People often ask, “Will reading children’s books on special concerns, like anxiety, depression or mental health issues help my child?” The answer according to research is, yes! (Marrs, R.W., 1995; Dimova, 2007, Petris & Dimova, 2008 and Oelofsen, I., & Grobler, H., 2013)

Reading books like Healing Feelings: A healing story for children coping with a grownup’s mental illness to a child that lives with and/or interacts regularly with grownup who is managing a mental illness can benefit from the practice of bibliotherapy.

Bibliotherapy is the process of experiencing the written word such as books, poetry, and other written works by reading and exploring a book with your child! Bibliotherapy includes interacting with the written media with the purpose of delving into the concepts in order to increase emotional awareness, healing and psycho-education. One of the goals of bibliotherapy is to provide insight for a child about the situation or special issue that the child is experiencing.

For a child, the type of bibliotherapy most often utilized is called Interactive Bibliotherapy in which a parent, foster parent, caregiver, therapist, counselor, psychologist, social worker, teacher and/or other person facilitates, not just in simply reading the story, but interacts with the child about the story.

The facilitator may draw attention to the feelings, connections, and/or situations in the story. The parent or counselor might wonder aloud, “Ouch, I might feel hurt if that were happening in my family.” Another caregiver might say, “Point to the place on your body where you feel the worried feeling?” Some children will simply listen, other children may like to play along by naming feelings, finding and naming body sensations, or mimicking the voices of the characters. Since play is the language of children bibliotherapy can flow into playing. Some children like to imagine “what if” scenarios about the main characters. Others write or tell their own stories. While others enjoy creating a story from the book or poem into interactive play by either choosing to act out the story in a tray of sand with miniature figures or by acting out drama in live role play with costumes, hats and props. They may want to act out a “feeling” of a character or be a particular “character” and play out the story.

Children integrate emotions by expressing their stories through play. According to Dan Siegel & Tina Bryson (2011) the ability for a child to express their stories allows their brains to integrate the emotions and experiences. This enhances a child’s ability to gain a sense of mastery over experiences that trouble them and allow the child to have the opportunity to make sense of what is happens in their world. This can reduce stress and anxiety for children.

How can the stories like Healing Feelings: A healing story for children coping with a grownup’s mental illness help children? According to the National Institutes on Health, in 2015 there were an estimated 9.8 million adults aged 18 or older in the United States with severe mental illness. A serious mental illness substantially interferes with or limits one or more major life activities. This may include depression, alcohol or drug use, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety or other mental health issues.

Research studies over the years have indicated that bibliotherapy, especially that addressing children’s feelings is especially useful with issues of anxiety, which can be a common symptom with children coping with parent/caregiver with a diagnosis of mental illness. Children may show generalized anxiety or extreme worry about their parent or caregiver. Pretis and Dimvoa, (2008) recommend, in order to build resiliency in children whose parents suffer from a mental illness that “fostering an attachment to a healthy adult – including professionals in the social field – and providing information about the disorder are regarded as two important preventive factors” for children. Both of which can be achieved in the process of interactive bibliotherapy.

Attachment to a caregiver is critical in building a sense of trust and security base in all children. Pretis and Dimvoa** stated “age-appropriate information for children explaining the behavior and emotions shown towards them by their parents is regarded as one of the most challenging, but also most important factors in safeguarding child and adolescent mental health.” The message of Healing Feelings: A healing story for children coping with a grownup’s mental illness is hope for healing. The message is that mental illness can be treated and people do get better. Children often feel responsible for the emotions and difficulties with the grownups and families in their lives. The purpose of this story is to help children know that they are not at fault for adult’s emotions and their caregivers and/or family member has an opportunity for healing with help and time.

I tried to find a book to help me explain to my children that my own depression was not their fault. I also wanted to communicate to them that seeking help from a professional is healthy, even if it was taking time for me to feel better. I wanted my children to know I would not give up on getting better, and that even with my sadness, I loved them deeply.

It was my own experience of debilitating post-partum depression that impacted my family, which inspired me to write Healing Feeling: A healing story for children coping with a grownup’s mental illness.

My hope is that the story of my journey to help my own children heal and grow with interactive bibliotherapy, will help other children experience hope and healing. My desire is that my book also inspires caregiver’s to use these types of stories with interactive bibliotherapy to help other children. The tools found in bibliotherapy are powerful and helpful for children’s understanding of a grownup’s mental illness.