Long after being bullied, many individuals find it difficult to leave their bullying experiences behind and have difficulty confidently move forward with their lives. Memories of being bullied often remain as an agitation that detracts from personal happiness and wellbeing. This study included 10 female and three male undergraduate students who reported experiencing mild to moderate bulling during childhood. Participants were self-proclaimed Harry Potter fans. All participants reported previously reading the entire Harry Potter book series. As a reframing strategy to address past bullying experiences, this research utilized bibliotherapy in addition to scriptotherapy. Participants selected one chapter from the Harry Potter series, one that they were already familiar with and that included bullying situations. They rewrote the chapter, inserting themselves as a character into the story with the original characters. In re-writing the chapter, participants built and maintained constructive peer relationships with familiar characters in the Harry Potter series. They inserted themselves into their selected chapter as standing up against the story’s characters who were portrayed as bullies. Based on feedback from participant interviews, individuals reported that the writing experience supported them in reframing their painful memories of bullying. They perceived themselves in a proactive position, and thus perceived the experience in a more positive light. In turn, this experience of reframing their personal story supported them in mitigating the unsettling and painful memories of bullying that they experienced during adolescence. Based on the participants’ feedback, recommendations are made for mental health professionals to more effectively intervene with youth who experience bullying. The combined strategies of bibliotherapy and scriptotherapy support individuals’ reframing of their past bullying experiences. Although this research was conducted with youth who were Harry Potter fans, youth who struggle with other challenges may also benefit from a combination of bibliotherapy and scriptotherapy. When youth identify with characters in children’s literature, this relationship with fictional characters may form the foundation for reframing and rethinking past challenges. Youth who enjoy writing and expressing themselves in creative ways may be especially open to scriptotherapy.

This essay is a literary analysis of the childhood sexual abuse trauma in The Perks of Being a Wallflower and its possible usefulness in the EFL classroom. Previous scholarly work has lacked in discussing how abuser closeness and a female perpetrator have affected the main character Charlie’s trauma. Therefore, theories regarding female perpetrated sexual assault and betrayal trauma have been applied and it has been concluded that many of the harmful effects of these theories correspond with Charlie’s behaviours. By reading and working with the novel through critical pedagogy, which according to Antero Garcia concerns exploring what is beneath surface level, students are offered multiple ways in which they can deal with their emotions whilst improving their language skills (96). In addition, trauma-informed teaching can be used for students to understand trauma consequences, implied trauma and to prevent students being retraumatized. The epistolary format also shows students that reading and writing about one’s emotions, through bibliotherapy and scriptotherapy, can improve one’s mental health and help one feel less alone in experiencing difficult situations or emotions.