Bibliotherapy is the use of selected literature for therapeutic purposes, and because of its many benefits, it can be an excellent tool for therapeutic use for both adults and children. In the thesis, we presented the concept of bibliotherapy, types of bibliotherapy, its history and use and placed it in the educational setting. We defined the areas in which it is already used and explained the concepts of biblioprevention and biblioconsultation, which are more appropriate terms for the educational environment, since these institutions do not offer therapy but prevention and focus on the child's development instead of problems. As an alternative approach to a different form of work, it can also be carried out by preschool teachers, so we also added quality literary works that are suitable for discussing ali dealing with certain emotions.
The empirical part of the thesis was devoted to exploring the views of experts on bibliotherapy. Through a questionnaire and an interview, we aimed to determine the general knowledge of the terms and the views on the use of bibliotherapy in educational institutions. We supplemented the survey with six interview questions. The questions were answered by 148 respondents and nine interviewees, most of whom had never participated in any training on the subject, nor had they come into personal contact with this type of therapy. They have little information about bibliotherapy. The desire to use bibliotherapy in their work was expressed by as many interviewees who work in education as by those who work in other fields. However, there was a low positive correlation between knowledge of bibliotherapy and a positive opinion of it.
The best known term is bibliotherapy and the least known is biblioprevention. The respondents mostly think that the word bibliotherapy means treatment with the help of books. They believe that it is useful to explain taboo subjects and that books can heal, they believe in the therapeutic power of books, and they believe that bibliotherapy is an effective way to help people in need. The respondents believe that books are useful in working with children (even in the 1st age group) in different situations, and they are most in favour of individual therapy or the use of individual and group therapy. A competent leader is important in the delivery of therapy. The respondents believe that they do not have enough skills, almost half of them do not know suitable books, and the same proportion believes that they do not have time to conduct bibliotherapy. However, they are fond of reading and have a positive opinion about the use of bibliotherapy in the educational process.
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