eneral sychology Bibliotherapy Recently, several self-help techniques have been developed that clients implement for themselves with minimal or no therapist assistance. The techniques occasionally have been referred to as bibliotherapy because the techniques are conveyed to potential clients in written form, usually self-help books or manuals that can readily be bought in the store or are available at a clinic. Bibliotherapy, or the use of self-help manuals, has been applied to an extraordinary range of problems including fear reduction, overeating, cigarette smoking, social skills, toilet accidents, sexual dysfunction, excessive alcohol consumption, and others (Glasgow & Rosen, 1979). The techniques included in these manuals encompass a variety of procedures, alone and in combination. The manuals describe in a step-by-step fashion how the clients should proceed to alter his or her own problem. One of the most widely circulated self-help manuals is designed for parents who wish to toilet train their children quickly (Azrin & Foxx, 1974). The manual includes a series of procedures based upon many of the techniques that have been reviewed: prompting, positive practice, reinforcement, and so on. Instructions, edible rewards, praise, feedback, guidance and occasional punishment (positive practice) are intertwined to develop the child's self-initiation of toileting skills. The specific procedures on which the manual is based have been carefully researched in experimental studies where the method has been found to produce rapid results. Indeed, the manual suggests that toilet training can be conducted in "less than a day" (average time about four hours).       Next Study Question   General Home Page   URL: http://www1.appstate.edu/~beckhp/ Layout and Design © 2001, H. P. Beck Revised--January 1, 2001

eneral

sychology

Bibliotherapy

Recently, several self-help techniques have been developed that clients implement for themselves with minimal or no therapist assistance. The techniques occasionally have been referred to as bibliotherapy because the techniques are conveyed to potential clients in written form, usually self-help books or manuals that can readily be bought in the store or are available at a clinic. Bibliotherapy, or the use of self-help manuals, has been applied to an extraordinary range of problems including fear reduction, overeating, cigarette smoking, social skills, toilet accidents, sexual dysfunction, excessive alcohol consumption, and others (Glasgow & Rosen, 1979). The techniques included in these manuals encompass a variety of procedures, alone and in combination. The manuals describe in a step-by-step fashion how the clients should proceed to alter his or her own problem.

One of the most widely circulated self-help manuals is designed for parents who wish to toilet train their children quickly (Azrin & Foxx, 1974). The manual includes a series of procedures based upon many of the techniques that have been reviewed: prompting, positive practice, reinforcement, and so on. Instructions, edible rewards, praise, feedback, guidance and occasional punishment (positive practice) are intertwined to develop the child's self-initiation of toileting skills. The specific procedures on which the manual is based have been carefully researched in experimental studies where the method has been found to produce rapid results. Indeed, the manual suggests that toilet training can be conducted in "less than a day" (average time about four hours).
 
 
 

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