Cinematherapy with preadolescents experiencing parental divorce: A collective case study

A multiple-case study of the use of cinematherapy in six sessions of individual therapy each with three preadolescent aged children who were experiencing parental divorce was conducted. Questions to facilitate discussion and expressive activities including art, creative writing, story-telling, and/or drama were used. Multiple themes emerged across the cases including the usefulness of films to help children identify and express emotions, increased sharing, and increased coping. Interactive viewing was a new concept to emerge and involved a child spontaneously interacting with a film and/or the therapist through narrating, sharing thoughts and emotional responses, or interacting expressively while viewing providing therapeutic opportunities. Furthermore, all the children shared the plots from films or television shows they watched outside of therapy which can be viewed as a form of story-telling which conveyed their concerns and contributed to healing. Through their expressive responses, children experienced catharsis and created therapeutically relevant metaphors.