Living your life is a long and dodgy business…and stories and books help. Some help you with the living itself. Some help you just take a break. The best do both at the same time. (A.Fine, Goggle-Eyes, 1990, p.139)

About the Project

This project was born out of a series of discussions between Dr. McMillen and Dr. Pehrsson, who are both passionate about literature, learning and teaching. They share a rich professional background of experiences in mental health and health care. They have been collaborating on research, teaching, professional presentations, and grant writing since 1999. They believe in the enormous power of literature and stories as therapeutic tools. They are committed to assisting emerging and seasoned practitioners in the effective and competent use of literature with clients in therapy. They are also committed to facilitating readers' access to literature without creating a financial burden. This project is an ongoing effort to connect individuals with reading material that can promote personal and/or professional growth in these areas.

Presentations & Publications on the Bibliotherapy Evaluation Tool & Project

Competent bibliotherapy: Preparing counselors to use literature with culturally diverse clients. Dale E. Pehrsson & Paula McMillen. Published in Vistas 2006 Online by the American Counseling Association.

"Competent Bibliotherapy: Preparing counselors who use literature to beculturally responsive." Dale E. Pehrsson & Paula McMillen. Workshop presentation, American Counseling Association annual convention: Montreal, Canada, April 2006.

"Advocating for Clinicians, Students and Clients: The Bibliotherapy Education Project ©." Dale E. Pehrsson & Paula McMillen. Workshop, PsySR-CSJ (Psychologists for Social Responsibility and Counselors for Social Justice) Conference, Portland, OR, May 2005.

"Empowering young women: Looking beyond the words." Mary Gauntz, Dale E. Pehrsson & Beth Wasylow. Presentation, OSU Conference on Gender and Culture, Corvallis, OR, April 2005.

"A bibliotherapy evaluation tool: Grounding counselors in the therapeutic use of literature." Dale Pehrsson & Paula McMillen. The Arts in Psychotherapy, Vol 32 (1), 47-59, 2005. (a preprint version)

"Competent counselor practice for use of Bibliotherapy." Dale E. Pehrsson & Paula McMillen. WACES Wire (Western Assoc. for Counselor Education & Supervision newsletter), 43 (2), 1, 5-6, Winter 2005. (invited reprint)

“Bibliotherapy Education Project.” Paula McMillen & Dale Pehrsson. Panel presentation, Hawaii International Conference on Arts & Humanities, Honolulu , Jan. 2005.

"Counselor practice guidelines for use of Bibliotherapy." Dale E. Pehrsson. Counseling Today, Feb. 2005.

"Bibliotherapy: A collaboration goes to the Web." Paula McMillen & Dale Pehrsson. Poster presentation at American Library Association, Orlando, FL, June 2004. http://www.library.unlv.edu/faculty/research/bibliotherapy/documents/ALA Bibliotherapy Poster 2004 final.ppt

"The Bibliotherapy Education Project: A collaborative teaching effort goes to the Web." Paula S. McMillen. Accepted for publication to Behavioral & Social Sciences Librarian (scheduled for v. 23, n. 2, Spring 2005).

"Speciality of the house: Bibliotherapy for hospital patients." Paula McMillen & Dale Pehrsson. Journal of Hospital Librarianship, 4 (1), 73-82, 2004. (invited article)

"Competent counselor practice for use of Bibliotherapy." Dale E. Pehrsson & Paula McMillen. The Counselor (Oregon Counseling Assoc. newsletter), 15 (6), p. 1, 7, June 2004. (invited article)

"BET Your Books." Dale Pehrsson & Paula McMillen. Presentation to ACES (Association for Counselor Education & Supervision) annual conference, Oct. 2002. http://osulibrary.oregonstate.edu/staff/mcmillenp/ACESBiblio.ppt

"Bibliotherapy: A Collaborative Teaching and Research Project." Dale Pehrsson & Paula McMillen. Presentation to Western Association for Counselor Education & Supervision (WACES) annual conference, Nov., 2001 http://osulibrary.oregonstate.edu/staff/mcmillenp/waces/
WACESBiblio_files/frame.htm

"Bibliotherapy: A Collaborative Project for Training Counseling Students to Evaluate Literature." Paula McMillen & Dale Pehrsson

• - presentation for the OSU Libraries Faculty Seminar series, May 2001. http://osulibrary.oregonstate.edu/staff/mcmillenp/bibliotherapy

• - poster session for the Library Instruction Round Table at American Library Assoc. annual conference, June 2001. http://osulibrary.oregonstate.edu/staff/mcmillenp/biblio

• - presentation to joint annual conference of Oregon Library Assoc./ Washington Library Assoc., April 2002