Therapeutic Literature: Bibliotherapy and Narrative Medicine in Disability Studies

Settu A.¹, Dr. Sudha R.²

¹Research Scholar, Department of English, PSG College of Arts & Science, Coimbatore. settukumar887@gmail.com

²Research Supervisor & Assistant Professor, Department of English, PSG College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore. sudha@psgcas.ac.in

Abstract

Therapeutic approaches in literature such as bibliotherapy and narrative medicine, assist in processing the psychological aspects of disability. They help rebuild identities, create empathy, and combat ableist ideologies. This paper examines the relationship between guided reading and storytelling in terms of their interface with the disability psyche. The paper has utilized primary sources such as Helen Keller’s The Story of My Life (1903), Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (2003), and Sharon M. Draper’s Out of My Mind (2010). The secondary sources include bibliotherapy literature that highlights its effectiveness in improving caregiver self-efficacy in children with disabilities and emotional stability in neurodiverse individuals. Narrative medicine, according to Rita Charon, redefines patient-provider relationships to respect disabled experiences. By integrating these two therapeutic literatures, this paper has shown that therapeutic literature enables disabled voices to be heard, challenges societal exclusion, and connects personal empowerment with collective advocacy in the digital era.

Keywords: Bibliotherapy, Narrative medicine, Disability studies, Neurodiversity, Identity reconstruction, Empathy.