Exploring bibliotherapy for pastoral care with adolescents struggling with suicide

Abstract

This study explores the use of literature as a therapeutic technique in pastoral counselling, specifically with adolescents struggling with thoughts of suicide. Suicide is a pervasive problem among young people internationally and also in South Africa. Various creative resources have been used in the field of psychology to prompt responses from adolescents struggling with suicide. This study adapts the techniques of bibliotherapy and poetry therapy for the field of pastoral counselling. It explores the potential of bibliotherapy for pastoral counselling with adolescents who struggle with thoughts of suicide. From a postmodern approach, the study develops a pastoral bibliotherapeutic process and explores its possibilities for pastoral bibliotherapy with adolescents who struggle with thoughts of suicide. The phenomenon of suicide is explored from a psychological and pastoral perspective and insights are applied to develop a pastoral bibliotherapy. The development of the existing fields of bibliotherapy and poetry therapy is traced in order to come to a deeper understanding of how these techniques can be utilized successfully in pastoral care with adolescents. The predominant existing models in both these fields are merged to form a pastoral bibliotherapy model. This model is put into practice by applying it to one Christian and one non-Christian resource in order to explore the potential of bibliotherapy for pastoral counselling.