Man who Catch Fly with Chopstick Accomplish Anything: Film in Therapy ‐ the Sequel

Abstract

In the case. that follows, the film The Kar~te Kid] w~s~~d to help.an eleven year old boy and hisfamily distinguish between aggression and.assertion and learn ab?ut the rela~ed Is~ue~ofdlsclpl~ne, obedience, control and.balance. The film provided a therapeutic metaphor which bypassed the restraints operating within the family system. Presented here IS an outline of the steps in therapy including presessio!,~nformation gathering a.nd hypothes~formulation, an analysis of restraints in the family using the cybernetic model, and a description of how these were Interwoven with the metaphor of the film to create a powerful therapeutic intervention.

Utilizing Movies in Family Therapy: Applications for Individuals, Couples, and Families

“…A single movie has the potential to stimulate laughter, tears, and new thoughts. Christie and McGrath (1989) hypothesize that a movie's ability to impact clients "lies in the presentation of metaphor in a number of sensory modalities simultaneously, allowing people the freedom to choose their own level of metaphor and their own mode of therapy" (p.149).…”

“…Reserve University] at 13:23 01 December 2014 Assessment Complete assessment and joining (engagement) is essential to any type of successful intervention, and cinematherapy is no exception (Christie & McGrath, 1989). Assigning a movie should be based upon therapeutic judgment regarding presenting problems, family hobbies and interests, and the goal of the intervention.…”

Improving the Empirical Credibility of Cinematherapy

“…Shortly thereafter, Christie and McGrath (1987) documented how they used the film The Never Ending Story (Eichinger, Geissler, & Peterson, 1984) to assist an 11-year-old boy with grief, adjustment, and an eventual adoption following his mother's suicide. Later, Christie and McGrath documented using The Karate Kid (Weintraub, Louis, & Avildsen, 1984) to assist a juvenile with learning self-control and discipline (Christie & McGrath, 1989). It was not until the landmark Berg-Cross, Jennings, and Baruch (1990) report, which branded movie-work as ''cinematherapy,'' that the formal clinical practice of assigning popular movies to individuals experiencing general mental health disorders surged.…”

Use of feature film as part of psychological assessment.

“…This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly. McGrath, 1987McGrath, , 1989Duncan et al, 1986;Gunzburg, 1989;Turley & Dreyden, 1990). The second is that patients with profound mental illness are not appropriate for exposure to such films (Hesley & Hesley, 1998).…”