Bibliotherapy: an examination of school counselors' attitudes and use

Abstract

Bibliotherapy has been shown to be a natural, appropriate tool for school counselors, supporting both student therapeutic concerns, as well as the academic goals of the setting. However, no prior research was identified that examined counselors' attitudes toward bibliotherapy or their use of bibliotherapy as a counseling technique in the schools. This study proposed to determine (a) if school counselors differed in their use of or attitudes toward bibliotherapy when compared by student and counselor characteristics, and (b) if selected student and counselor characteristics predicted the counselors' use of or attitudes toward bibliotherapy. The data were collected using an instrument developed for this study, the Attitudes Toward Bibliotherapy Scale. Participants were members of the Alabama School Counseling Association (ALSCA). Of the 870 packets that were mailed to members, 250 usable surveys were returned. The results indicated that counselors' use of bibliotherapy, as well as their attitudes toward bibliotherapy, differed significantly on one variable: predominant gender of the students served. Only one variable was found to significantly predict the counselors' use of bibliotherapy: the average age of the children served. Finally, two variables were found to significantly predict the counselors' attitudes toward bibliotherapy: (a) the average age of the children served, and (b) the number of continuing education activities related to bibliotherapy in which the counselors participated in the past 12 months.