Biblio/poetry therapy with other expressive art therapies in overcoming existential crisis

Abstract

The existential crisis has accompanied mankind since its beginnings, especially in the present day, in which the question of the meaning and quality of existence is becoming increasingly pressing, both on an individual and social level. Although the term crisis implies a state of dissatisfaction and distress along with associated emotions such as fear, uncertainty, sadness, hopelessness, etc., this state can also be a motivator for a change of perspective and taking a proactive role in one's own life. In this sense, bibliotherapy or poetry therapy can play an auxiliary role, as they indirectly encourage creativity, imagination, insight and consideration of possible goals and coping strategies for unfavourable life situations. To promote sensitivity, motivation, and an easier interpretation of personal experiences, especially for people with difficulties in verbal communication, the literary text can be used in combination with some other artistic media such as music, sound, movement, dance, drawing, painting, modelling, etc. In this case, it is a kind of a multimodal expressive arts therapy in which different art forms are integrated into a therapeutic relationship. As bibliotherapy and poetry therapy have a large number of contents and themes that can be processed, the other arts make it possible to support affective charging, personal analysis, and cognitive elaboration. In this sense, existing and evolving future multimodal approaches should be considered that incorporate literary texts in combination with some other artistic media in the context of coping with an existential crisis caused by various psychosocial, health and/or socio-global challenges.