Film as a psychotherapeutic tool. Selected problems of filmotherapy
Abstract
Introduction: The article concerns the contemporary use of film as a psychotherapeutic tool. Its main purpose is to
demonstrate the value and suitability of filmotherapy in the therapeutic process. The study presents the condition of
film art in a broader social context and determinants that make the film a medium useful in psychological therapeutic
interactions. Definitional considerations and an analysis of the impact that a film work can have on the viewer through
various means of artistic expression were conducted. The selected, most expressive tendencies in contemporary psychotherapy
were also tracked and described, indicating primarily the phenomena most important from the point of view
of the therapeutic process itself and the social perception of this form of psychological help.
Material and methods: The main part of the article focuses on filmotherapy. The authors have made a synthetic
review of the available results of research on film therapy, using publications appearing in different parts of the world.
A conceptual and definitional analysis of this phenomenon was carried out, the most popular views about it were
presented. The summary contains conclusions and verification of the adopted thesis.
Results and conclusions: By analyzing the available writing materials, it has been established that filmotherapy is an
increasingly popular method of psychotherapeutic influence. The use of film in psychotherapy raises more and more
interest of specialists all over the world, and the results of research conducted so far seem to indicate that the use of
film images in therapeutic sessions gives positive therapeutic effects, mainly due to the phenomenon of identifying the
patient with the movie character and the ability to work through difficult situations . The film can be used primarily as
a complementary technique enriching the therapeutic process. At the same time, however, the authors concluded that
filmotherapy is still an underestimated method of therapeutic impact and that in the studies and discussions conducted
there are no negative (eg traumatizing) effects of its use.
Keywords: moviefilm therapycinematherapyusing of movies in psychotherapy
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