Movie Therapy

Movie therapy is a wonderful way of combining entertainment with healing.  Movies tell stories that we, the audience relates to.  We see ourselves, hear our voices, and even feel the emotions of the actors and actresses.  Their problems are our problems and our problems are their problems.  Movies present us ideas of how to better handle our problems as well as understandings of how not to deal with our problems.  When working with clients who are alcoholic I will often recommend they watch the movie “My Name is Bill W,” or when working with a client who was abused I might recommend the film, “Nuts.”  While in graduate school studying for my social work degree, the professor for psychopathology had us right mental health summaries on movie characters.  The work that came out of that assingment was interesting and provocative.  I wrote about Maude from the movie “Herold and Maude.”  Good movies, like all well told stories, have the power to shed light on the perplexing, and to heal.

For more information on movies as therapy take a look at The Motion Picture Prescription by Gary Solomon at: http://www.aslanpublishing.com/aslan/books/motion-picture-prescription.html.