Towards Therapeutic Reading : part II: the interactive process of reading

Abstract

Reading offers an opportunity to become close to another person, to be absorbed in another person’s words, experi- ence the world in another person’s shoes, and see through someone else’s eyes. A great deal of research has been car- ried out into reading and the effects of reading and much has been written on the topic, but there is no common understanding of the interactive state that reading brings about. What really happens when we read? To answer this question, I turned to bibliotherapy theory and research on reading in the field of literary studies with the aim of gain- ing a greater understanding of the processes of therapeutic reading.