Creating Bibliotherapeutic Libraries for Pediatric Patients and Their Families: Potential Contributions of a Cognitive Theory of Traumatic Stress

IN A REVIEW of the empirical research on children's resilience, Masten (2001) concluded that children's successful adaptation to circumstances that pose serious threats to their physical or psychological well-being are usually a function of normative developmental processes such as healthy, help-giving parent–child relationships. Increasing attention to the family/systems approach in pediatric medicine also has led to a greater appreciation of the roles of competent family functioning and parental support in children's adjustment to a broad range of pediatric conditions and experiences (Kazak, Rourke & Crump, 2003). Unfortunately, parents' stress reactions to the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric illness, injury, or victimization as well as their increased involvement in the physical care of young patients may tax their coping resources and impact the quantity and quality of psychosocial support they are able to provide to their children. This article describes the creation of two separate children's libraries at nonprofit agencies that serve pediatric populations and their families. The first organization offers temporary, convenient, and compassionate lodging to families of children with serious illness who are receiving treatment at area hospitals. The second organization provides emergency shelter and counseling to children who have been exposed to domestic violence or sexual victimization as well as their protective female adult guardians. Most children served by these two organizations are between the ages of 2 and 7 years. Accordingly, the libraries described in this article were created to offer young children and their families designated spaces and resources to come together around something other than the pediatric condition. The libraries were created to support families' psychological adjustment to their exceptional, and potentially traumatizing, circumstances by offering them the opportunity to revisit one of the most comforting rituals of childhood and parenting—the shared experience of reading together. Setting aside a regularly scheduled time to read together may afford children consistent and concrete evidence of their parents' and other adult guardians' positive regard and acceptance. In addition, Pardeck (1995) suggested that children's books are valuable tools for stimulating conversations between children and story readers. Intimate interactions and discussions that occur in the context of reading together may heighten adult guardians' sensitivity to the unique, complex, and ever-changing attitudes, beliefs, feelings, and needs of pediatric patients and their healthy siblings. Pardeck also suggested that stories and story-related discussions may help children understand that they are not alone and that someone (i.e., the story character or a real-life reader/discussant) understands what they are experiencing. Berg-Cross and Berg-Cross (1976) posited that such empathic insight is one of the most important aspects of bibliotherapy insofar as it may facilitate communication between children and their parents and encourage feelings of connectedness.