MEET THE MOVIE THERAPIST

Bernie Wooder
UKCP MIHSM

A qualified psychotherapist and counsellor for 14 years, Bernie Wooder is the leading pioneer in applied movie therapy.

From his two UK practices in Harley Street (London) and close to the Elstree film studios, he coaches and counsels one on one with clients in any way that assists their progress.

He is also a qualified supervisor and trainer of experienced therapists.

"Every client is an individual, and will respond to different therapeutic approaches. Talking about film is a simple and effective way for many people to tune in to their feelings.

Because films are seen from a third person's perspective, clients can overcome feelings of denial when working with deep-seated problems. For them, movie therapy is ideal.

It's not always an easy option, and definitely not just about the 'feel good' factor. People who talk about their response to movies often feel quite unhappy when they exorcise those negative emotions, before they find the happiness and comfort beneath."

The keyword to Bernie Wooder's approach is flexibility. Movies can be used to help clients;

• Identify problems and their solutions
• Provide positive role models
• Clarify relationship issues
• In self improvement and personal growth
• Unlock unconscious and repressed feelings
• Needing inspiration
• Needing motivation
• In presenting, teaching and education

  "you can ask ten woman to watch Murial's Wedding and you'll get completely different emotional responses"

Bernie Wooder, BAFTA Awards Programme 2000

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People who want to work on their own can undertake a journey of self-discovery through the medium of film. They can explore film as part of one therapy with a trained psychotherapist or counsellor.

Therapists can be trained to use film safely as a profound, accessible and serious medium for working through issues with their clients. Film makers can integrate a working knowledge of healing through movies, combining responsibility with the power of the medium.

Both the international film community and UK media have grasped the idea that films can be more than 'just entertainment'.

MGM and Warner Brothers commissioned Bernie Wooder to provide a therapeutic slant on re-releases such as The Wizard of Oz.

He appears on the UK television networks, and on UK radio, including phone-ins, and in UK print media, including The Independent, The Guardian, The Mirror (Daily and Sunday), magazines and trade journals.

An article about Bernie appeared in this years March addition of 'British Airways' in-fight magazine.

He was interviewed at the BAFTA awards 2000, TV programme, as well as being on the BBC Radio 4 prestigious 'All In The Mind' programme with Professor Anthony Clare.

There are some Psychotherapists & Psychiatrists who recognise the immense therapeutic potential of film, and from around the world, exchange case studies through the World Organisation for Research and Development into the Therapeutic Use of Motion Pictures, founded by Bernie Wooder in 1998.

These exchanges are building into a core body of research into the therapeutic application of movies.

Through the organisation, Bernie also offers workshops on the healing power of film that have attracted a following of therapists, psychiatric workers, monks, priests and retreat directors from all over the world.

Recent Quotes:

"I began to realise that certain films or certain moments in films had stayed with me because they were, in effect, a mirror held up to my own experiences and feelings ... I can see that encountering film at this level invites a depth of self -discovery that I hadn't anticipated."

Mark Bennett, Benedictine Monk and Media Studies Teacher, Sussex UK: workshop participant.

"Bernie has combined his passion for movies with his professional acumen to develop the exciting phenomenon of movie therapy. He is a man whose initiative knows no bounds, who has inspired many, and whose imagination makes him a joy to work with."

Natasha Carlish, Independent TV Producer, Birmingham UK: media co-worker.