Could books be the next therapy prescription?

Bibliotherapy: Could books be used as prescription?

Fabienne Broucaret

01 Sep 2015

updated the 6 October 2015 à 22:28

1/5
A book out to get out of a depressed state
Psychologist Audrey Akun's pick: Eat Pray Love, Elizabeth Gilbert

"When I was down after a divorce and felt burnt out, this book gave me a boost. Certainly I could not travel as Elizabeth Gilbert did for a year (I had rent to pay and three children with me!) but I've tried to apply some of her little rituals to my life. For example, I had to feed myself good food and look good. I started cooking, exploring my city, watching beautiful photos, listening to music that felt good... As I read how this woman was rebuilt, I regained hope. It's proof that, even when one is in the abyss, there is always a small flame that ignites our passion to become more. It also shows how important it is to be gentle and indulgent with ourselves, but also to give time. "

Audrey Akun is a co-author with Isabelle of Pailleau for I say finally stop pressure (Ed. Eyrolles).
2/5
A book to be happier
Philosopher Fabrice Midal's pick: Letters to a Young Poet, Rainer Maria Rilke.

"Contrary to what the title suggests, Rainer Maria Rilke was older than 28 years when he addresses these letters, written between 1903 and 1908, to a boy who asked if he should devote his life to poetry. This book is a true spiritual guide that kept feeding me. Rilke, whose spirituality is rooted in the everyday, invites us to seek and cultivate what really matters in life, which was often lost. His work, at once simple and profound, will comfort those who feel sad or unhappy. It also offers us a wonderful meditation on the splendor of love, including erotic topics, and the art of loving. An art which, he insists, can be learned. His letters, very accessible, as the quintessence offered. I see them as a call to find the inspiration to loving better."

Fabrice Midal is the author of How philosophy can save us: 22 decisive meditations (Flammarion ed.).
3/5
A book to reconnect with oneself and others
Positive psychology specialist Florence Servan-Schreiber's pick: Loving-Kindness, Sharon Salzberg

"This book by Slazberg Sharon is not a technical book on the art of meditation. She recounts her journey and how her practice of loving kindness influenced her life and relationship to the world. It is easy to identify with because it exudes something very nice. Throughout the pages, she introduces us to this form of meditation that calms and comforts. It teaches us to speak to ourselves as we talk to a friend that feels down. Personally, I'm using her techniques especially when I feel the stress accumulating or I encounter difficulties or disappointments."

Florence Servan-Schreiber is the author of Power Patate (ed. Marabout).
4/5
A book to motivate
Psychiatrist Michel Lejoyeux's pick: Alias Caracalla, Daniel Cordier
"This text is a story of desire. He shows us, at a time when we tend to yield to despondency and pessimism, we still have it in us the means to return to the seemingly desperate situations. Alias Caracalla tells how a young man of 17, who had everything, will become the assistant of Jean Moulin. He arrives in 1940 in London and is faced with de Gaulle. How will the General give recruits the desire and the courage to follow him? There are three beautiful words that have lost none of their power and ensure even in less troubled times, our desires and our dreams are within reach: faith, will and hope."
Michel Lejoyeux is the author of Awaken your desires (ed. Le Livre de Poche).
5/5
A book for understanding childhood
Child psychiatrist Marcel Rufo's pick: Promise at Dawn, Romain Gary
"This autobiographical novel depicts a particularly intrusive mother, hypnotized by his son. A woman in the whole character, moving, but sometimes unbearable. Military and diplomatic career man Gary explains his literary success, through his human relationships, everything is seen in the light of this disproportionate love. A love that does not stop until it succeeds. On the contrary, he made it a strength. This therefore shows that it is possible! Instead of blaming the fusional mother, this story will do them good and reassuring. Faced with this truly excessive maternal figure, they will step back from their own history. After reading this, they will feel less alone, exactly as if they had participated in a discussion group."
Marcel Rufo is the author of Allo Rufo, a child psychiatrist at your disposal (Ed. Larousse).

A book out to get out of a depressed state

‘Read to get better’, that’s the principle of bibliotherapy. In Anglo-Saxon origin, this practice is growing worldwide.

“I don’t prescribe medication, but books!” laughs Parisian cognitive-behavioral therapist Audrey Akun. “They don’t cure the way a magic wand would but are very good mediators. Patients read the book I recommend to them, then we talk about it during the appointments to find out what affected them and explore all the options from the author, etc. These readings often help to put words to their feelings and make them realise they are not alone in living through a depression or family difficulties. These books sometimes lead to awareness.” In Anglo-Saxon origin, the concept of bibliotherapy made its way into the French medical environment. In 2009, Dr Pierre-André Bonnet published the first thesis on the subject*. The figures of the survey, conducted among general practitioners, are significant: 53% of them had already recommended a book during a consultation and 73% agreed in saying that reading could be a good care tool. Personal development books, novels, philosophical essays, life stories, poetry, biographies…

*Bibliotherapy in General Medicine, University of the Mediterranean – Aix-Marseille II (2009). Emilie

THE THERAPEUTIC POWER OF THE BOOK

In a few years, reading has become a curative leisure, well beyond medical offices. Some have made it their specialty such as Emilie Devienne, who has been offering sessions on bibliocoaching during which she advises personalised readings according to the tastes and needs of each.

Author Régine Detambel animates his side training in ‘creative bibliotherapy’ for booksellers, care workers, librarians, teachers, etc.* The goal? Give them the keys to lead a workshop, either in a nursing home or in a school. “Beyond the plot, it is the rhythm, musicality of their sentences, the order of their syntax, the sensual touch of the paper books that soothe us,” insists the novelist for whom fiction “is able to rescue us from ourselves and our suffering.”

*theschooloflife.com

On his blog*, Nathalie Cailteux lists precisely the ‘initiatory beneficent narratives’, of ‘novel sweets’ to feel better and others for perspective. She realised a thematic classification: against loneliness, Italian shoes, Henning Mankell; to recover from a sentimental disappointment, Trees Dont grow to the Sky, Marianne Rubinstein; to overcome grief, the poem Like a Sailboat, William Blake; to accept to age, The Hundred-year-old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared, Jonas Jonasson…

*lirepourguerir.com

But the books are also a way for some doctors to get to know their patients. “I always ask them the works that changed their lives and what they are reading,” says Professor Michel Lejoyeux, Chief of Psychiatry and Addiction at the France Bichat Hospital. Their readings are a gateway to their emotions. This is an area where they are not in the holding or defensive. “Tell me what you read, I’ll tell you who you are.”

Fabienne Broucaret and Nur Syazana H.

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Bibliotherapy: Could books be used as prescription?

THE THERAPEUTIC POWER OF THE BOOK

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