Video and Filmmaking as Psychotherapy
Research and Practice
Advances in Mental Health Research Series

While film and video has long been used within psychological practice, researchers and practitioners have only just begun to explore the benefits of film and video production as therapy. This volume describes a burgeoning area of psychotherapy which employs the art of filmmaking and digital storytelling as a means of healing victims of trauma and abuse. It explores the ethical considerations behind this process, as well as its cultural and developmental implications within clinical psychology. Grounded in clinical theory and methodology, this multidisciplinary volume draws on perspectives from anthropology, psychiatry, psychology, and art therapy which support the use and integration of film/video-based therapy in practice.

Part I: Introduction 1. IntroductionJoshua L. Cohen and J. Lauren Johnson2. A Challenge to Readers: Ethical Considerations in Film- and Video-Based Therapies J. Lauren Johnson and Joshua L. Cohen Part II: A Human Approach To Technology 3. Film/Video Based Therapy and Editing as Process From a Depth Psychological PerspectiveJoshua L. Cohen and Penelope P. Orr4. Filming the Fantasy: Green Screen Technology From Novelty to Psychotherapy Jon Ehinger5. Vision, Story, Medicine: Therapeutic Filmmaking and First Nations Communities J. Lauren JohnsonPart III: Research and Validity 6. Expansive Palettes: A Client Video Media Experience Natalie R. Carlton7. The Benefits of Using a Technological Intervention for Children and Adolescents Within a Grief and Loss ProgramCarolyn McGurl, Winston Seegobin, Elizabeth Hamilton, and Mark McMinn8. Digital Storytelling as a Trauma Narrative Intervention for Children Exposed to Domestic ViolenceKim Anderson and Beatriz Wallace9. Digital Video Intervention With Special Populations: Looking for Inherent Qualities Penelope P. Orr 10. Digital Storytelling: Using Videos to Increase Social Wellness Martin Otanez and Wanda Lakota Part IV: Tools for Practice Through Didactic Instruction 11. Video Art and Activism: Applications in Art Therapy Basis Mosinski 12. Digital Video Production: Healing for the YouTube Generation of Veterans Rivka Tuval-Mashiach and Benjamin Patton 13. Video Art Therapy Yarden Kerem 14. Expanding the Scope of Traditional Art Therapy with Green Screen Technology Joe Kavitski 15. Technology, Art Therapy, and Psychodynamic Theory: Computer Animation With an Adolescent in Foster Care Brian Austin

Joshua L. Cohen has worked in film/video production for over 30 years, received a PhD in clinical psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute, a master’s in general psychology from Walden University, and a bachelor’s degree in film and anthropology from Colorado College. He lives and works in Southern California, USA.

J. Lauren Johnson is a licensed psychologist and a filmmaker. She is also the founder of the Therapeutic Filmmaking Institute in Alberta, CA.

Penelope P. Orr is a board certified, registered art therapist in Edinboro PA, USA. She is currently the director of the Edinboro University Masters in Art Therapy/Counseling Program.