1st Edition
Cinematic Psychotherapy Audiovisual Languages, Therapeutic Strategies, and Autism Narratives
This book investigates the therapeutic potential and efficacy of audiovisual languages, deepening the integration of film studies into neuropsychiatry and strategic psychotherapy.
Within a theoretical framework including documentary studies, self-representational and amateur theories, and strategic psychotherapy, the book describes the key notions and methodologies for using audiovisual language in clinical therapy practice and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) interventions. The book, a review and update of the Italian Cinema terapeutico: Linguaggi audiovisivi e percorsi clinici, showcases the healing potential of creative participatory processes and self-representations that occur thanks to the relocation and amateurization of the contemporary cinematic experience. The authors propose an experimental therapeutic protocol, Video-Pharmakon, which aims to serve as a new integrated method for taking care of children and adolescents with ASD and their families. The protocol is illustrated in its methodologies and phases and supported through case studies.
Scholars and practitioners of art therapy and narrative-based medical approaches, professionals working with clients with ASD, and any other student or professional interested in ASD, psychotherapy, and film studies will find this a valuable resource for current practice and future research interventions.
Introduction Chapter 1. Self-Representational Grounds for Therapeutic Dispositive Chapter 2. The Therapeutic Set: Methodological Integrations Chapter 3. Audiovisual Therapeutic Approaches: Taxonomy and Classification Chapter 4 Art-Based Therapy in the Digital Age: A New Form of Participation Chapter 5. Strategic Psychotherapy and Audiovisual Language Chapter 6. Therapeutic Autism Narratives: An Integrated Approach Conclusions
Biography
Anna Chiara Sabatino, PhD, Adjunct Professor of Audiovisual Storytelling and Fellow Researcher in Visual Culture at the University of Salerno, PhD in Communication Sciences and Graduated Director at Italian National Film School. She is a documentary filmmaker, an Italian Miur Certificated Film Education Trainer and Expert. She also teaches Directing Techniques at VHEI, Valletta Higher Education Institute of Malta. Her ongoing research is focused on cinematic agency, amateur audiovisual narratives, and methodological applications for therapeutic images.
Valeria Saladino, PhD, clinical psychologist, criminologist, PhD in Developmental Psychology and post doc in Clinical Psychology at the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio. She is interested in new addictions, sexual offending, and the use of new technologies in the field of treatment, and has published articles and books on the topic. She works in the University Mercatorum of Rome as a professor and collaborates with the University of Salerno and “Magna Graecia” University of Catanzaro. She also works in Italian correctional facilities for adults as a psychologist.
