TY - JOUR
T1 - "When you make a movie, and you see your story there, you can hold it"
T2 - Qualitative exploration of collaborative filmmaking as a therapeutic tool for veterans
AU - Tuval-Mashiach, Rivka
AU - Patton, Benjamin W.
AU - Drebing, Charles
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Tuval-Mashiach, Patton and Drebing.
PY - 2018/10/16
Y1 - 2018/10/16
N2 - Despite the availability of effective treatments for coping with traumatic experiences, a large percentage of military veterans in need do not seek help. The "I Was There" model is a new filmmaking program which is a creative-expressive tool, developed to enable veterans to reflect on their experiences and jointly create short artistic films. These artistic films articulate, often metaphorically, aspects of the veterans' service experiences, traumatic events, and reintegration challenges. The current study employed a qualitative methodology to explore participants' subjective experience of the program. We interviewed 50 participants following the intervention, focusing specifically on their perceptions of the filmmaking process, the aspects they viewed as meaningful, and whether and how the process affected them. Most participants reported their experience as positive and empowering. Three overarching themes emerged as significant in describing the benefits of participation: Gaining a new sense of agency, regaining a sense of affiliation, and processing the trauma. The findings are illustrated and discussed within the context of narrative therapy, as is the potential of video-based therapy, especially regarding non-articulated, sensory traumatic memories, and for the process of (re)construction of the trauma narrative.
AB - Despite the availability of effective treatments for coping with traumatic experiences, a large percentage of military veterans in need do not seek help. The "I Was There" model is a new filmmaking program which is a creative-expressive tool, developed to enable veterans to reflect on their experiences and jointly create short artistic films. These artistic films articulate, often metaphorically, aspects of the veterans' service experiences, traumatic events, and reintegration challenges. The current study employed a qualitative methodology to explore participants' subjective experience of the program. We interviewed 50 participants following the intervention, focusing specifically on their perceptions of the filmmaking process, the aspects they viewed as meaningful, and whether and how the process affected them. Most participants reported their experience as positive and empowering. Three overarching themes emerged as significant in describing the benefits of participation: Gaining a new sense of agency, regaining a sense of affiliation, and processing the trauma. The findings are illustrated and discussed within the context of narrative therapy, as is the potential of video-based therapy, especially regarding non-articulated, sensory traumatic memories, and for the process of (re)construction of the trauma narrative.
KW - Art therapy
KW - Digital storytelling
KW - Filmmaking
KW - Narrative
KW - PTSD
KW - Qualitative research
KW - Reintegration
KW - Veterans
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85055055153&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01954
DO - 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01954
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C2 - 30464751
AN - SCOPUS:85055055153
SN - 1664-1078
VL - 9
JO - Frontiers in Psychology
JF - Frontiers in Psychology
IS - OCT
M1 - 1954
ER -