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Bibliotherapy

 

The use of books for therapeutic purposes is known as “bibliotherapy”. Self-help books have been used in this way for many years. They are  used by people who want to learn how to manage their own emotional and psychological problems for themselves. It is a useful start in treating mild and moderate depression, anxiety and panic and some other mental health problems. It is not suitable for everyone.

In 2009, the Library Council of Ireland, the HSE and the Irish College of General Practitioners were responsible for the introduction of a collection of high quality self-help books into Dublin public libraries. The GPs could then recommend some of these books to patients whom they felt would benefit from reading them. The bibliotherapy collection of self-help books in Kilkenny Library Service is based on the original core collection of 30 books introduced into Dublin public libraries. It is called “No side Effects! Read yourself well”. The collection includes books on many of the common psychological problems people  experience, eg depression, behavioural problems, eating disorders, anger, bullying, bereavement, self esteem issues, teenagers, sibling rivalry. In Kilkenny we have 2 brochures about the collection. One is a list of the books which are suitable for adults and the second list is suitable for family situations.

At the moment the collections are housed in our libraries in Loughboy  and  Graiguenamanagh. Readers in other libraries can borrow any of these books by asking for them to be sent to their nearest library. In the future, Kilkenny library staff intend to collect brochures from support organisations based in Kilkenny and include these in the collection. In this way, local support will be highlighted and people will know where to get any extra help they might need.

Pleaes click on links below to downlaod our lists for both adults and families

Bibliotherapy Book List Adults.pdf (size 1.5 MB)

Bibliotherapy Book List Family.pdf (size 1.9 MB)