Organizing and Conducting a
Cinema Therapy Group
Therapy and support groups that use movies are becoming
increasingly popular, and no wonder, given the popularity of
cinema in general. Probably the best way to start a group is to
invite four or five friends or acquaintances who like watching
movies and are interested in personal growth. If you do not
have interested friends or if you prefer to meet with people who
do not know you outside the group, advertise the formation of
your group on a community bulletin board, in a local paper, or
perhaps through the Internet.
Cinema therapy groups can work well without facilitation
by a professional therapist if the guidelines I am suggesting are
followed. Depending on the group members’ preference, either
a leader is chosen among the participants or the group remains
leaderless. Both formats can be very successful, as long as
everyone agrees and sticks with the decision until the group
agrees to change it.
Guidelines:
Discuss how frequently you want to meet and whether
you want to make a commitment to a certain number of
group meetings. I found it most beneficial to meet weekly
and to make an initial twelve-week commitment. In my
groups participants can extend their commitment every
twelve weeks.
Discuss the structure of your meetings. You can be very
creative with this. You will inevitably develop your own
rhythm and pattern of work over time. Here is just one
possibility: To mark a starting point and help everyone to
become centered and present, one group member might
lead everyone in a short, guided meditation. A general
check-in by each group member can follow before every-
one talks about his or her movie experience. The exer-
cises that are suggested in this book can be integrated inCreating a Cinema Therapy Group 179