“Art does not imitate life. Art is much more powerful than that. Art brings life back. And it does it by exposing the secrets we all carry inside.” — Jose Bernardo

Abstract: Approximately 20% of youth meet criteria for a serious mental illness; many of them go without intervention. Bibliotherapy is one way to address the problem-treatment gap. Research indicates the use of therapist-supported bookwork is highly effective in symptom reduction. The purposes of bibliotherapy are vast: to demonstrate commonality of struggles, show problem solving, assist in critical thinking, model expression and labelling of emotion, view novel attitudes, and promote flexible behavior. In addition to easy access outside of sessions, there is evidence that bibliotherapy allows for sensitive topics to be broached earlier in treatment, because guilt, shame, and fears are diffused through the use of books.

From the speaker, “It had been a lifelong goal of mine to develop an ACT-consistent line of picture books for young children that would de-stigmatize typical life problems as well as serious illness that I experienced as a child. I knew this would be highly useful. This talk will illustrate how I am continuing to learn what makes for a strong picture book in terms of character identification, clear voice and vocabulary, appropriate illustration and length, how to market and publish to schools and parents, and how to incorporate therapeutic questions and exercises without being overly didactic.

This will be accomplished through an overview of sharing tips and tricks that I have learned as well as reading parts of my published books and giving a sneak peek at book four!”  

60 min. Segments