film-therapy

["Hill, Sean" <shill@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

All of the movies folks have suggested are very good and very graphic
portrayals of a number of problems: alcoholism, sexual abuse, pedophilia,
rape, suicide, trauma, incest, abandonment, domestic violence, drug
dependency, etc.   I am an avid movie person and have a bent toward movies
that a majority of folks I have talked to find, well, kinda morbid and dark.
Even given that, certain images from many of the films mentioned stuck with
me for a long time.   Over time, continual exposure to these hyper-real
graphic films I believe kinda erode the soul a little. Taken together, they
also tend to build an alternate version of reality that has very little
that's good in it.


I would recommend showing only one film and that more time be spent
processing the film than actually viewing it.   For some audiences/clients,
you might want to stop a lot of these films frequently for mini-processing
and to check how folks are doing.   If used in a therapy setting, you should
be sure you know the central theme of the movie and make sure it fits with
the topical nature of the group.   If you have audience/client members who
are prone to ruminations, obsessions, borderline qualities, perhaps
delusions you might not want to use any of these films but opt for something
less soul-wrenching like "Jo-jo Dancer, This is Your Life" or "Clean and
Sober" or "As Good As It Gets" (over, say, "Requiem for a Dream",
"Affliction", and "Pi").

It is also easy to cross the line: it's not a far jump from the movies
mentioned so far to movies like "U-Turn" and "Freeway" (both of which I
liked, by the way).   

Let me recommend two web-based film databases: www.allmovie.com and
www.imdb.com

Sean Wolf Hill, MS LPCC
Intersystem Coordinator
http://www.co.greene.oh.us/fcf/fsp.htm
Family Stability Program
http://www.co.greene.oh.us/fcf/
Greene County Family and Children First Dept
http://www.wright.edu/~shill/index.htm
937.562.5607p
937.562.5601f