To break the common stereotype about depression-related books, the Counseling Center of National Chung Cheng University (CCU) and /m-plus/ Digital Publishing Technology jointly released a picture book, The Bubble Academy, which depicts complex aspects of depression with accessible graphics. CCU indicated that they hope this picture book can work as an alternative to other books containing more in-depth knowledge of depression and become an easy-reading reference book for everyone to read. The Bubble Academy was recently displayed in an exhibition at the CCU Library. And it will be available as a digital audiobook on the website of the CCU Counseling Center for the general public to read online for free.

Dr. Min-Hung Teng, the Director of the CCU Counseling Center and a professor of the Department of Psychology at CCU, said that The Bubble Academy uses a lot of metaphors. For example, in the picture book, everyone has a bubble on their heads, which symbolizes personal difficulties. The bubble is only visible to themselves but invisible to other people. It is similar to how we cannot tell someone’s worries just by looking at their appearance. We can only see our troubles. The CCU Counseling Center mentioned that most picture books are colorful, while The Bubble Academy is only illustrated in three colors: pink, blue, and yellow. Pink and blue are used to portray the characters in the story and the different emotions they experience in their daily lives, whereas blue and yellow are used to illustrate the scenes and background of the story. 

It is worth mentioning that the story setting of The Bubble Academy conveys practical experiences in psychotherapy. To cite an instance, the Bubble Auction parallels the process of how psychotherapists assist people to cope with their hardships. The Bubble Processing Team even represents not only the CCU Counseling Center but also the Office of Student Affairs, the departments, the teachers at CCU, student parents, peers, and other related individuals who help people go through their hardest times. Besides, the book includes four concepts in psychotherapy: universality, negative cognition of people suffering from depression, using cognitive modification methods to deal with problems, and negative cognitive schema modification, with a visualized story that makes readers understand effortlessly.

Regarding the creative process of The Bubble Academy, Dr. Teng indicated that they gained inspiration from the experience of how counselors at the CCU Counseling Center interact and talk with their children. They discovered that by providing illustrations, parents can make it easier for children to understand difficult concepts than through textual explanations. The CCU Counseling Center spent more than a year discussing the content with /m-plus/ Digital Publishing Technology every week to produce this picture book and make it an accessible reference book about depression.

“Some people are not prepared to reveal the difficulties they encounter in their lives to their families. Therefore, this book can work as a way for them to express their emotions better.” Dr. Teng noted that this picture book not only makes the public understand depression easier but also lets people suffering from depression voice their thoughts and seek help on their own initiative. The CCU Counseling Center hoped that through this picture book, they could put the university’s spirit of helping others into practice and bring new hope to people who are in need.

“The picture book is not exclusively made for students and faculty members at CCU but for everyone who suffers from depression and wants to know more about depression. It conveys the message of encouraging people to face up to depression and pluck up the courage to ask for others’ help.” Su-Fen Chu, a psychotherapist at the CCU Counseling Center, said. Additionally, the CCU Counseling Center not only provides an online counseling service reservation system on its official website for students and faculty members at CCU who are in need but also provides counseling resources from Chia-Yi Christian Hospital of the Ditmanson Medical Foundation every Friday, creating a caring and friendly atmosphere on campus.