Are movies a source of emotional therapy? Is it just me, or is it that movies have a way of fitting the mood that we are in when combined with homemade popcorn, pizza, ice cream, and a drink? In moments, like these, don’t you find that the things that preoccupied your mind before simply disappears without struggle? Do you also find that all the stress that you felt in your body has a way of passing into there ‘ocean of forgetfulness’? It’s actually called cinematic therapy according to a study by Victoria, Simmons of Lincoln University in the United Kingdom. As a practice in psychologist, she encourages movie watching as part of her therapy sessions.
Forgetting Everything that Causes Stress
It is undeniable that a good movie is able to transport us to a different place without us ever having to physically move. Seems like a recipe doesn’t it? When you add that perfect blanket that you bought that brings your body to that perfect temperature it gets even better. But the moment becomes even more memorable when whether by accident or design, the right person jumps under the blanket with you to cuddle in the couch.
There is absolutely nothing like the touch and the temperature of another human body in close proximity to yours in the special moments of life. It is in those times that that husband, wife, child of children that loves to cuddle, in a magical way themselves become even more special because they joined us and associated themselves with our special moment. Studies have been done that looked in depth into the neuroscience behind the brains responses during movie watching. There is much support for what I described above as suggested by a Cornell University study which examined the neuro-cognitive emotional responses invoked by the music designed for a cinematic soundtrack.
The Right Movie, the Perfect Therapy
But all of this therapeutic need that we need to experience also, it works perfectly in those moments when we are alone and no one is around. A little selfishness is OK in my book. Self-care is important. If this means that after a rough week or event, retreating to a room and locking the door in order to leave the world and everyone in it behind, then I am OK with it. The bottom line is that the right movie can be the focal point of the perfect internal therapeutic experience.
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