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Attorney Andrea Sonnenberg joins us to delve into the transformative power of bibliotherapy. Join us as we explore how literature can be a potent tool for addressing mental health challenges, offering insights and solutions for individuals and communities alike.

Andrea Sonnenberg is an attorney.

She discusses the KevinMD article, “The power of bibliotherapy to heal.”

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Transcript

Kevin Pho: Hi, and welcome to the show. Subscribe at KevinMD.com/podcast, get CME for this episode by clicking on the CME link in the show notes. Today we welcome Andrea Sonnenberg. She’s an attorney, and she’s the author of the book Panda’s Helping Paw. Today’s KevinMD article is titled “The power of bibliotherapy to heal.” Andrea, welcome to the show.

Andrea Sonnenberg: Thank you, it’s so nice to be here.

Kevin Pho: So let’s start by briefly sharing your story and journey to where you are today.

Andrea Sonnenberg: Sure. So as you mentioned, I’m a lawyer, and I founded a literacy and enrichment program for underserved students. So working for many years in underserved communities, bringing literacy and improving literacy for these kids, I really was able to see firsthand how literacy transformed these kids and their lives and was able to give them opportunities.

Sadly, almost six years ago, on the 13th it’ll actually be six years, I lost a son, a 21-year-old son who had struggled with mental health issues from childhood. And as you can imagine, it was quite devastating and really changed me and my life. I shattered into a million little pieces, and I had to put myself back together like Humpty Dumpty. But I didn’t put myself back together the same way. You’re never the same after losing a child.

And I realized that what I needed to go forward was to try to do something to heal the world in memory of my son, to elevate his legacy. And so with my background in law and my background in literacy, and realizing the power and transformation that can occur through literacy, I realized that I wanted to write a children’s book about mental health, because that was the subject that was on my mind, and be able to share the message of awareness, education, stigma reduction, empathy, all those kinds of things, to be able to share that with the world.

And part of it was because there was no such book that existed when my son was young, and I realized it would have been nice to be able to have that, to share with the family, to share with caregivers, to share with schools, and to be able to really connect with a community as well around this shared experience. So that’s really sort of my story and what brought me to writing Panda’s Helping Paw.

Kevin Pho: So you mentioned that during childhood, mental health issues aren’t typically discussed, and that’s one of the reasons of course why you wrote the book. Talk about some of the stigma that’s involved with that.

Andrea Sonnenberg: I like to say that it’s changing, it’s definitely changing and it’s definitely getting better, and young people are much more open about accepting therapy and medication and talking about it. But there still is a stigma.

And when my son was young I was very private about the fact that he was struggling, and I was concerned that people would look down on him, or they would hold it against him, and it would prevent him from getting into schools that he wanted to get into. And something that I realized back then, and something that I really espouse now, is we need to equate mental and physical illness. They’re the same, they just happen to impact different parts of the body.

And what I would always say was that when there was a physical illness, everybody brought cakes and casseroles, and when there was a mental illness, there were whispers and silence, and people would talk behind my back, and people tried to get us kicked out of school, tried to get my son kicked out of school. Even a friend who was a physician, even a very good friend, instead of coming to us and saying, what is the problem and can I help, he went to the school and said, this child shouldn’t be in this school, he’s impacting other children.

So yes, there was definitely stigma, and it is really important that we learn to equate the two types of illness. And I think, again, like I said, we’ve come a long way. But that’s part of the reason that I wrote the book as well, because it talks about Bunny, the main character, and he’s hurting on the inside as opposed to hurting on the outside. And at the beginning of the book Elephant gets hurt on the outside, his trunk gets hurt, he has a Band-Aid, everybody sees it, and we’re all, oh, and everybody’s bringing cakes and casseroles. It really was my story, everybody’s bringing the cakes and casseroles. And when Bunny’s hurt on the inside, no one’s doing anything. And so that’s really kind of what I experienced, and it was my story.

And I love to share this lovely story about a friend. When I explained this to a friend years later, she brought me this beautiful crystal rose and said, this is my casserole. Like, I am bringing this to you as my casserole, as my loving thought and care and concern about what you’re going through.

Kevin Pho: Your KevinMD article is titled “The power of bibliotherapy to heal.” So tell us about this article.

Andrea Sonnenberg: So as I mentioned, because of my immersion in the world of literacy, I realized how impactful it can be. And so I started doing research and I said, is this a phenomenon that I’ve just experienced, or is this a thing? And it’s really a thing. In the ancient days, the ancient Greeks, the sign on their library said healing for the soul. So it’s always, for years and back in ancient history, was a place of healing.

And so the thing that’s so wonderful about bibliotherapy is that it’s something that is very low-tech. Something that I really am espousing in my advocacy journey is the need for low-tech solutions. We are short on mental health professionals, and we have a huge crisis particularly with children, so we’ve got to figure out ways for people to have access. Low cost, low-tech, easily available.

Bibliotherapy is something that parents can do in their home with children, that they don’t need a mental health professional, they don’t need any high-tech solution. They can read a book with their child and they can discuss issues. And then there’s a ripple effect beyond just the parent, because then the parent learns about it, the parent can share it with a friend, the parent can share it with a caregiver, the parent can share it with a teacher.

So I think it’s really important because it’s such a simple solution. And also, parents care so much about their child, they are really going to take it seriously and try really hard, and they’re with their child every day. So if a child is in therapy it’s once a week, a few times a month, whereas a parent is with a child every day. So it’s something that can really be reinforced, and it just offers incredible therapeutic potential in the mental health landscape, in a very low-tech and easily accessible solution. Libraries are available, we can make libraries into wellness centers. That’s sort of my long-term vision.

And by exposing children to diverse characters and scenarios, they learn to understand differences, they learn to understand what they’re going through, and it enhances their emotional intelligence and their social skills. It also leads to early intervention. You raise awareness, you teach parents, they sort of can say, oh, maybe this is something that’s going on with my child and I need to take the child to a specialist and see if there’s a diagnosis.

So it helps kids, even if your own child is not suffering, it helps with empathy. If your child is suffering, it helps with understanding. And it’s just important for us all to be aware. Just like we want to understand if a child is suffering with a physical ailment, we want to understand and be sympathetic if a child is impacted by a mental ailment as well.

Kevin Pho: So tell us a story or a case study that really showcases the impact bibliotherapy can have.

Andrea Sonnenberg: So I do a lot of readings in schools, and I bring puppets that look like the characters of the animals. It’s interesting, I decided to write about animals instead of people. Kids can kind of relate to the animals, and it makes them kind of more open and they don’t feel as judged.

And so I go to schools, and I have discussion questions in the back of the book. I also have a free curriculum that’s on my website that you can download and utilize the curriculum with the book. And when I go to schools I watch kids’ eyes light up, I watch them feel comfortable, I watch them connect and really open up to me, a stranger, open up to me. So imagine how they would open up to someone that’s a loved one or someone that is close to them, about something that they’re struggling with, or about a way they can help someone else who’s struggling, or about a way that they can try to be.

And this is really kind of the most important thing, and something that I really learned through my journey: they’re not alone. They’re not alone, and a lot of other people are going through what they’re going through.

Kevin Pho: What are some ways health care professionals can incorporate bibliotherapy as part of a regimen?

Andrea Sonnenberg: They can have a list of books that are on related topics, and they can share these books with their patients. They can recommend that parents read. We know that reading increases cognitive ability, we know that, but now we know it reduces stress. Research backs this up. It reduces stress, it reduces depression, it creates connectivity, all these kinds of things.

So these professionals can recommend books to their children, not just read to your kids but read books that are on these topics, and there are books on these topics now, and engage in discussion with your children about these books. Join book groups. Encourage your families to encourage their teachers to incorporate these kinds of books into school. Let’s discuss these things and raise awareness, so that it just becomes as commonplace as talking about a cold or a broken bone or diabetes or any of these kinds of ailments that children experience. It’s just as common, and it’s just as comfortable to talk about it, and it’s just as understood and accepted as those other kinds of ailments.

Kevin Pho: Now, for those parents who may be listening here, where can they find lists of these books, and what are some examples of topics of books that would lend itself to bibliotherapy?

Andrea Sonnenberg: You can google books on mental health, you will find it on the internet quite easily. There are books on depression, there are books on anxiety, there are books on fears, there are books on even personality disorders. It’s age appropriate, so depending on the level.

Like my book Panda’s Helping Paw is really about depression, because it’s meant for kids pre-K to about third grade. I don’t use the word depression, I use hurting on the inside, that’s the concept. And then as kids get older, there’s no shame in the word depression at all, I just think it might be hard for them to understand. So as the kids age, then we start using more descriptive language.

I actually wrote a second book since that article, and it’s called Elephant’s Big Climb, and it’s about anxiety. Elephant has to climb the rope in gym class and is very anxious about climbing the rope. And I actually do use the word anxiety in that book, because I think it’s pretty understandable and relatable, and we talk about calming techniques and we talk about yoga, and one of the characters’ moms happens to be a yoga instructor. So again, trying to incorporate how accepted this is, and to normalize the topic.

So the books are everywhere. You can always look, my website is GettingThroughTogether.com, and we list books, and like I mentioned we have curriculum available on my website as well. So go out and check it out and bring these books to your kids.

Kevin Pho: You mentioned that you’re looking for low-tech approaches, obviously specifically with books. I have two teenage daughters, and as you can imagine they’re always on their devices and phones. So how can you get kids to break away from all of these high tech influences and go for a more low-tech solution like paper books?

Andrea Sonnenberg: It’s hard. I mean, it’s really hard. Like even as a grown-up, do I watch Netflix or do I read a book? I mean, we’ve got to be honest. I think the way to do it is quality and fantastic content.

And I also think book clubs are incredible. If you can encourage kids to join book clubs, because connectivity is what’s so important. The most important thing that I learned since losing my son, and through this journey, has been how important community is, and how important it is to share your story, and how important it is to find others that are going through similar experiences that you are. I actually formed a support group, a grief support group, when I lost my son, and it was life-changing for me. So to the extent that young people can read books that their peers are reading and they can share about it, I think it could be incredibly powerful.

I also think that, I mean, there are positives about social media. We all know all the negatives, but there are positives in terms of connectivity. And there’s an incredible app now that’s out called Teen Talk, and what it does is it connects teens with other teens, where the teen is sort of the therapist, but they’re not a therapist obviously, and they’re trained by a therapist and they’re supervised by a therapist. But it enables teens to talk to teens in a manner that they can relate to, because they text, they don’t talk, they text.

So I think things like that, I kind of incorporate that as a low-tech solution. There are ways for our kids to be able to, beyond just typical therapy and medications, be able to share with other teens, to share what they’re going through, realize they’re not alone, get advice, and relate in a way that they can’t relate to adults or people that are older than them. So that’s what I would recommend.

Kevin Pho: We’re talking to Andrea Sonnenberg. She’s an attorney and she’s the author of Panda’s Helping Paw. Today’s KevinMD article is titled “The power of bibliotherapy to heal.” Andrea, let’s end with some of your take-home messages that you’d like to leave with the KevinMD audience.

Andrea Sonnenberg: I guess I would like to say how important it is to realize that we’re a community, and that we have to be supportive of each other, and we have to understand that everybody’s on a journey. And if we can connect with each other through whatever means necessary, but in this case I’m saying let’s connect through storytelling, we will be able to understand each other, and we will be able to raise awareness, and we will be able to push for solutions.

And so I think, as a very low-tech basic way to start on this path, is to read books with our kids about a topic that can be a little taboo. But let’s read about it, let’s share about it, let’s discuss it, so that we can make it less taboo and we can head on that path towards helping more people heal.

Kevin Pho: Andrea, thank you so much for sharing your time and insight, and thanks again for coming on the show.

Andrea Sonnenberg: Thank you, it’s my pleasure. Thanks for having me.