other cultural aspects. Now, the books that are used

within bibliotherapy for children are more on the subtle side of the spectrum and hint more

toward what children should do through the showing of an example. Overall, bibliotherapy can

be very helpful in children as well as adults.

In Conclusion, Bibliotherapy is an important tool within the realm of psychoanalysis.

Bibliotherapy and specifically poetry therapy use poems songs and other literary works to

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improve the mental stability of patients. Bibliotherapy can be used to treat patients of every age,

and also of varying mental illnesses from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Anorexia Nervosa, all

the way to Schizophrenia. Bibliotherapy has definitely made a huge impact upon the world of

therapy.

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Works Cited

Davies, Leah, M.Ed. “Using Bibliotherapy with Children.” Kelly Bear. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Nov. 2011.

<http://www.kellybear.com/ TeacherArticles/ TeacherTip34.html>.

Fox, John. “What is Poetry Therapy?” The Institutte for Poetic Medicine. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2011.

<http://poeticmedicine.org/ about.poetrytherapy.html>.

McCasey, Nessa. History of poetry therapy. The National Association of Poetry Therapy. N.p., 2011. Web.

17 Oct. 2011. <http://www.poetrytherapy.org/ history.html>.

Myracle, Lauren. “Molding the Minds of the Young: The History of Bibliotherapy as Applied to Children

and Adolescents .” The Alan Review. Ed. Steven Bickmore, Jacqueline Bach, and Melanie

Hundley. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Nov. 2011. <http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ ejournals/ ALAN/ winter95/

Myracle.html>.

Oord, Van der, Saskia Lucassen, and Van Emmerik. “Treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder in

children using cognitive behavioural writing therapy.” Galileo. Wiley, n.d. Web. 8 Nov. 2011.

<http://web.ebscohost.com.proxygsu-sche.galileo.usg.edu/ ehost/ detail?sid=8127fdcc-3128-

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“Poetry Therapy.” National Coalition of Creative Arts Therapies Associations. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Nov.

2011. <http://www.nccata.org/ poetry_therapy.htm>.

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PubMed Health. U.S. National Library of Medicine , 7 Feb. 2010. Web. 4 Nov. 2011.

<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ pubmedhealth/ PMH0001925/>.

Robbins, Joy M, and Dale-Elizabeth Pehrsson. “Anorexia Nervosa: A Synthesis of Poetic.” Journal of

Creativity in Mental Health: 42-56. galilao. Web. 6 Nov. 2011.

<http://web.ebscohost.com.proxygsu-sche.galileo.usg.edu/ ehost/ pdfviewer/ pdfviewer?

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Schneider, Barbara, PH.D., Christopher Austin, MSW, and Laurie Arney. “WRITING TO WELLNESS: USING

AN OPEN.” Systemic Therapies 27.2 (2008): 60-75. Rpt. in Journal of Systemic Therapies. N.p.:

n.p., n.d. N. pag. Galileo. Web. 7 Nov. 2011. <http://web.ebscohost.com.proxygsu-

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%40sessionmgr11&vid=2&hid=18>.

Seiden, Henry M. “Using Collaborative Poetry in Child.” International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic

Studies: 170-184. galileo. Web. 4 Nov. 2011. <http://web.ebscohost.com.proxygsu-

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