Song lyrics, poems, genres like horror, comedy, tragedy and Young Adult romances, books from different time-periods and cultures, and writing you have done yourself. If you already enjoy any of these things, then bibliotherapy could be for you. Bibliotherapy means using reading and books to support your self-understanding and wellbeing, and to go deeper into issues affecting you.

Bibliotherapy is about how the story touches you, where it takes you. So it’s different from a literature class where you have to ‘analyse’ a text. Anyone who loves reading is a potential bibliotherapy client, and I take my lead from you.

Supporting neurodivergent clients well is very important to me. I recognise that engaging with books and ideas can be a sensory experience. The way you read might involve listening, tearing, collaging, holding, hefting, moving between several books at once, stimming, writing in the margins, repeating, and rereading favourite texts, or simply allowing boredom and curiosity to guide you.

I provide bibliotherapy because reading is my own passion. As well as being a qualified counsellor (MNCPS and BACP) and hypnotherapist, I draw on my PhD in literature and two decades’ work as a literature researcher to find the best stories for you.