Introduction

Bibliotherapy as a practice dates back to ancient times. An exploration of the uses of reading in various areas of health – both physical and mental – confirms this. However, the conceptualization and investigation of bibliotherapy in academic terms is relatively recent and goes hand in hand with the evolution of the various theories of reading in disciplines such as linguistics, pedagogy, philosophy and psychology that have gained importance since the turn of the century.

This chapter offers an overview of the practice of bibliotherapy in Montevideo, Uruguay, and, more specifically, bibliotherapy within a context of social vulnerability. Being a relatively new discipline in this country, information about bibliotherapy interventions can be scarce or difficult to access. Therefore, the chapter focuses on the specific theory and practice of bibliotherapy in a state health centre, dedicated to the treatment of the problematic consumption of drugs: Portal Amarillo. Bibliotherapy has been developed in Portal Amarillo's library since 2006, and since 2012 training courses have been offered to disseminate the method and encourage its use in other state institutions. The chapter starts with an overview of theories of bibliotherapy relevant to this context before examining the work of Portal Amarillo in more detail.

Theories of bibliotherapy

In 1949, Caroline Shrodes, a student in the USA, defended her doctoral thesis ‘Bibliotherapy: a theoretical and clinical-experimental study’, laying the theoretical basis of the technique. Shrodes (1960) conceives bibliotherapy as a ‘dynamic process of interaction between the reader's personality and the imaginative literature, which can attract his [or her] own emotions and release them to his [or her] conscious and productive use.’ For Shrodes, fictional literature is seen as the most appropriate means to achieve internal change. During the 1950s, the technique she described began to spread and many definitions were developed as well as a variety of uses and theoretical frameworks, including bibliotherapy as a discipline, as art, as a technique and as a tool.

The Association of Hospital and Institution Libraries in the USA (1971) officially defined bibliotherapy as ‘the use of selected reading materials as therapeutic adjuvants in medicine and psychiatry, also guidance in the solution of personal problems through directed reading’.