Bibliotherapy and mental health: literature as a mediator of expressiveness and resilience in the face of global threat narratives and psychological vulnerability

Bibliotherapy is an intervention with both preventive and therapeutic dimensions, transdisciplinary and transdiagnostic in nature. It enables individuals, through listening, reading, or dramatization of texts (individually or in groups) to: communicate and express emotions, enhance self-understanding by valuing their personality and promoting self-esteem, become familiar with external reality and clarify real problems (improving their ability to respond to them), refine orientation toward reality by correcting perceptions of the surrounding world, and foster better adaptation and adjustment to their life context, whether in educational, professional, clinical, or correctional settings. Bibliotherapy encompasses personal, familial, and community domains. Understood as both a science and an art by researchers in the field, the bibliotherapeutic process also offers other benefits, namely: enhancing socialization and preventing isolation, promoting tolerance, respect, and self-acceptance as well as acceptance of others, stimulating critical thinking and higher-level reasoning, providing moments of joy and relaxation, and encouraging reading as a leisure activity. According to Régine Detambel, the main work of the bibliotherapist is to promote well-being and resilience. Through the examination of shared experiences and national and international studies, the application of bibliotherapy offers benefits to mental health for patients, their families, and therapists, making it a valuable addition to a health-professional practice toolkit, as it addresses all life stages and responds to the diversity of global threats and situations of heightened psychological vulnerability.