What Is Bibliotherapy and How Does it Work?

As a staff psychiatrist at the Lincoln Regional Center, Dr. Jasung Kim tends to patients in an in-patient setting. Dr. Jasung Kim uses the principles of transpersonal psychiatry in his practice and conducts bibliotherapy sessions with his patients.

Q: What is bibliotherapy?

A: As the name implies, bibliotherapy is book therapy. This technique uses books to help individuals work through various problems in a way that is similar to art or music therapy.

Q: What is a bibliotherapy session like?

A: Whether individually or as part of a group, bibliotherapy typically entails a read-aloud session. The facilitator selects books for their relevant themes and leads participants through a guided discussion after reading. In some cases, writing and self-expression exercises are part of bibliotherapy.

Q: How does bibliotherapy work?

A: Bibliotherapy relies on the principle of universalization, or the understanding that some emotions and experiences are shared universally. Books can help people realize that they are not alone in the specific problems they face. By selecting relevant books, a mental health professional can help encourage therapeutic responses to a familiar theme.                            

Four Types of Bipolar Disorder

As a staff psychiatrist at the Lincoln Regional Center in Nebraska, Dr. Jasung Kim treats patients with a variety of mental illnesses. Experienced in incorporating transpersonal psychiatry into his practice, Dr. Jasung Kim has achieved good results with patients on the bipolar spectrum.

The spectrum of bipolar disorders spans four distinct but related illnesses. Each includes symptoms of both depression and mania, though the degree and balance of each varies with the disease type.

Bipolar I disorder, the most severe on the spectrum, features intense manic and depressive episodes. Manic episodes, which may last seven days or more, are often so severe that patients must be hospitalized immediately. These manic episodes can alternate with depressive episodes that last a minimum of 14 days, and some such episodes may also include symptoms of mania.

Bipolar II disorder presents with similar though less severe patterns. Depressive episodes alternate with hypomania, which causes heightened energy and mood but does not include the extreme energy levels and racing thought patterns that can make mania feel uncontrolled.

Cyclothymic disorder also features periods of hypomanic or depressive symptoms, though these periods do not occur with the duration or severity of Bipolar I or II disorder. Because symptoms of Cyclothymic disorder thus do not meet the criteria for Bipolar I or II, the condition requires its own category.

In some situations, a patient's symptoms do not match any of the three aforementioned categories. These patients' conditions fall into a category known as other specified or unspecified bipolar or related disorders, which incorporates those conditions characterized by simultaneous heightened and depressed mood symptoms. It also includes rapid-cycling conditions, which include four or more episodes of extreme mood swings over the course of 12 months.