Therapeutic Themes and Relevant Movies:
By Ofer Zur, Ph.D. & Birgit Wolz, Ph.D. MFT
Cinema Therapy online courses by Birgit Wolz, Ph.D.
for CE credits for psychologists, social workers, MFTs and counselors
37 CE Certificate Program in Treatment and Education through Cinema
Movies affect many of us powerfully because the combined impact of images, music, dialogue, lighting, sound and special effects can elicit deep feelings and help us reflect on our lives. They can help us to better understand our own lives, the lives of those around us and even how our society and culture operate. They can shed light on political and spiritual matters too and can provide catharsis and perspective and may open our eyes to new ways of thinking, feeling and pursuing our lives. There are many ways to harness the power of movies to heal, grow and change. Movies have been used as an adjunct to psychotherapy and counseling as well as by themselves.
In Cinema Therapy, or what has also been called Reel Therapy or Movie Therapy, clients learn to watch movies consciously and reflectively and to pay attention to the story and to themselves. They then learn to understand themselves and others more objectively in the big “movie” of their lives. Following is an incomplete list of movies that may help some people deal with some life situations.
Articles on Therapy in the Movies
Movie Listings
Abuse and Childhood Trauma:
A Star Is Born
A Thousand Acres
Antwone Fisher
Bastard Out of Carolina
Cider House Rules
Closet Land
Crazy Heart
Dogwalker
Drugstore Cowboy, The
Glass Castle, The
Gone Baby Gone
Good Will Hunting
I Know My First Name Is Steven
Mommie Dearest
Number 23, The
Nuts
Precious
Prince of Tides, The
Radio Flyer
Rounders
Sleepers
Slumdog Millionaire
Something About Amelia
Sybil
Three Faces of Eve
Ulee’s Gold
Ultimate Betrayal
Upside of Anger, The
Related Online Courses for CE Credit HoursAddictions:
28 Days
A Thousand Acres
Affliction
Bar Fly
Beautiful Boy
Blow
Boost, The
Clean and Sober
Courage Under Fire
Crazy Heart
Days of Wine and Roses
Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot
Drugstore Cowboy
Flight
Ironweed
Lady Sings the Blues
Leaving Las Vegas
Morning After, The
My Name is Bill W.
Not My Kid
Panic in Needle Park
Postcards from the Edge
Rachel Getting Married
Requiem for a Dream
Sara T.: Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic
Under the Influence
When a Man Loves a Woman
Related Online Courses for CE Credit HoursAddiction, Internet:
Her
Love Child
Must Love Dogs
Holiday, The
Web Junkies
You’ve Got Mail
Related Online Courses for CE Credit HoursAging & End of Life:
56 Up
About Schmidt
Alive Inside
American Beauty
Amour
Andrew Jenks, Room 335
Another Year
Away From Her
Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, The
Biutiful
Bucket List
Cocoon
Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Dad
Driving Miss Daisy
Fried Green Tomatoes
Going in Style
Grey Gardens
Harold and Maude
Harry and Tonto
Iron Lady, The
Moonstruck
Nebraska
Notebook, The
Nothing in Common
On Golden Pond
Quartet
Renoir
Robot & Frank
Shootist, The
Something’s Gotta Give
Space Cowboys
Still Alice
Strangers in Good Company
Toyko Story
Young@Heart
Related Online Courses for CE Credit HoursAnger and Forgiveness:
An Unfinished Life
Anger Management
Changing Lanes
Dolores Clairborne
Gandhi
Mustang, The
Straight Story, The
Upside of Anger, The
Related Online Courses for CE Credit HoursAspiration:
Billy Elliot
Blind Side, The
Finding Forrester
Gandhi
Pay It Forward
Whale RiderAttachment-Disorganized:
Good Will Hunting
Ordinary People
Sheltering Sky, TheAttachment-Insecure:
Cider House Rules
Cyrus
First Man
Lars and the Real GirlAttachment – Many Types:
Harry Potter seriesAttachment-Reactive:
Boarder, The (aka Troubled Child)
Child of Rage (A CBS Television movie)Attachment and Trauma:
Prince of Tides
Related Online Courses for CE Credit HoursAuthentic Self:
Harold and Maude
Lady Bird
My Life
NellAuthority:
Compliance
Experiment
Milgram
Molly’s Game
Post, The
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Zimbardo Prison Simulation ExperimentAutism:
32 Short Films About Glenn Gould
Accountant, The
Adam
August: Osage County
Autism: The Musical
Being There
Ben X
Chocolate (2008, Thailand)
Cowboy Bebop
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Forrest Gump
Harry Potter (Lovegood)
Horse Boy, The
I am Sam
Imitation Game, The
Killer Diller (Piano player)
Life, animated
Loving Lampposts
Mary and Max
Millions
Mozart & the Whale
My Name Is Khan
Ocean Heaven
Rain Man
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Serenity
Snow Cake
Story of Luke, The
Temple Grandin
Wittgenstein
Wretches and Jabberers
Related Online Course for CE Credit HoursBipolar:
Biutiful
Mr. Jones
Silver Linings Playbook
Vincent and Theo
Related Online Courses for CE Credit HoursBody Image:
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Real Women Have Curves
Shallow HalConsumerism:
Far From Heaven
Pleasantville
Supersize Me
What’s Love Got to Do With It?Courage & Determination:
50/50
Argo
Arrival
August Rush
Breathe
Captain Phillips
Coco Before Chanel
Dunkirk
Finding Nemo
Florence Foster Jenkins
Gravity
Hotel Rwanda
Impossible, The
Juno
Lawrence of Arabia
Life of Pi
Little Buddha
Lorenzo’s Oil
Maudie
Million Dollar Baby
Most Violent Year, The
Rabbit-Proof Fence
Rocky
Secretariat
Theory of Everything, The
True Grit
Truman Show, The
Up
WALL-E
Winter’s Bone
Wipers Times
Zero Dark Thirty
Related Online Courses for CE Credit HoursDepression:
About Schmidt
Blue Sky
Frida
Hours, The
It’s Kind of a Funny Story
Men Don’t Leave
Number 23, The
Ordinary People
Related Online Course for CE Credit HoursDissociative Disorders:
Marnie
Sybil
Three Faces Of Eve
ZeligDomestic Violence and Rape:
Accused, The
Burning Bed, The
Closet Land
Cry for Help: The Tracey Thurman Story
Extremities
Frankie and Johnnie
Men Don’t Tell
Once Were Warriors
Precious
Rape and Marriage: The Rideout Case
Rape of Richard Beck, The
She Said No
Sleeping with the Enemy
Taking Back My Life: The Nancy Ziegenmeyer Story
Thelma and Louise
Related Online Courses for CE Credit HoursDreams, Inner Guidance, Intuition:
Constant Gardner
Field of Dreams
Knowing
Motorcycle Diaries
Piano, The
Places in the Heart
Star Wars
Related Online Course for CE Credit HoursEating Disorders:
Eating
For the Love of Nancy
Fried Green Tomatoes
Karen Carpenter Story, The
Kate’s Secret
What’s Eating Gilbert Grape
Related Online Course for CE Credit HoursErnest Becker:
Crossing Guard, The
Flight From Death
Masked and AnonymousEquine Therapy:
Buck
Horse Boy, The
Horse Whisperer, The
Something to Talk About
Related Online Courses for CE Credit HoursExistential:
Aguirre, Wrath of God
All About Eve
American Beauty
Birdman (w/ Michael Keaton)
Blade Runner
(Also spiritual in a non-obvious way)
Blade Runner 2049
(Also spiritual in a non-obvious way)
Decalogue (Kieslowski)
Equis
House of Games
I Heart Huckabees
Ikuru
Lawrence of Arabia
Melancholia
Ordinary People
Searchers, The
Solaris (Tarkovsky version)
Sunset Boulevard
Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The
Tree of Life
Vertigo
Related Online Course for CE Credit HoursGrief, Loss, Death & Transformation:
Adam
A Single Man
A Song for Martin
A Warrior’s Heart
Beaches
Blue
Bridge to Terabithia
Dad
Dallas Buyers Club
Dance Me Outside
Dying Young
Enchantment
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Fisher King, The
Flags of our Fathers
Forest Gump
Frida
Ghost
How to Fold a Flag
In America
Letters From Iwo Jima
Manchester by the Sea
Men Don’t Leave
Mr. Holland’s Opus
Ordinary People
Out of Africa
Outsider, The
Rabbit Hole
Restrepo
Shadowlands
Six Weeks
Skins
Sleepless in Seattle
SLC Punk
Smoke Signals
Sophie’s Choice
Stranger in the Family
Steel Magnolias
Still Alice
Terms of Endearment
When Did You Last See Your Father
WindtalkersHearing Loss – Deafness:
And Your Name is Jonah
Bridge to Silence
Children of a Lesser God
Dummy
Hammer
Johnnie Belinda
Love is Never Silent
Miracle Worker
Mr. Holland’s Opus
Sound and FuryHuman Spirit, Hope & Inspiration:
Babette’s Feast
Dead Poets Society
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The
Field of Dreams
Fisher King, The
Gandhi
Green Mile, The
Lord of the Rings
Mask of Zorro, The
Million Dollar Baby
Piano, The
Precious
Rogue One
Schindler’s List
Star Wars
Zookeeper’s Wife, The
Related Online Course for CE Credit Hours
Humanistic/Humane/Effective:
American Beauty
Babette’s Feast
Bagdad Café
Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, The
Billy Elliot
Brokeback Mountain
Color Purple, The
Dead Poets Society
Eat Drink Man Woman
Erin Brockovich
Forest Gump
Fried Green Tomatoes
Gandhi
Glass Castle, The
Gloria Bell
Groundhog Day
Hours, The
Hurt Locker
Joy Luck Club
King’s Speech, The
Lost in Translation
Moonstruck
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Notebook, The
On Golden Pond
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Ordinary People
Patch Adams
Piano, The
Precious
Quartet
Schindler’s List
Sideways
Silver Linings Playbook
Sophie’s Choice
What About Bob
When Harry Met Sally
Zero Dark ThirtyIntellectual Disability:
I Am Sam
Other Sister, The
Still Alice
What’s Eating Gilbert GrapeLGBT:
8 the Mormon Proposition
Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, The
All About My Mother (Todo Sobre Mi Madre)
And the Band Played on
Bad Education
Beginners
Bird Cage
Boys Don’t Cry
But I’m a Cheerleader
Call Me by Your Name
Celluloid Closet, The
Children’s Hour, The
Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean
Desert Hearts
Far from Heaven
Fire
Girls Will be Girls
Go fish
How to Survive a Plague
Imitation Game
Incredible Adventures of Two Girls in life, The
Kids Are Alright, The
Kinky boots
La Cage aux Folles
La mission
Laramie Project
Longtime Companion
Love, Simon
Marwencol
Milk
My Life in Pink
Normal
Our Sons
Outrage
Philadelphia
Prayers for Bobby
Pride
Reinas
Stranger Inside
Times of Harvey Milk, The
To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Nemar
Torch Song Trilogy
Transamerica
Watermelon Woman
We Were Here
Wedding banquet
Wedding Wars
Related Online Course for CE Credit Hours
Another Related Online CourseMental Illness:
Black Swan
Don Juan De Marco
Fatal Attraction
Hours, The
House of Cards
It’s Kind of a Funny Story
King of Comedy, The
King of Hearts
Lars and the Real Girl
Mr. Jones
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Silver Linings Playbook
Young Adult
Related Online Courses for CE Credit HoursNon-Traditional Therapy:
Good will Hunting
Harold and MaudeOCD:
As Good as it Gets
Breaking the Waves
Matchstick Man
Number 23, The
Related Online Course for CE Credit HoursPace of Life:
Groundhog Day
Multiplicity
Thirteen Conversations About One ThingPhobias:
Agoraphobia: Copy Cat
Germ-Phobia: As Good as it GetsPrejudice (coping with):
A Single Man
Bagdad Cafe
BlacKkKlansman
Brokeback Mountain
Color Purple, The
Crash, The
Dance Me Outside
Flags of our Fathers
Fried Green Tomatoes
Grand Canyon
Help, The
Imitation Game
Invictus
Get on the Bus
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
How to Fold a Flag
In the Heat of the Night
Jungle Fever
Leave No Trace
Letters From Iwo Jima
Milk
Mississippi’s Burning
Outsider, The
Philadelphia
Pride and Prejudice
Restrepo
Ryan White Story, The
Skins
To Kill a Mockingbird
Traffic
Visitor, The
WAR
Windtalkers
Related Online Courses for CE Credit HoursPsych. of Modern Tech-Digital Age:
Citizenfour
Her
Social Network, The
Related Online Courses for CE Credit HoursPost-Traumatic Growth:
Bucket List
Good Will Hunting
Pursuit of Happiness, The
Rudy
Seabiscuit
Secretariat
Seven Pounds
Shawshank Redemption
Unbroken
Related Online Courses for CE Credit HoursPTSD:
American Sniper
An Act of War
Born On The Fourth of July
Coming Home
Deer Hunter, The
First Blood
Forrest Gump
Hurt Locker, The
In Country
Iron Man 3
Jacob’s Ladder
Mystic River
Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian
Saving Private Ryan
Thank You For Your Service
Valley of Elah
Related Online Courses for CE Credit HoursRelationships & Love:
Accidental Tourist, The
As Good as it Gets
Before Midnight
Before Sunset
Blade Runner 2049
Blue Valentine
Closer
Crimes of the Heart
Descendents, The
Eat Drink Man Woman
Education, An
English Patient, The
Enough Said
Father of the Bride
Frankie and Johnnie
Gathering, The
Good Mother, The
High Fidelity
Hot Spells
Joy Luck Club
Juliet, Naked
Kids Are All Right, The
King’s Speech, The
Last Chance Harvey
Last Hangman, The
Little Miss Sunshine
Lost in Translation
Memories of Me
Moonstruck
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Once
Ordinary People
Parenthood
Phantom Thread
Philadelphia Story
Postcards From the Edge
Pretty Woman
Safe Passage
Secret Lives of Dentists
Sideways
Singles
Sliding Doors
Stanley and Iris
Story of Us, The
Soul Food
Steel Magnolias
Two Family House
Under the Tuscan Sun
Victor, Victoria
Walk on the Moon, A
War of the Roses
Way We Were, The
We Have a Pope
When Harry Met Sally
You Can Count on MeRelationships, Non-Traditional:
Beginners
Blue Is the Warmest Color
Philadelphia
Single Man, ARelationships, Online:
Her
Men, Women and Children
Related Online Course for CE Credit HoursRetirement:
About Schmidt
Artist, The
Baby Boom
Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, The
Broke
Bucket List, The
Gran Torino
Harry and Tonto
On Golden Pond
Quartet
Related Online Courses for CE Credit HoursRisk:
Apollo 13
Erin Brockovich
Full Monty, The
Sliding DoorsSacrifice:
It’s a Wonderful Life
Lord of the Rings
Sophie’s ChoiceSchizophrenia:
A Beautiful Mind
Clean Shaven
Dear John
Foxcatcher
Joker
Jupiter’s Wife
King of Hearts
Proof
ShineSelf-Esteem:
Gattaca
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Other Sister, The
Sliding DoorsSeparation & Divorce:
Kramer vs. Kramer
Story of Us, The
Under the Tuscan SunSexual Abuse:
A Thousand Acres
Bad Education
Black Snake Moan
Cider House Rules
Dolores Clairborne
Mystic River
Precious
Sleepers
Related Online Courses for CE Credit HoursSexuality:
50 Shades of Grey
Bliss
Bull Durham
Kinsey
Sessions, The
Working Girls
Related Online Courses for CE Credit HoursSocial Justice:
Angela’s Ashes
Constant Gardner
Erin Brockovich
Green Book
Hotel Rwanda
Made in Dagenham
Motorcycle Diaries
Selma
Related Online Courses for CE Credit HoursSpirituality and Religion:
Apostle, The
Brother Sun, Sister Moon
Contact
Last Temptation of Christ, The
Razor’s Edge, The
ResurrectionSpirituality and Spiritual Awareness:
Avatar
City of Angels
Hereafter
It’s a Wonderful Life
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Made In Heaven
Powder
What Dreams May ComeStress Management:
Happy
Related Online Course for CE Credit HoursVocational Issues:
Company Man, The
Erin Brockovich
Full Monty, The
Jerry Maguire
Patch Adams
Up in the AirWar (Horrors of and Aftermath):
A Very Long Engagement
American Sniper
Black Hawk Down
Casualties Of War
Cold Mountain
Courage Under Fire
Dear John
Dr. Strangelove
Full Metal Jacket
Gettysburg
Gone with the Wind
Hamburger Hill
Hurt Locker
Lincoln
Lions For Lambs
MASH
Paths of Glory
Pianist, The
Platoon
Saving Private Ryan
Zero Dark ThirtyWillpower:
Bend it Like Beckham
Blind Side, The
Bohemian Rhapsody
Cast Away
Cinderella Man
Fighter, The
Gladiator
Good Night and Good Luck
Horse Whisperer, The
Hugo
Invictus
Julie & Julia
King’s Speech, The
Lorenzo’s Oil
Million Dollar Baby
Moneyball
Pianist, The
Piano, The
Princess Bride, The
Ray
Seabiscuit
Shawshank Redemption
Social Network, The
Whiplash
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