Therapeutic filmmaking: An exploratory pilot study

Filmmakers and theorists have explored the relationship between film and psychology for over a century, yet this connection has only recently been investigated from a psychological perspective. The present study bridges that disconnect with the development and pilot study of a new form of therapy: therapeutic filmmaking. Combining elements of talk, art, and narrative therapies with the process of personal filmmaking, therapeutic filmmaking represents a novel contribution to the field of psychology. Three students seeking therapy at a post-secondary counseling center participated in a 3-week phenomenological study exploring this experimental therapy. Several themes that emerged from the interviews were grouped into two categories: (a) the mechanisms through which participants achieved therapeutic change and (b) their experiences of this form of therapy. The results are discussed and implications for future research and practice are reviewed. The study introduces therapeutic filmmaking to researchers and practitioners and lays the foundation for its further exploration.