The Division 42 Bibliotherapy Project - Introduction Edited by: Jeffrey E. Barnett, Psy.D.
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Bibliotherapy involves utilizing readings as a part of an individual’s psychotherapy. Practitioners may assign books or sections of books to their patients or clients to read and then discuss them together in subsequent treatment sessions. For some individuals the use of readings in conjunction with psychotherapy may prove to be a very powerful and meaningful intervention. But, deciding which books to use for bibliotherapy out of the thousands that may be available can be a daunting challenge that may limit practitioners’ use of this important treatment adjunct. The Division 42 Bibliotherapy Project provides independent practitioners with reviews of books that may be suitable for inclusion in patients’ treatment. The reviews cover a wide range of topics and are relevant to the treatment needs of a wide range of individuals. It is hoped that these reviews will be a valuable resource for independent practitioners who will be guided by them in their selections of books for bibliotherapy. Initial reviewers are graduate students of the editor who have volunteered to contribute to this project. I express my sincere thanks to each of them both for their contributions to this project and for the richness they have contributed to me professionally and personally in my association with each of them. I also invite all others to contribute to this project, students and practicing professionals alike. Submissions of reviews of all books that may be utilized in bibliotherapy are encouraged. However, please first contact the project’s editor so that duplication of effort can be prevented. |
The Novel Project Committee on Cultural Diversity in Practice Contributing Editors: Kristin Hancock, PhD, Armand Cerbone, PhD |
The Novel Project is intended to be a fun and interesting way to learn about diversity. The Committee on Cultural Diversity in Practice would like to invite Division 42 members to submit their own recommendations with a short summary of works of fiction which highlight cultural diversity. Please submit reviews for consideration to Kris Hancock Division 42’s Committee on Cultural Diversity in Practice suggests: |
Escandon, M. (1999). Esperanza’s Box of Saints. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN: 0-684-85614-X. Mexican-American author Escandon offers an engaging, simply written novel that traves a woman’s search for her beloved 12 year old daughter. The tale begins with a miracle: on the day of her daughter’s funeral, grief-stricken Esperanza Diaz is preparing pollo al chipotle for the funeral guests when San Judas Tadeo, the saint of desperate cases, appears in her grimy oven window. |
Eugenides, J. (2002). Middlesex. New York: Picador. ISBN: 0-312-42215-6 This is the story of a Greek-American family that includes one Cal Stephanides—a 41 year old hermaphrodite raised as Calliope. The book spans 80 years of family history beginning in the 1920’s in Asia Minor through the 1970’s. The book is intelligent, insightful, and, at times, humorous.
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Garcia, C. (1992). Dreaming in Cuban. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN: 0-345-38143-2 A novel about Cuba, and three generations of del Pino women who are seeking spiritual homes for their passionate, often troubled souls. |
A remarkable account of the Amir, the privileged son of a wealthy businessman in Afghanistan and Hassan, the son of Amir’s father’s servant, the story begins in pre-Taliban Kabul and follows Amir as he and his father re-locate to the United States without Hassan and his father. It is an engaging, reflective work offering a close look at pre- and post-Taliban Afghanistan and covering a variety of major issues including classism, racism, immigration, acculturation, and sexism, to name a few.
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Kidd, S. (2002). The Secret Life of Bees. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN: 0-14-200174-0. This book is set in South Carolina in 1964 and tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. Following an incident in which her African American “stand-in mother” Rosaleen insults three of the deepest racists in town, both escape to a small town that holds the secret to her mother’s past. |
In this Pulitzer Prize winning epic, Lahiri's characters suffer on an intimate level the dislocation and disruption brought on by India's tumultuous political history and includes the stories of a second generation in the United States.
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Martel, Y. (2001). The Life of Pi. This book is about a boy stranded in a boat with a tiger. How he survives is a story in itself. However, the real story is about his asking the big questions about religious conflict and the unique was he resolves them by embracing Christianity and Islam as well. |
This book was originally published in Japanese in 1953 and is an account of the unrelenting hardships endured by Masuda after being sold for a bag of rice to a geisha house in pre-World War II Japan. The book reveals the verbal and emotional abuse she sustained and looks at the challenges these women faced in order to become geisha. |
Rosner, E. (2003). The Speed Of Light. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN: 0-345-44225-3 An eloquent story about the adult children of a holocaust survivor learn about grief, forgiveness and the power of bearing witness from a Latina housekeeper who has also been victimized by government-sponsored genocide. |
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