The therapeutic use of movies with gay men in a group context

Movies or films may be integrated into psychosocial interventions as springboards for conversation to enhance therapeutic gains. Therapeutic and inspirational engagements with movie texts, as opposed to viewing for entertainment, provide narratives that describe, interrogate and revise unique histories and culturally-mediated subjectivities. To examine narrative outcomes of the application of this strategy, a study was conducted with self-identified gay men in a group context. A postmodern paradigm with philosophical correlates from literary and critical perspectives framed the research approach. A hermeneutic method of investigation involving a reading guide extracted themes that emerged from the therapeutic conversations about connections to pre-selected movies. The first theme, a developmental lens, offered narratives of social isolation, intimacy, coming out and identity turmoil. The second theme, a local community lens, offered narratives of social hostility, religious values and monetary forces. The impact of integrating movies into therapy was evaluated within these narratives. A qualitative and self-reflexive approach enabled the creation of a postmodern research product, including the representation of the theme of community meanings in a modified screenplay format as a negotiation between creative and traditional writing practices. The use of movies in this study offered distinctive narrative findings about the sexuality of the participants, although their engagement with movies implied that conditions for useful therapeutic conversation depend upon psychological viewing characteristics.Dr. Alban Burk