Dr. Abel addresses the use of Shakespeare in school counseling settings. Methods include bibliotherapy and applying Shakespeare to the Hunter Method

Abel, Nick R.

English

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Butler University Digital Commons @ Butler University Scholarship and Professional Work – Education College of Education 2014 Shakespeare & School Counseling Nick R. Abel Butler University, nabel@butler.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/coe_papers  Part of the Student Counseling and Personnel Services Commons Recommended Citation Abel, Nick R., "Shakespeare & School Counseling" (2014). Scholarship and Professional Work – Education. 19. https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/coe_papers/19 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Education at Digital Commons @ Butler University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Scholarship and Professional Work – Education by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Butler University. For more information, please contact digitalscholarship@butler.edu. Published on UNIversitas (https://www.uni.edu/universitas)Home > Volume 10, 2014- 2015 > Reviews and Responses > Shakespeare Alive Cluster > Printer-friendly PDFShakespeare and School CounselingBy Nick AbelShakespeare and School CounselingBy Nick AbelIn the ongoing search for therapeutic tools and techniques to use with students from kindergarten through the 12th grade (K-12), it is unlikely that many school counselors have considered the work of William Shakespeare. Generally confined to upper-level high school English classrooms, the work of “The Bard” is more likely to be considered an obstacle for students to overcome than a resource to enhance their academic, career, or personal/social development (Anderson & Anderson, 2003). While Shakespeare may not have a place in every school counseling program, below are some possibilities for using his work in contemporary K-12 settings. Bibliotherapy, which is one way of drawing on literature to address problems, is used widely in both school and clinical mental health settings to assist clients in developing self-awareness, coping with short-term crises, and alleviating the symptoms of disorders such as depression and anxiety (Pehrsson & McMillen, 2010). In the schools, bibliotherapy is often used to help students confront and process common developmental challenges such as moving, parental divorce/separation, grief, and disability. While Shakespearean works are not frequently used in bibliotherapy, a number of educators have found benefits in using them – and the educators have reported success in reaching traditionally difficult groups of students. For example, Anderson and Anderson (2003) suggest that Shakespeare can be used to teach social skills to students with various disabilities. In their paper on the subject, Anderson and Anderson (2003) point out that themes that are highly relevant to adolescents abound in the work of Shakespeare (i.e., parental conflict and social standing in Romeo and Juliet), and that educators can use these themes as “hooks” to elicit student reflection on other aspects of the works, including the consequences of character actions and emotions; ways to deal with conflict; coping mechanisms; and relationships.One specific disability being addressed by researchers through the use of Shakespearean works is autism. In a study being carried out at The Ohio State University (“Shakespeare and Autism,” 2014), specialists in adolescent development are teaming up with students and faculty from the department of theater to study the ameliorative effect of the Hunter Heartbeat Method (Hunter, 2013) on children with autism. The Hunter Method is centered on the use of iambic pentameter that, according to Hunter, mimics the comforting sound of a heartbeat (Hunter, 2013), and facilitates the playing of games that teach communication, recognition of emotion in facial expressions, and social skills. A pilot study on the method provided support for the decades of anecdotal evidence reported by Hunter (2013), and the study is now being carried out in an extended, controlled manner (“Shakespeare and Autism,” 2014). In addition to the socio-developmental benefits described above, at least one study has found evidence that reading challenging literary works, such as those of Shakespeare, also results in neurological benefits. Keidel, Davis, Gonzalez-Diaz, Martin, & Thierry (2013) used neuroimaging to study the brains of participants asked to read Shakespearean passages featuring functional shifts (a change in the expected grammatical use of a word, as in this example from King Lear: “He childed as I fathered.”). According to study co-author Philip Davis, study results indicated that reading such passages provides a “rocket-boost” to the brain by stimulating neural activity in ways that cannot be imitated by reading modern translations or less challenging contemporary texts (“How Reading Shakespeare,” 2013). In particular, the area of the brain associated with autobiographical memory was consistently stimulated in participants, leading the authors to conclude that after processing the meaning of the functional shift, participants attempted to relate the passage to events in their own lives (Keidel et al., 2013). Such findings are potentially useful for school counselors interested in neuroscience and brain-based counseling, as they suggest that simply reading Shakespeare can boost adolescent brain development and help students connect literary themes to their own lives. In addition to the traditional study of Shakespearean texts in English classrooms, the examples above lend credence to the proposition that there is also a place for Shakespeare in the school counselor’s office. Studies such as those cited herein show that The Bard’s work is just as useful and relevant today as it was in centuries past, but it is up to the creative school counselor to figure out exactly how to utilize these important works in his or her practice.ReferencesAnderson, P.L., & Anderson, J.D. (2003, April). Bibliotherapy for Adolescents with Learning Disabilities: Addressing Social Skills through Shakespearean Literature. Paper presented at the International Art Therapy Conference, Budapest, Hungary. Retrieved from http://arttherapy.worldcongress.hu/admin/kepek/downloads/3aderso.doc [1]How reading Shakespeare and Wordsworth offer better therapy than self-help books (2013, January 14). Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2261636/Reading-Shakespeare-Wordsworth-offer-better-therapy-self-help-books.html [2]Hunter, K. (2013, February). Shakespeare and autism. Teaching Shakespeare, 3, 8-10. Retrieved from http://www.kellyhunter.co.uk [3]Keidel, J. L., Davis, P. M., Gonzalez-Diaz, V., Martin, C. D., & Thierry, G. (2013). How Shakespeare tempests the brain: Neuroimaging results. Cortex, 49(4), 913-919.Pehrsson, D., McMillen, P. S. (2010). A national survey of bibliotherapy preparation and practices of professional counselors. Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 5(4), 412-425.Shakespeare and autism (2014). Retrieved from http://nisonger.osu.edu/shakespeare-autism [4]Source URL: https://www.uni.edu/universitas/article/shakespeare-and-school-counselingLinks:[1] http://arttherapy.worldcongress.hu/admin/kepek/downloads/3aderso.doc[2] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2261636/Reading-Shakespeare-Wordsworth-offer-better-therapy-self-help-books.html[3] http://www.kellyhunter.co.uk[4] http://nisonger.osu.edu/shakespeare-autism

Shakespeare & School Counseling

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Shakespeare & School Counseling

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