Bibliotherapy Skills Course
Bibliotherapy is a therapeutic approach that uses literature to help clients better understand and cope with the world around them.
Building on the success of the Bibliotherapy in the Community programme, in the autumn of 2021 Exeter City of Literature began working with Exeter College to develop a first of its kind course — the Introduction to Bibliotherapy Skills adult learning course.
The course has run yearly since 2021. In 2025, the first paid edition of the course open to anyone interested in developing their bibliotherapy skills will take place. Applications for the paid course are currently open.
Introduction to Bibliotherapy and Counselling Skills Course
January 2025
First launched in 2021, this unique and innovative course is the first of its kind in the country. In January 2025, anyone interested in developing their skills in counselling and literature can apply to this paid course.
Introduction to Bibliotherapy and Counselling Skills is an ambitious course offering unique skills to counsellors, those who work in community-focused organisations, and those interested in using literature as a way to deepen their wellbeing offer to clients.
Course attendees will experience the practical use of bibliotherapy skills both in the role of the listener and the participant. Diversity & inclusion is a key part of the teaching across the course, with the expectation that trainees will expand their reading, go outside of their comfort zones, and read from a wide range of perspectives and issues.
This course will be co-taught by two teachers, a trained counsellor and an English literature specialist, to ensure that trainees have the support they need.
Please note: This course does not result in qualification as a counsellor or bibliotherapist.
“Trainees will develop bibliotherapy and counselling skills that may support them in their existing job roles.
The knowledge, skills, and behaviours trainees will develop include: basic counselling skills such as active listening; identifying reading habits and the emotional benefits of analysing one’s reading journey; development of a database of books to draw on; and knowledge of the science and research that backs up bibliotherapy as a tool that can improve mental health and wellbeing.”
Introduction to Bibliotherapy and Counselling Skills Course Description
Course Structure January 2025
Exeter College and Exeter UNESCO City of Literature have developed this course in association with esteemed bibliotherapist Susan Elderkin, a practicing psychotherapist, teachers, and literary experts. This course aspires to positively impact on the wellbeing and reading engagement of adults in Exeter and Devon, particularly those who will benefit the most from receiving support using bibliotherapy skills.
The course takes place every Monday at 5:30pm - 7:30pm at Exeter College’s Hele Road Centre. You must be able to attend all sessions and the end of course event on the evening of Monday 17th March which will be from 6pm-8.30pm.
First session: Monday 20th January
Final Session: Monday 24th March
Introduction to Bibliotherapy Skills Course
September 2024
Applications are now closed. Successful applicants will be contacted by Exeter College in due course.
Who is this course for?
First launched in 2021, this unique and innovative course is the first of its kind in the country, offering skills in counselling and literature to those working and volunteering in roles that work directly with members of the public.
This FREE course is aimed at those who can embed bibliotherapy skills in their existing public-facing roles (librarian, mental health practitioner, social worker, nurse, or doctor). Future courses will be tailored to others interested in bibliotherapy skills.
Trainees will learn how to support their clients and service users who might benefit from personalised book prescriptions and conversations around reading to increase their overall wellbeing.
Trainees will be taught counselling skills, a process that can be intensely personal, so please be mindful of whether this is the right course for you. In addition, you will learn about the science and research that backs up bibliotherapy as a tool that can support mental health.
“A new and ambitious course offering unique skills to those working in community-focused organisations. Trainees will develop bibliotherapy skills that they will be able to use to support people in their workplace and communities who would benefit from personalised book prescriptions and conversations around reading in order to increase their overall wellbeing.”
Bringing Bibliotherapy to Exeter
Building on the success of the Bibliotherapy in the Community programme, in the autumn of 2021 Exeter City of Literature began working with Exeter College to develop a brand new course — the first of its kind — the Introduction to Bibliotherapy Skills adult learning course.
A development group made up of esteemed bibliotherapist Susan Elderkin, teachers, a psychotherapist, City of Literature’s Executive Director, and book-industry professionals worked together to build the course before then training Exeter College faculty to deliver it.
“Exeter College and Exeter UNESCO City of Literature are dedicated to the idea that reading can change lives. We came together to create this innovative course because we saw what an impact Susan Elderkin’s bibliotherapy sessions had on the families at Whipton Barton Junior School last summer, and we wanted to find a way to ensure others could benefit from bibliotherapy in some way.
We know that this course will be meaningful not just to the participants but to their workplaces and communities as well.”
The Benefits of Reading
The benefits of reading have been well-researched and bibliotherapy is a particular modality that uses reading to improve wellbeing on an individual basis. This new and ambitious course offers unique skills to those working in community-focused organisations.
Trainees on the course will develop bibliotherapy skills that they will be able to use to support people in their workplace and communities who would benefit from personalised book prescriptions and conversations around reading in order to increase their overall wellbeing.
In addition, the Wellcome Centre for Cultures and Environmental Health at the University of Exeter is engaging in research around bibliotherapy and the course.
Bibliotherapy In Practice
On Thursday 30 June 2022 the first run of the Introduction to Bibliotherapy Skills course concluded with a wonderful event at the Devon & Exeter Institution.
Our second cohort of trainees got to test their skills on members of CoLab’s staff book group on Wednesday 24th May 2023.
Course participants had the opportunity to practice skills learned during the course in conversations, creating two wonderful evenings of connection and conversation, where it was truly fantastic to see bibliotherapy skills in action!
“I will never forget practicing bibliotherapy skills for the first time at the Devon & Exeter Institution; I never thought that a conversation about books and reading could have such a profound effect on someone, or that it could make such a positive difference to them. I have found the whole experience very humbling and eye opening, and it has really changed me. I can’t wait to take these skills and use them more on a day-to-day basis in my work.”
“Although initially I was quite daunted by the idea of putting the skills I had learned into practice, by the time the event came around I was actually quite looking forward to it. Having discussed the ideas in theory, I was interested to see how it all worked in a real setting. I found the conversations easier and more natural than I had expected, and people really did seem to value being given the time to talk, and think about their relationship with books and reading. ”
Further reading on Bibliotherapy
Creative bibliotherapy is the use of fiction to improve wellbeing. Does it work to improve mental health in schools? To find out, we plan to review the evidence. This paper describes how we will search for evidence for the effects of school-based bibliotherapy. If there is evidence that it works, we will also explore how and in what contexts.
Redman, H., Melendez-Torres, G.J., Bethel, A. et al. The impact of school-based creative bibliotherapy interventions on child and adolescent mental health: a systematic review and realist synthesis protocol. Syst Rev 13, 86 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-024-02482-8
Gill Partington from The Wellcome Centre for Cultures and Environments of Health took part in our first Introduction to Bibliotherapy course as part of a wider research project on the effects of bibliotherapy. This paper details the results of their findings.
