In the growing constellation of wellness practices—from mindfulness meditation and somatic therapy to breathwork and digital detoxes—Bijal Shah’s work offers a quiet, luminous star: bibliotherapy.
Shah is the founder of Book Therapy, a speaker and commentator on mental health, and the author of Bibliotherapy: The Healing Power of Reading, a new book that weaves together literary curation and psychological insight. Her mission is simple but profound: to help people heal through story.
“When I was doing my counselling training,” she tells me, “I found myself constantly turning to literature, books, characters, the protagonists, to express how I was feeling. They helped me explain things I didn’t have words for. They validated my emotions. And when I started digging deeper, I discovered an entire tradition of therapeutic writing, from the Greeks to Montaigne to Wordsworth. I knew then that I wanted to bring that wisdom into modern, multicultural practice.”
Shah’s vision is both ancient and refreshingly contemporary. Through Book Therapy, she offers personalized “book prescriptions,” bibliotherapy sessions, professional training programs and a suite of children’s literacy tools. The work is grounded in her multifaceted background—counselling, business, math and accounting—which she uses to tailor therapeutic reading in a way that bridges logic and empathy, intellect and emotion.
“I guess I come across as a bit of a polymath,” she says, laughing. “But that helps me meet people where they are. I can pull from both my analytical and creative sides to recommend stories that resonate, whether someone wants a character-driven novel or a more structured, idea-based book. The goal is always the same: to help people feel seen, understood and connected.”
Many influential books
Shah’s own reading journey has been shaped by works that speak to different moments in life.
“The Celestine Prophecy was a turning point for me,” she says. “It fundamentally shifted how I perceive energy, intuition and human connection. The book introduced me to the idea that there’s a deeper, almost spiritual current running beneath our everyday interactions.
“Coming from an Indian background, where concepts like prana, karma and interconnectedness are already part of the cultural fabric, it gave me a way to reconcile those Eastern ideas with more Western frameworks of spirituality. It was like a bridge between worlds I’d always been walking across but didn’t have language for.”
She continues, “Judy Blume’s Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret had a different kind of impact, quiet but lasting. It was the first time I saw a girl struggling openly with identity, faith and the awkwardness of growing up. For a young me, it was incredibly affirming to see someone grappling with questions I hadn’t even been able to put into words yet. It made me feel less alone while growing up in an orthodox Jain community where mental health was unheard of.”
She adds, “And then came A Little Life—it was the first book that made me feel seen, that acknowledged a traumatic moment I had experienced at age four. Hanya Yanagihara writes pain with such relentless honesty and tenderness. It didn’t offer closure, but it offered understanding. So much so that I devoted a few pages to the book in my own book, Bibliotherapy: The Healing Power of Reading.”
These books weren’t just stories to me,” she says. “They were companions. They created safe, brave spaces, places where I could explore difficult emotions, feel seen and process these emotions to reach a place of healing.”
Reading isn’t a passive act
For Shah, the act of reading isn’t passive. It’s participatory. And, most importantly, she advocates leveraging your reading.
“When you connect with a character’s journey, you empathize with their experience and in turn, with your own, resonating with the feelings they may trigger in you. In connecting with these emotions, you are able to relieve them, and in turn, experience catharsis. The literature offers a safe space where there is no risk of judgment from a therapist, friend or any other confidant, allowing you to fully engage with and explore your feelings freely.
“This can help break down defenses and lead to real insight, coping strategies and emotional literacy. I always encourage my clients to do some form of ‘literary journaling’ alongside—the writing literally enables expression and release. Just getting your thoughts on the page can release emotions stored deep in the body, leading to a sense of healing.”
“Is bibliotherapy about identification,” I ask her, “or is it something more metaphysical? Could it even be sacred?”
“Bibliotherapy relies heavily on identification, in order for us to benefit from the therapeutic effects of connecting with a narrative or author and the emotions that are triggered in us as a result,” she replies without hesitation. “However, books can go beyond this emotional connection to something that touches us on a deeper level—a sense of purpose, soul or transformation. This can be seen as a metaphysical experience that can feel sacred or even fated.”
What makes bibliotherapy so unique?
The idea of reading to support emotional and psychological growth isn’t new. Many therapists already incorporate poetry therapy, narrative therapy or journaling into their work. So what separates bibliotherapy from other approaches like cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)?
“The key difference,” Shah explains, “is that bibliotherapy isn’t just a technique. It’s an entire framework, a philosophy of healing through literature. CBT focuses on patterns of thought and behaviour. Bibliotherapy connects those patterns to deeper emotional and symbolic narratives. It invites reflection through resonance.”
Indeed, in many clinical settings, bibliotherapy is used alongside other modalities. A therapist might assign a novel, memoir or poem that mirrors a client’s lived experience, which can help the client process their feelings indirectly. It’s especially effective with younger clients, such as children and adolescents, who may find it difficult to verbalize trauma or anxiety or who do not yet have the language to explain how they feel. These narratives bridge that gap.
In group settings, bibliotherapy can foster collective healing through shared experience. This shared experience is paramount, as it’s this connection to others through having endured something profoundly difficult that helps members feel seen—their pain is acknowledged and validated. The vulnerability enables connection. Participants are encouraged to share their feelings as evoked by texts or narratives, creating a space to explore emotions and heal together.
In Shah’s practice, this multiplicity isn’t a drawback. It’s a strength.
“The magic happens when we leverage our reading—be that poetry, a memoir, a novel or something else—through bibliotherapy techniques such as narrative therapy, literary journaling, poetry and others that I discuss in my book, Bibliotherapy: The Healing Power of Reading. Whether you’re in one-on-one therapy, a group workshop or just journaling on your own, literature—and bibliotherapy, specifically—gives you a structured but open space to explore, process and reflect.”
A love letter to literacy
Beyond adult mental health, Shah is passionately committed to childhood literacy and storytelling. Her work includes the Children’s Bibliotherapy Skills Online Course, the Raising a Reader and Storyteller series, a podcast collaboration with The Jai Jais that explores literacy and the emotional lives of young readers, and the Raising a Reader and Storyteller Online Course.
“We need to model a love of reading,” she says. “When children see their parents reading, or go to libraries, or join book clubs with peers, they begin to associate books with joy, not obligation. Reading fosters empathy. It helps them imagine lives beyond their own.”
“And storytelling?” I ask. “Why emphasize that so much alongside reading?”
“Storytelling is the first language of the unconscious. It’s the foundation of how children make sense of symbols, emotions and relationships.”
“Storytelling is the first language of the unconscious. It’s the foundation of how children make sense of symbols, emotions and relationships. It’s also how they begin to connect with their own voice.”
In a culture dominated by quick-fix self-help and algorithm-driven advice, bibliotherapy offers a more enduring path, one rooted in self-reflection and emotional patience.
“It’s accessible,” Shah says. “Not everyone can afford therapy or access it regularly. But with bibliotherapy, you can pick up a book, journal your reflections, or record voice notes, audio journaling. These are powerful tools. Sometimes they carry you between therapy sessions, when you cannot see a therapist but would still like to process your feelings. Sometimes, they are the therapy.”
Still, she acknowledges a concern:
“We do have to be careful not to commodify reading. There’s real value in reading purely for joy. Not every book needs to be ‘for therapy.’ It’s about balance. When you’re reading therapeutically, it should feel like a relationship, not a prescription. You’re reading because you deeply connected to the narrative, perhaps because it resonates with your own life story, or you’re seeking guidance or self-awareness, or you’re simply curious about others who are walking the same path as you, be it fictional or non-fiction. That’s where the magic is.”
Before we end, I ask her the question I’ve been holding back:
“If you had to prescribe just one book to humanity right now, what would it be—and why?”
She laughs, then reflects.
“Apart from my own? That’s a tough one. I don’t like being overly prescriptive because people need different things at different times. But there are a few I always return to: Lori Gottlieb’s Maybe You Should Talk to Someone provides a great insight into therapy, and her therapy client stories will resonate with others, too. Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning is timeless.
“Muriel Barbery’s The Elegance of the Hedgehog, a philosophical novel about finding transcendence and meaning through art, literature, music and aesthetics, is deeply moving. And The Five Love Languages, a simple but powerful book for couples seeking to understand each other better—I use it often in couples’ bibliotherapy. Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things is helpful for exploring trauma, and Kathryn Schulz’s Lost and Found is an insightful read on navigating grief.
“There are countless others I could recommend. But my approach is incredibly personal, there is no one-size-fits-all. All my clients complete a short questionnaire designed to understand their personal needs, interests and reading preferences before I curate a personalized book prescription tailored to them.”
Reading represents relationships
In the end, that’s what Shah returns to again and again: relationship. Whether it’s between reader and book, parent and child, therapist and client, or the reader and their own shadow self, books aren’t passive tools but intimate companions. And when we actively leverage our reading, they can bring about profound therapeutic benefits.
In a world fraying at the seams, Bijal Shah offers something quietly revolutionary.
A return to slowness.
A return to self.
A return to story.
And if you’re listening closely, you might just hear what the page has been whispering all along:
You’re not alone.
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images: Depositphotos except image 2: Bijal Shah, Bibliotherapist & Author, Book Therapy / Photo credit: Alexandra Taibel, Alexandra Photography
