Film/Video-Based Therapy®

Part one · Dr. Cohen's work

Film/Video-Based Therapy® and Dr. Cohen's work

Film/Video-Based Therapy® explores how filmmaking and video may be used within appropriately guided therapeutic and educational contexts. Dr. Cohen's work brings together filmmaking, digital storytelling, media psychology, trauma, post-traumatic growth, and emerging technology.

One theory as to why film/video-based therapy works with trauma may be due to the reprocessing that happens during the final moments of editing, similar to EMDR. In the moment of making a film, one can use somatic experiencing, which was designed to regulate the autonomic nervous system.

Telling one's story can help to reprocess old memories while avoiding triggers or reprocessing them in a new way using technology like the Unreal Engine from VR and augmented reality. These ideas require appropriate professional guidance and do not make storytelling itself psychotherapy.

Cinema therapy

Cinema therapy or movie therapy is a form of expressive therapy—like art, music, and dance therapy—for medical and mental health issues. It is also used as a form of self-help.

Cinema therapy uses movies, particularly videos, as therapeutic tools. It can be a catalyst for healing and growth for those who are open to learning how movies affect people and to watching certain films with conscious awareness.