Movie Therapy: Coming Soon to an Outpatient Clinic Near You?

Fuat Ulus, MD

Dr. Ulus is Consultant Psychiatrist, Dept. of Psychiatry, Outpatient Behavioral Services, St. Vincent Hospital Center, Erie, PA

Many clinicians have long recognized the potential benefits of film in a psychiatric setting; Dr. Fuat Ulus and his colleagues in the Intensive Outpatient Therapy Program at Saint Vincent Hospital and Health Center, in Erie, Pennsylvania, have plans to take “movie therapy” to the next level. Indeed, they’ve already begun with their Group Movie Sessions, which operate under the aegis of the hospital’s Behavioral Health Department.

“More and more clinicians are using movies to help educate their patients,” Dr. Ulus says. “However, truly therapeutic use is still quite novel, and I believe that our hospital’s program is the first in the US to use movies as the central component in group therapy.”

The guiding lights of the program are “the three E’s”: Entertainment, Education, and Empowerment, and so far, they’ve received a “tremendous response” from patients. Currently, the program’s movie therapy consists of different theme-based presentations open to any psychiatric outpatients who are interested in attending. One session might focus on “ego power,” while another might focus on “stress management.” He shows 3 or 4 relevant 10-minute movie clips (a recent session on “forgiveness” featured Immortal Beloved, Amadeus, Rain Man, and Lethal Weapon), and then opens the floor to guided group discussion. As Dr. Ulus explains, “participants watch the clips. Then we talk about the scenario and the characters, and begin drawing parallels to situations and feelings the participants have experienced in their own lives.”

Dr. Ulus and colleagues do not envision the open-ended sessions as a full replacement for more intensive therapy; however, the Group Movie Sessions do have their benefits.

“In our groups people don’t feel under pressure to talk about themselves in ways that might make them uncomfortable,” Dr. Ulus says. “The focus isn’t on what’s wrong with them, but on shared experiences. For example, a clip wherein two characters forgive each other may help the group members open up and discuss their own experiences and difficulties with forgiveness. Even if they choose not to discuss their own experiences, talking about the characters’ experiences can be very valuable to the patients, for instance bringing them more in touch with their own feelings on a subject, or providing useful strategies for dealing with their difficulties.”

One of the benefits of movie therapy is that it provides a shared vocabulary for the therapist and group members. Dr. Ulus believes that movies serve as powerful metaphors, and that the strength of people’s reactions to them makes films remarkably useful in getting patients to open up.

Typically, after watching the film clips and moderating the preliminary discussion, Dr. Ulus will move into behavioral or psychodynamic group therapy as warranted. He and his colleagues are still collecting data, but he notes that “we’ve seen many acute patients who would most likely be hospitalized if not for the benefit they’ve received from attending our movie sessions.”

The hospital’s goal is to establish close-ended groups focused on specific disorders, and he believes that patients suffering from borderline personality disorder, OCD, and PTSD (he’s noticed that veterans respond very strongly to movie therapy) might benefit particularly. They are currently preparing to apply for grants for further research to establish the efficacy of such treatment.

Dr. Ulus gave a presentation titled “Therapeutic Use of Movie Clips in Outpatient and Inpatient Group Treatment” at the 2005 APA meeting, and will be giving another at the 2006 IPS meeting. He is also the author of the book: Movie Therapy, Moving Therapy. With strong patient responses, growing interest, and clinical studies on the near horizon, movie therapy is becoming a viable form of treatment.

For more information on using movies in therapy, visit http://www.cinemaalchemy.com/