Therapeutic Movie Review Column

By Birgit Wolz, Ph.D., MFT

Changing Lane
Director: Roger Michell Pro!ucer: Scott Rudin "creenwriter : Chap Taylor, Michael Tolkin Ca t: Samuel L Jackson, Ben Affleck, Toni Collette, Sydney ollack, !illiam "urt, Amanda eet MP## Rating: R $ear o% Relea e: #$$#

Review
As he is rushing off to court from a fender %ender, attorney &a'in, hands the other man in'ol'ed in this accident, (oyle, his card and says Better luck ne)t time* then accidentally drops a signed form that means millions to his firm+ Although (oyle is stuck ,ith a flat tire, &a'in refuses to gi'e him a ride+ (oyle, ,ho is a reco'ering alcoholic, finds the attorneys form+ !hen &a'in sho,s up at court ,ithout it, the -udge gi'es him until the end of the day to produce it or his firm forfeits the money+ Mean,hile, (oyle ,ants to con'ince his e).,ife not to mo'e ,ith their kids to /regon+ "e hopes that %y keeping his family near%y he might sa'e his failing marriage+ To accomplish that, he needs to pro'e to a di'orce -udge that he is sol'ent and sta%le and plans to do so %y sho,ing him that the %ank has appro'ed his home loan+ But %ecause he sho,s up t,enty minutes late, he finds the case has %een decided ,ithout him+ Blaming &a'in, he takes out his rage %y taunting him ,ith a page fa)ed from the form that he found+ &a'in retaliates %y getting a hacker friend to artificially ruin (oyles credit rating+ A spiraling series of attacks and counterattacks e'entually leads %oth men to see that their ,orst enemy is their o,n anger+ &a'in and (oyle keep trying to demonstrate their indi'idual po,er %y acting out their anger at the other person+ 0or one ,hole day they do not ha'e the a,areness or the inner containment that ,ould help them ,ith their destructi'e emotions+ The t,o characters hit an emotional %ottom+ But they learn from their e)perience+ By the end of the day, each man1s o,n anger scares him more than the other person+ After reacting only to the actions of the other in unconscious ,ays for a long time, %oth %ecame a,are of themsel'es, their o,n %eha'ior, and the su%se2uent conse2uences+ This ena%led %oth men to start taking responsi%ility for their actions, de'elop empathy for the other, and find inner peace again+

Cinema #lchemy&
3ancy came to see me to ,ork on her sudden out%reaks of anger+ She ,as afraid that her uncontrolled out%ursts might damage her marriage+ Things %ecame more managea%le ,hen she

learned to %ecome a,are of the 'ery first onset of rage to,ard her hus%and, Ro%+ 4)ploring the origins of her rage also lead to enlightening insights+ But 3ancys real %reakthrough happened after 5 asked her to ,atch Changing Lanes ,ith conscious a,areness according to the guidelines %elo,+ 3ancy ,atched this 'ideo together ,ith Ro%+ 5n our ne)t session she told me that at first she completely identified ,ith (oyle and his anger ,hen &a'in said: 6Better luck ne)t time*6 She started yelling at &a'in on the T7 screen+ "o, can you do this* She almost got into a fight ,ith her hus%and ,ho had a more remo'ed perspecti'e and 2uestioned (oyles response to the insult+ 3ancy felt angry a%out the indifference she thought she had percei'ed in Ro%+ 5n her already upset state she could not clearly hear ,hat he said+ But she remem%ered my suggestion a%out conscious a,areness and noticed ,hat had -ust happened inside her+ The couple turned off the 'ideo and talked+ "a'ing -ust seen on the screen almost e)actly ,hat she e)perienced inside, it ,as much easier for 3ancy to step %ack and reflect on ,hat happened as her anger rose inside her+ 3ormally, ,hen she ,ould feel herself %eing dra,n into her rage, it ,as impossi%le to take this conscious internal step %ack+ 3o,, ,ith the support of the distancing effect of the mo'ie, plus her effort to %ecome more a,are of her emotional responses, 3ancy suddenly sa, ho, she had %een caught in a 'ery familiar pattern+ She ,as surprised ho, a%surd her pre'ious angry reaction looked to her no, and clearly recogni8ed the process in ,hich she tended to fall into %lind rages o'er and o'er in the past+ After they talked, the couple finished ,atching the rest of the mo'ie+ 3ancy had a more detached and clearer perspecti'e during this part of the film + My client told me, 5 really get it no,+ !hen 5m angry 5 do not hear ,hat he really says+ !ith more conscious a,areness her perspecti'e opened up to ,hat he tried to communicate+ 3o, she understood ,hat Ro% really meant and that he ,as including %oth characters perspecti'e+ 0rom this ne, angle she thought that his comments a%out the mo'ie characters -ust reflected his ,ay of seeing things in general, ,hich no, seemed accepta%le to her+ 3ancy felt as if she had a,aked from a %ad dream+ 0or the first time, she understood on a deep le'el ho, her anger. induced %linding mechanism had completely distorted her perspecti'e of reality and ho, it ro%%ed her of her capacity to see things more o%-ecti'ely+ The mo'ie also pro'ided a 'oice for her to communicate something she ,as una%le to e)plain %efore+ re'iously, Ro% ne'er took seriously her efforts to ,ork on her rage in therapy+ 3o,, during their discussion, he sa, his ,ife struggling and con2uering her inner demon right in front of him+ Ro% sa, t,o mo'ies: Changing Lanes and 3ancys process+ "e ,as a%le recogni8e 3ancys efforts as ,ell as her le'el of a,areness and %ecame 'ery impressed ,ith the progress she had made in her inner ,ork+ !eeks later 3ancy told me she had e)perienced only one small episode of rage, ,hich ended almost immediately ,hen her hus%and mention the character (oyles name in a lighthearted ,ay+ As she ,as a%le to %ecome centered and rational again, 3ancy no, could address more clearly the real reason for her anger+ Ro% ,as a%le to listen calmly and hear ,hat she had to say+

'ui!eline %or watching movie with con ciou awarene &

(an!out given )e%ore the movie& 9 !hile ,atching the mo'ie, sit comforta%ly and rela)+ 9 ay attention to the film and to yourself+ 9 /%ser'e ho, the mo'ies images, ideas, con'ersations, and characters affect your emotions, physical sensations, or your %reathing+ 9 3otice ,hat happens ,hen these thro, you off %alance %ecause they trigger undesired emotions+ 5n all likelihood, ,hate'er un%alances you in response to a mo'ie character or scene is similar to ,hat un%alances you in daily life+ 9 :ou might let yourself get completely a%sor%ed %y the mo'ie for a ,hile+ 3otice your sensations ,hen you come %ack to a,areness of yourself+

*ue tion a%ter the movie& 9 (o you remem%er your feelings and sensations, or ,hether your %reathing changed throughout the mo'ie; 9 3otice ,hat you liked and ,hat you did not like or e'en hated a%out the mo'ie+ 9 (id you identify ,ith one or se'eral characters; 9 (id a character de'elop certain capacities that you ,ould like to de'elop as ,ell;

Birgit Wolz wrote the %ollowing continuing e!ucation online cour e + Cinema Therapy . <sing the o,er of Mo'ies 5n the Therapeutic rocess, ,hich guides the reader through the %asic principles of Cinema Therapy+ Cinema Therapy with Chil!ren an! #!ole cent . This course teaches Cinema Therapy ,ith young clients+ 5t includes numerous mo'ie suggestions, ,hich are categori8ed according to age and issues+ 5t ser'es therapists, teachers, and parents+ Po itive P ychology an! the Movie & Tran %ormational ,%%ect o% Movie through Po itive Cinema Therapy . This course teaches ho, to de'elop clinical inter'entions %y using films effecti'ely in com%ination ,ith positi'e psychotherapy+ 5t ser'es %or mental health practitioners and any%ody ,ho is interested in personal gro,th and emotional healing+

Therapeutic ,thic in the Movie . What Film Can Teach P ychotherapi t #)out ,thic an! Boun!arie in Therapy, ,hich co'ers: confidentiality, self.disclosure, touch, dual relationships and out.of.office e)periences =i+e+, home 'isits, in.'i'o e)posures, attending a ,edding, incidental encounters, etc+> Boun!arie an! the Movie - Learning a)out Therapeutic Boun!arie through the Movie , ,hich co'ers informed consent, gifts, home office, clothing, language, humor and silence, pro)imity and distance %et,een therapist and client, and, finally, se)ual relations %et,een therapist and client+ D"M& Diagnoses "een in Mo'ies - . ing Movie to .n!er tan! Common D"M Diagno e .

P ycho!ynamic Diagno tic Manual /PDM0 - # 1ew #pproach to Diagno i in P ychotherapy