The contribution of bibliotherapy to the counseling of aggressive boys

This study investigated the contribution of bibliotherapy to the counseling of aggressive boys by novice counselors in Israel. Counseling for all children was provided within an integrative model (Hill, 2005); bibliotherapy was added as adjunct to the counseling process only in 1 group. Boys from 24 classrooms (3 per class) were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 conditions: integrative counseling (IC), integrative counseling plus bibliotherapy (ICB), or no counseling. Results of the comparison among the 3 conditions indicated reduced aggression and increased empathy in both IC and ICB conditions compared with the control condition. A difference between IC and ICB conditions was found for empathy and therapist satisfaction, with higher gains in ICB. In the ICB condition, boys also demonstrated higher stages of change (Prochaska, 1999) and had higher frequencies of insight and therapeutic change (Hill, 2005) compared with boys in the IC condition.