Bibliotherapy: How reading can help children manage their emotions

Youth Minister Lisa Hanna last year said that a large number of children with behavioural problems were actually afflicted by various mental conditions. Compounding matters, she noted, was that child mental health was not being taken seriously in Jamaica.

As the Government continues to implement programmes to identify, diagnose, and treat children with mental-health issues in state homes and the classroom, one Jamaican has an innovative approach which may help to alleviate some problems in the classroom.

Dr Claudia Williams, a Jamaican teacher, social worker, and clinician living in the United States, suggests adopting bibliotherapy (using reading material to help solve mental-health issues).

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines mental health as 'a state of well-being in which every individual realises his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community'.

Mental health includes emotional, psychological, and social well-being, affecting how a person thinks, feels, and acts. It also helps determine how people handle stress, relate to others, and make choices, thus it is important at every stage of life.

"If children are not available for life, you can teach until the cows come home, nothing will happen. Children bring issues to class. They can look like they are paying attention but are consumed with the internal process." Dr Williams said.

Williams, who presented at the Jamaica Reading Association's (JRA) annual conference in November, said that she was just raising the issues and possibilities of bibliotherapy with teachers. "I'm not saying you need to be a clinician, but there are books that can address issues in the class." Using the novel, No Boy Like Amanda, by local author Hope Barnett, Williams explained how teachers could support literacy, while focusing on the social and emotional.

Set in rural Jamaica, No Boy Like Amanda, tells the story of eight-year-old Amanda Simpson, the only girl in a family with four boys. This doesn't make life easy for her as she constantly tries to get in on a piece of the action with the boys, who always seem to be having loads of fun. But living in a family with meagre resources offers Amanda limited options to entertain herself; so she is determined to be 'one of the boys'.

Buoyed by an indomitable spirit, a doting father, as well as her first 'crush', she manages to force herself into the group and join the boys on a few adventures, much to the dismay of her eldest brother. But these almost always end with some mishap. But as the summer holiday progresses, Amanda slowly finds herself, a new friend, and her own strengths.

Describing it as a well-written novel, Williams said the novel was a good tool as its vivid imagery and relatable characters pull readers into the story. " No Boy Like Amanda is a chapter book for the older child. Some of what Amanda is experiencing is developmentally important and what you would expect [for a child her age]. She has more skills about males than females. If you had an Amanda in your class, you could have a discussion about growing up. As you go through the book, you would ask them to do parallels. Ask them to illustrate, draw pictures to reflect what they got from the story," she said.

Other topics that could be explored from the novel include: self-esteem, how to find friends, how do you deal with people who are mean-spirited, alternative behaviour and responses to brothers being mean. "For my purpose, this would be a good book for anyone who wants to acquire cultural competence. It's real for the new immigrant who doesn't have imagery. It gives parallel for youngsters of the same age group."

With the focus on bibliotherapy, Dr Williams noted that the book choice is important, as books can be used to help children deal with social and emotional issues, development issues, attachment, abandonment, grief, and loss. Since most children would prefer not to read to teachers, Dr Williams suggested partner or choral reading, as these offer a non-stressful way to get children to read.

"What you do is teach each section of the book as you read through it. What do you think or feel? Engage them in identifying their feelings. Most children explode and they don't know when they are getting angry. As adults, we help them to manage emotions. You can then have them get a model for appropriate behaviour and acknowledgement of feelings without bubbling up and spilling over. They can identify with characters in the book and get responses. 'Can you think of anyone you can talk to? How do you deal with it?" Williams said.

As the children read, with issues and emotions addressed, teachers can also have children write about their feelings which help to reinforce vocabulary development and sentence expansion. Dr Williams said it may be useful not to make too many corrections on grammar and spelling, as this may discourage children from fully expressing themselves.

Other helpful books she recommends: When Sophie gets Angry, Really, Really Angry, Taking Diabetes to School, Feeling Sad, When my Mommy Drinks too much.