Bibliotherapy

Most of us library folks already know  the joy of reading.  But have you ever heard of books being prescribed as therapeutic adjuvants?  This practice is known as bibliotherapy, and our friends across the pond already have some interesting programs in place.

How is this different than readers' advisory?  Bibliotherapy tends to have a more clinical aspect and is therefore more suited to therapists and other health professionals (and of course, librarians working closely with them).

Per authors Bate and Schuman, "We may never be able to capture the kind of hard data the scientists hunger for—but the testimony of centuries of readers speaks volumes for those who care to listen."

Photo by https://www.pexels.com/@thought-catalog-317580