Literary counseling is the practice of restructuring self narratives and reflecting on oneself through the receptive component of Bibliotherapy and the expressive component of Poetry Therapy. In the past, literature was defined primarily as poiesis or the act of evaluating value by assessing the end result. However, literature can also be defined as praxis, a process that accrues meaning in itself. This new definition is based on Hanna Arendt`s distinction between “work” and “action.” Literary counseling combines Arendt`s definition of literature as praxis and Irvin D. Yalom`s theory of counseling. Counseling in literary counseling is more than the expression of support and sympathy for the subject in pain. literary counseling seeks to prod the client to search for the fundamental causes of the problems he or she is experiencing. As the counselor and the client work together, they attempt to confront the existential condition with courage and recognize the social and historical context that gave rise to the problems. Reading of literary texts plays a key role in this process of confrontation and recognition. The client can then attempt to restructure his or her Self by giving metaphorical expression to the Self and the problems. The performativity of literary expression can result in the metamorphosis of the subject. This involves not only writing but the sharing of writing, the giving of feedback either between the counselor and the client or between clients (in the case of group therapy). Literary counseling prompts pained subjects to actively express themselves and relate with others, allowing them to make themselves visible and in this process realizing literary democracy.