Reading, Research, Writing – Bibliotherapy
Motivated by what he describes as blinding depression and crippling anxiety, Andrew Solomon, author of “Noonday Demon” set out reading, researching, and writing –bibliotherapy – about his own recovery and the range of treatments for depression. One world opened into another, like biting off chunks of Alice’s magic mushroom.
Though my writing obsession nearly ended in suicide early in life, it offers the intense moments I live for each day. I have not lived if I don’t sit with a cup of coffee and escape into my reading, research and writing.
The right book at the right time can be transformative. Yet none of my therapists tapped that therapeutic power. Without a therapist it takes sleuthing to find the right books.
You can work back through winners and runner ups of the Nobel Prize In Literature and the Pulitzer Prize books for literature, biography and nonfiction.
You might then enter books you find empowering into Goodreads database to get insightful recommendations.
Art As Therapy
As an undergraduate at Rutgers University in the heart of Newark, New Jersey, I made the acquaintance of an old bum who roamed the area. We sat and talked for hours in the YMCA lobby and he shared how he would stand in front of paintings in rapturous awe.
Though I never experienced this in art, literature resonated for me in much the same way as art did with him. In a sense they are one and the same.
“Art as Therapy” a 10 5/8 x 8 1/8 hard covered book by Alain de Botton. De Botton, who is a philosopher and essayist and not a therapist discusses seven psychological frailties art might help the viewer to function with and become better versions of themselves. They apply to literature, as well.
Seven Core Psychological Functions of Art
- Remembering – Good art pins down the essence and understanding of conceptual unconscious memories.
- Hope – Art can remind us of goodness and balance and make it within our grasp.
- Sorrow – We are not alone.
- Rebalancing – Art can put us in touch with our missing dispositions.
- Self-understanding – Art builds self-knowledge
- Growth – Art expands our sense of who we are and who we can become.
- Appreciation – Art puts us in touch with what is always around us, but we lose sight of: nature, the suffering of people, the merit of life as we are forced to live it.
I would add an eighth function, point of view (POV). Reading or listening to literature can be an effective metacognitive technique. It is difficult to view your own patterns of thinking. Literature may be the only way to take on the point of view (POV) of another person. You compare and contrast their patterns of thinking with your own. Gradually you adjust, change your patterns of thinking in order to live and enjoy your life now.
Too often we reject experiences with people and places that might have something to offer one of our multiplex selves. To some extent we can have these experiences in the world of good literature.
Self-help books that help:
Total Self-Renewal through Attention Therapies and Open Focus
The Open-Focus Brain: Harnessing the Power of Attention to Heal Mind and Body
