I just found this article on MSN that’s kind of stupid, but I like the idea of what they are talking about a whole lot. Apparently, there’s a growing fad which people are terming “cinema therapy” where people use movies to help them work through personal issues. They also describe how the Chicago Institute for the Moving Image helps people in therapy to write, produce and direct movies:

“The process of filmmaking provides a certain amount of therapy, organization, and order that people with psychological diseases need, and it helps the therapist see what the conflicts are within their patients lives,” Flanders explains.

In a sense, making a movie or creating a screenplay enables the therapist or loved ones to see the world through this person’s eyes.

Anyway, I’m gonna have to look into this more, because I’m super-interested in figuring out how people use stories and movies and stuff in their lives, and this is one of the first places I’ve seen people talk about it in a sort of similar way to what I’m interested in.

Here’s an older article about the same thing from Salon. Also, some site called CinemaTherapy.com - I think it’s by some author or something.