Bibliotherapy in unipolar depression: A meta-analysis

In the last decades, several therapies for unipolar depression have been developed, for example cognitive therapy, behavior therapy and pharmacotherapy. A new kind of therapy is bibliotherapy. What is new in this treatment modality is not the content, because bibliotherapy usually uses a cognitive-behavioral approach. Only the form in which it is presented is new. In bibliotherapy the patient takes a standardized treatment home, in book form, and works it through more or less independently. Contacts with therapists are only supportive or facilitative. No traditional relationship between therapist and patient is developed. In this article the relevance of bibliotherapy for the clinical practice is presented and a meta-analysis of the research into bibliotherapy is described. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.