Filmmaking As Therapy: Between Art Therapy And Resilience Theory
Filmmaking As Therapy: Between Art Therapy And Resilience Theory

Summary/Abstract: An interdisciplinary project “Dimensions of the body: between bioethics and film studies” is focused on the concepts of the body and on the ways of portraying it in audiovisual culture. One of the issues we investigate is the body of a paediatric patient. In this paper we concentrate on the new idea of using film as an element of psychiatric therapy of paediatric cancer patients. By referring to the concept of resilience theory, which studies the phenomenon of children’s, adolescents’ or adults’ positive adaptation despite adverse life conditions, traumatic events and hostile environments, we show how filmmaking workshops can constitute a key element of achieving resilience. In our research we employ the concept of José Luis Medina Amor’s theory of three C’s, that is: control, change, commitment. This paper presents the way filmmaking workshops for paediatric cancer patients could become a practical tool contributing greatly to achieving resilience. We show how all the elements of the three C’s theory can have a practical use in filmmaking workshops and that an active participation in such workshops can be especially beneficial to paediatric oncology patients while they discover and bolster resilient values.

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