While going to the cinema or renting a movie at home are definitely enjoyable pastimes geared towards entertaining people, the cinema plays another role as a method of expressing art. Movies can live or die on their memorable characters more than the spectacle of an explosion. These characters can prove invaluable when going through treatment for any number of things – from trauma recovery to mental health disorders and behavioral issues. After all, art is intended to reflect life around us, so using cinema as a tool in one’s recovery holds its own benefits in the path forward.
Identifying a Character
The first part of using cinema is identifying these ever-important characters themselves, and finding the commonalities between them and ourselves. This creates a kind of relationship with that character. While the character and their portrayal may be fabricated, the job of an actor is to create something authentic. The emotions they represent onscreen are genuine. By identifying a character that one can connect with, one opens themselves to better understanding their own feelings and ways to cope with them. Look for characters who are going through a similar issue or exhibiting the same emotions that an individual is trying to overcome.
Degrees of Separation
Having a character on the screen provides a much-needed physical and emotional barrier between the character and the individual. A separation from reality is necessary to glean a bit more perspective on the situation at hand. Finally, the emotions can be experienced externally, and motive and consequence can be conceived using the character as a surrogate sufferer. When suffering from any number of internal challenges, consequences can be challenging to conceptualize. As such, having a single character exhibit similar or dissimilar actions can be helpful. This fictionalized portrayal can provide clarity when deciding how to proceed in one’s own life.
Using the Framework
While not all movies can provide such characters, or prompt that dialogue with oneself, find a single film you can attach to and learn from. This opens the door to changing the way one thinks into a more precise roadmap. There is power in taking one’s troubles and disorders, seeing them on the outside and afflicting someone else. Recovery can begin with just some new perspective, something that cinema can provide. Allow yourself to experience movies on a less entertainment-based level, and more as an intense emotional expression of art.
Finding the right kind of treatment, or a combination of treatments is a painful prospect. The Guest House is available to instill several different coping mechanisms and other therapeutic techniques. Treatment is catered to each individual to assist with the recovery process for mental health, trauma, addiction, and any co-occurring disorders. For more information on the programs available to help you, call them today at 1-855-483-7800 to talk to their professional, caring staff about the programs offered.