Abstract
Self-help books have the potential to reduce the burden placed on mental health practitioners by providing easily obtained, potentially effective, self-administered forms of treatment. Of course, bibliotherapy is not appropriate for all patients or presenting problems—more about this later; however, among mild to moderate forms of disorders such as anxiety and depression, bibliotherapy may be especially useful in the early stages of treatment. In general, bibliotherapy is more effective when it is accompanied by some level of therapist contact. Therapist involvement may include a review of self-help materials, an exploration of how bibliotherapy applies to the patient and their presenting problem, periodic monitoring of patient status/progress, determining if a higher step in a stepped-care approach needs to be implemented, and recommending evidence-based materials.
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Harwood, T.M., L’Abate, L. (2010). Bibliotherapy. In: Self-Help in Mental Health. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1099-8_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1099-8_4
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