Cinematherapy is a unique and intuitive form of expressive therapy that is increasing in popularity. Cinematherapy can be involved under professional care within group therapy or individually, or accessed alone from the comfort of your own home through your TV. This form of therapy is approached through the inspiration films provide to viewers, invoking personal evolution or inviting emotional release. Whether watching prescribed films as part of psychotherapy or engaging with cinematherapy individually for self-help purposes, it offers a perspective for evaluating a film’s emotions alongside one’s own feelings and resolutions.
In the scope of cinematherapy, the plots of films and shows selected are chosen to help viewers unpack their similar emotions or confront a similar past experience. The method of cinematherapy employs the plot, the score, and the imagery of films to assist patients in assessing their own experience in a way they may feel more inclined to lean into their vulnerable side, witnessing characters undergo a change, or feeling struck by an inspirational film.
Cinematherapy is especially helpful to those in recovery from addiction. May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and a great time to commemorate how new helpful healing techniques are being brought forth from technologies such as films, television, and phone apps to better mental health. Cinematherapy goes far beyond just a ‘comfort show,’ but takes on a similar feeling. Movies and shows in which characters face adversity and come out the other side stronger or having learned a hard lesson can truly help people feel seen or understood. Recovery can be incredibly isolating. Film is something that generally unites people, and cinematherapy goes above and beyond to help people take steps to heal.
Watching movies and TV shows intentionally, like an assignment, can help people identify their triggers, what aligns with them, and what they might want to change in their own lives. It can be helpful to see similar circumstances played out on a screen.
Will Ganss, an ABC reporter, recently shared with Good Morning America, “In this Alcohol Awareness month, there’s growing momentum behind cinematherapy, which is using film and TV to spark some real-world recovery.” He even nods to his own recovery and says that films not only help one better understand what they’re going through, but also equip those who are struggling with improved ways to communicate that.
There are things you don’t know how to say until you hear someone else say them and movies really offer a chance for that to happen.
Will Ganss in an interview with Christopher Rudd (@moviesaretherapy) on GMA
Ganss also mentions The Outrun as a great example of a movie that can help those in recovery who are experiencing similar withdrawals and feelings. Good Morning America also highlights It’s a Wonderful Life and Good Will Hunting, as two other great classics that can be used with cinematherapy, as well as A Star is Born, which has been used in support groups including one called Recovery Movie Meetups which fosters conversations surrounding the film chosen for each weekly topic.
In an article with Psychology Today, Licensed therapist, Elisabeth J. LaMotte, describes how Jesse Eisenberg’s 2024 film, A Real Pain, offers some comfort and understanding to people processing grief and shared trauma and the anxiety and depression that surround that kind of loss.
YouTube even has a channel called Cinematherapy devoted to a licensed therapist unpacking various film clips ranging all genres that offer this kind of therapy. This channel provides snippets of different films and shows, and you can witness the therapists’ real-time reactions and commentary. This is such a great and helpful self-help exercise, and an affordable way to gain insight from a licensed therapist. It can help grant perspective into one’s own life situation based on the commentary from these therapists. This kind of channel can truly help people who might be navigating tough situations privately.
Additionally, it can help people deal with difficulties presented by loved ones. Some videos teach people how to spot gaslighting in films and recognize signs of abuse, which could help prevent people from falling further into a bad relationship.
There is even an index on Cinematherapy.com that can help people locate movies related to a particular challenging issue they may be facing, and create a sense of community for them. Cinematherapy is a great avenue for people to learn more about their own experience through film and can help people be more introspective when fostered intentionally. Based on traditional therapeutic principles, Cinematherapy consists of consciously watching films within guidelines related to a particular issue that will aid you in growth or recovery and help you find understanding, closure, or the encouragement you may be looking for.
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