What is Movie Therapy?

Movie Therapy uses movies to engage people in the therapeutic process. Also known as Cinema Therapy, Movie Therapy is flexible and can address various challenges and mental health concerns because a counselor can use so many kinds of movies.

Counselors use Cinema Therapy in individual, group, family, and couples therapy. Depending on a person’s specific concerns, a counselor might choose a movie that demonstrates a particular experience, emotion, situation, or relationship that they think would benefit the client to watch. Then, after they watch the movie, the counselor and client talk about what they saw and learned.

Your therapist might ask you to watch a specific movie that highlights an emotion or experience similar to the one you came to counseling for. Visualizing characters in similar situations and seeing how they deal with emotions can be helpful. It can help you see other perspectives and foster great discussions about feelings within the counseling space.

Movies are also an excellent therapeutic technique to use because so many people have access to watch movies.

Cinema Therapy is particularly effective in couples counseling. If a counselor asks a couple to watch a movie together and then revisit it, answer questions, and communicate about the movie’s messages, this demonstrates the ability to allow couples to grow closer to one another.