bibliotherapy

While each product featured is independently selected by our editors, we may include paid promotion. If you buy something through our links, we may earn commission. Read more about our Product Review Guidelines here . According to bibliotherapist (yes, you read that correctly) Emely Rumble , LCSW, bibliotherapy as a practice centers around the intentional use of literature for emotional healing , reflection, and growth. PS: What does a bibliotherapist do, exactly? Emely Rumble: As a bibliotherapist who is also a board-certified, licensed therapist, I help people connect with books — not just as entertainment, but as tools for insight, regulation, connection, and transformation. It's not about giving homework or dissecting themes like we're in English class. It's about sitting with a story and asking, "What lands in you? What feels familiar? What feels possible?" The literature we are reading becomes a therapeutic tool for deeper self-understanding and an entry point to conversations about difficult emotions and experiences. PS: How did you get into bibliotherapy? In what ways has reading helped you personally process emotions? ER: I'm a lifelong reader. I was a library kid who grew up between cultures and languages — Black and Puerto Rican, raised by my maternal grandmother until I was 14, and then I entered the foster care system. I emancipated myself at age 16 and put myself through college, ultimately landing me in the Bronx as a young person. Books were the first place I felt fully mirrored. They were my first therapists, in a way. I got into bibliotherapy professionally as a social worker when I started noticing how literature helped my clients access feelings they couldn't always name directly. Personally, reading has helped me grieve, hold complexity, process trauma, and reclaim joy . It's how I learned to feel and how I've learned to heal. PS: What sort of training is involved in bibliotherapy? ER: There are a few different paths. My training includes over 14 years as a licensed clinical social worker, as well as my certification path through the International Federation of Biblio Poetry Therapy, where I've studied the use of metaphor, narrative, and structured literary interventions in clinical and community-based settings. But honestly? Some of the deepest bibliotherapy training has come from being a witness — listening to what books unlock in people when they feel safe enough to speak. PS: What are the potential benefits of the practice? ER: Bibliotherapy helps people name emotions, build self-awareness, foster empathy, and regulate their nervous systems. It can support identity exploration, grief work, trauma processing, and boundary setting. And for folks who have felt excluded or unseen in traditional therapy spaces — especially BIPOC and neurodivergent folks — literature offers a way to reconnect with your humanity in a space that feels culturally affirming. PS: How do you know if bibliotherapy is right for you? ER: If you've ever read a line in a book and thought, "Wait, that's me," or if you've cried at a poem, or stayed up reading because you couldn't put [your book] down, then bibliotherapy is already working in you. It's right for folks who love story, enjoy reading as a natural self-care practice, who are curious about themselves, or who are working through something and want an invitation to reflect that feels less clinical, more creative. It's also beautiful for people who find talk therapy intimidating. Books can speak when words are hard to find. PS: What are the top books you recommend as a bibliotherapist, and why? What does each one offer? ER: Bibliotherapy isn't limited to a single genre or type of writing. Here you'll find my favorite books for healing, from self-help to memoirs to fictional novels. Alexis Jones (she/her) is the senior health and fitness editor at PS. In her seven years of editorial experience, Alexis has developed passions and areas of expertise around mental health, wome