Pixar’s Inside Out movies have changed how therapists talk about feelings with their patients. And not just kids: “I’ve been stealing lines from the movie and quoting them to adults, not telling them that I’m quoting.”
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Comments 3
Am I alone in thinking that this might not be a good thing?
If Inside Out is being used as a way to more easily "onboard" people into therapy, then it's great. If lines from the movie are being used as a substitute for therapy, then I'm a little more doubtful.
"Cars" was a new movie when my autistic son was young, and we had to play it *every* afternoon. It got to the point at which we were all throwing out random lines from the movie all the time and that's when it hit me: he was using it as a way to talk about emotions. While real life was unpredictable, the patterns in the movie would be reassuringly the same day after day. If he then recognized an emotion inside him that echoed one from the movie, he could just repeat the line of dialogue and express himself. My kids haven't glommed onto the Inside Out movies but I'd bet they'd be an even better way to understand feelings.
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