The therapeutic use of cinema to treat mentally ill patients (1895-1950)

Martin’s project examines the therapeutic use of cinema by the mental health professions, trying to understand why and how the cinema was considered a therapeutic tool to treat mental disorders. In doing so, the discourses of the professions which have used it, as present in professional periodicals, are analysed. The scope of the project’s exploration covers use of the cinema for therapeutic purposes between the 1890s, the beginnings of cinema, to the 1950s, the advent of antipsychotic drugs and the popularization of television.