Hi! I'm Bijal, a book curator, bibliotherapist and author of the book, Bibliotherapy: The Healing Power of Reading. I'm also a freelance journalist, a writer, a counsellor, and a voracious reader. After a decade-plus career in Investment Banking, having completed a post-graduate diploma in Psychodynamic Counselling and Psychotherapy, I launched my own bibliotherapy and literary curation practice.

BIBLIOTHERAPY PRACTICE

Bibliotherapy is "an art therapy that leverages the power of stories to heal. It's magic lies in the relationship formed between the reader and the writing, fiction or non-fiction, poetry or essay, and the reflection of the thoughts, feelings, observations and lessons that the writing provokes, through a daily journaling practice ("literary journaling") or counselling."

Here at Book Therapy, we now offer bibliotherapy training and bibliotherapy sessions (for individuals and couples, which includes unlimited email or text support for two weeks following our session). We also create bespoke personalised book prescriptions - either for therapeutic or personal interest purposes.

LITERARY CURATION SERVICE

My book recommendations have featured in the Guardian, BBC Culture, Marie Claire, NBC News, Sydney Telegraph, Reader's Digest, Asian Voice, The New York Observer and various other publications. Our personalised reading service is unique and intended to save you time and money so that you can focus on what you love most: reading. 

Time's precious - on average we may only read 2000 books in our lifetime and for some people it might be a fraction of that. Should we then focus on reading books that will help us, entertain us or benefit us in some way? Should we be more mindful and strategic about what we read? 

Book Therapy's personalised reading service focuses on creating a truly personalised book prescription (detailed, tailored book recommendations) for my clients based on questions that explore your interests, needs and circumstances and your reading habits. The book prescriptions and book boxes can be gifted too and make a great gift for any book lover.

Each book box comes with 5 hand-picked books and a gift card, whilst the book prescription includes a minimum of 7 - 10 book recommendations with details of the book and how they might help you. The latter is a prescription-only service with books not included.

From a young age, books were my saviour, soothing my soul during difficult transitions, family conflicts, moving countries, childhood anxieties, teenage angst, complicated relationships and navigating the competitive world of work. They have given me so much and I want to give back and find the right book apt for a specific moment in your life when you need it the most. 

Trawling the internet, bookstores or libraries to discover books that you may or may not enjoy can be time-consuming and fails to consider all the possible books within a given genre or category. A considered and customised book prescription or book box is likely to be more effective and beneficial. 

Prefer to self-prescribe or interested in bibliotherapy and mental health? Check out our online course that serves as a comprehensive guide on the practice of bibliotherapy using case studies of readers’ self-transformation through life-changing experiences of literature.

In this role I have had the opportunity to publish a book called Bibliotherapy: The Healing Power of Reading, and write various literary essays and pieces for newspapers and magazines. I have undertaken bibliotherapy workshops for The United Nations, various libraries in New York and corporate organisations in the UK and US.

You can find out a little bit more about me here including my qualifications. I also give out my best content and writing free which you can check out here on the blog or the free A-Z Book Prescriptions for Adults and Children. Feel free to also check out my paid, published work: 15-minute non-fiction reads, literary guides and literary travel guides. Also the FAQs are worth a read too.

I love a challenge, so please send me your most perplexing book dilemmas — I can’t wait to dive in and find the perfect book(s) for you.

Bijal