Metaphor And Cinema Therapies Used To Treat Addictions And Mental Health

Online, April 8, 2012 (Newswire.com) - Metaphor Therapy and Cinema Therapy used in Conjunction With Perception Therapy to treat Addictions and Mental Health
By Alan Meyers, PH.D. and Julia D. Stewart, Developers of Perception Therapy

Metaphor Therapy

Another therapeutic technique used under the Perception Therapy® Treatment Model, called Metaphor Therapy, is designed specifically to bring one to her/his own conclusion. Metaphor Therapy is conducted in the form of a story. The story is told with its true meaning hidden or never mentioned. The listener develops their own understanding of the meaning of the story and how it has meaning for them and theirr life.

Story telling is a very powerful tool that has the ability to produce great change on many levels by bringing the listener to their own conclusion and their understanding of the message being presented to them. Metaphor Therapy is basically telling a story with a clinical goal.

Cinema Therapy

Cinema Therapy is another therapeutic tool used under the Perception Therapy® Treatment Model as another form of Metaphor Therapy. The films provided within "Cinema Therapy" allow the "bigger picture to become more obvious". The Cinema Therapy experience can have a therapeutic impact affecting healing and coping skills, cognitive insights, self-understanding, ideas for dealing with situations and areas of distress, seeing other view points, spiritual understanding, greater self-awareness, understanding of love, and the meaning of life and death.

The use of Cinema Therapy takes the story telling a step further and provides a visual presentation of the story as well. You all have had experiences when you were reading a book that took you away from your every day self or attended a film that brought you into a fantasy world. And, for that brief time, you forgot about your cares, worries and problems, and were engrossed in the power of the story that you were hearing and viewing. As you may be aware, the most enduring literature and films are those that have the ability to tell a compelling story that has some deep effect on the listener/viewer.

A very simple example of an enduring story written by Jacob Grimm is entitled Snow White. This is a very simple tale that has lasted for two hundred years and continues to entertain children and adults in both book and cinema form. What is it about the story of Snow White that has had such an enduring appeal for so many years? You can answer this question. Stories have the ability to discipline, to invoke emotions, to inspire, to effect perceptions, to effect change, and create mind-body powerful experiences that might defy human perception.

Cinema Therapy has the ability to provide one with an awareness of theirr deeper levels of consciousness that will help them form new perspectives. The instructions for getting the most from the Cinema Therapy experience is to focus ones attention on the metaphorical meaning of the film and how that meaning impacts ones specific growth. This is an activity of maintaining conscious awareness rather than simply watching something without having any purpose and intent. Viewing the films with this purpose can serve as stepping stones between life and therapy, as in "art imitates life". A major effect that we might experience through this process is the conflict between our unconscious mind and our conscious ideas, intentions and goals. This conflict might allow unconscious material to become more conscious, assisting in the therapeutic process of uncovering the underlying causes of the present problems.

Prior to viewing a film, you will want the intention of showing the film clarified and at the film's completion. You will also review questions about your insights, emotions, and understanding of the metaphorical message presented in the film. If you would like to read more about Cinema Therapy, the following are a few suggestions that you might explore: Reel Spirit: A Guide to Movies That Inspire, Explore and Empower by Raymond Teague; Reel Therapy: How Movies Inspire You to Overcome Life's Problems by Gary Solomon; Reel Power and Spiritual Growth Through Film by Marsha Sinetar; The Healing Movie Book - Precious Images: The Healing Use of Cinema in Psychotherapy by Michael Kalm.

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