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E-Motion Picture Magic: A Movie Lover's Guide to Healing and Transformation

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German-born Birgit Wolz has had a long-time love affair with movies. As a young girl in Germany, she fondly remembers going to a movie with her grandfather as her first big adventure. "I was absolutely fascinated. For the first time, I experienced being engrossed in a bigger-than-life experience, the colors, the sounds and the story of a big screen motion picture."

This passion for movies sustained Wolz throughout the ups and downs of her young life, eventually overflowing into her professional life as well. "My personal interest turned professional after I began my career as a psychotherapist and first learned about the technique of using movies as a tool for psychological healing and personal growth."

Later, Wolz faced several significant losses, including a serious, disabling illness. "After a time, it became clear that I would live, but the question still remained as to how I would live," she writes. "I learned through this shocking wake-up call that I could never take anything for granted. All possibility of reaching the goals to which I had previously aspired seemed to evaporate. Relationships changed dramatically. My future suddenly appeared a complete blank."

Again, Wolz turned to movies. "During this time, certain kinds of movies seemed amazingly helpful, even transformative. I noticed with surprise that I started crying uncontrollably whenever I saw films that showed characters in tragic experiences. I made a point of going to movie theaters by myself and sitting in the last row. In the protective darkness of this environment all the blocked up tears started flowing in response to watching the characters' pain."

The author presents several interesting theories as to why movies have the ability to heal and transform us, and why they can serve as catalysts for communicating where day-to-day words often fail. One such theory involves accessing what Swiss psychiatrist Dr. Carl Jung coined the shadow.

The term `shadow' refers to those parts of ourselves that we learned to repress or deny. Over the years, our shadow becomes deeply buried in our subconscious mind, sometimes causing us to behave in ways we don't understand. But Jung also believed that the shadow contains a wellspring of strength, power and creative energy. He believed that if we could access our shadow, we could live more fully. Movies, with their inherent detachment, since we are observers only, can court the shadow, bringing it slowly and safely into the light, allowing us entry into those locked areas of our psyche.

E-Motion Picture Magic includes guidelines for watching a film with conscious awareness and an in-depth look at how the emotional distance movies provide can enable us to see how we relate and respond to various circumstances through identifying with a certain character. An extensive film index at the back of the book will help you find films that deal with specific questions or issues. Find movie recommendations for dealing with peer relationships, blended families, chronic illness, divorce, disability, depression, phobias, and more.

When the real world seems overwhelming, when answers or solutions seem out of reach, when you find yourself unable to move beyond your fear, or get in touch with your sadness, why not give the 'reel' world a try?

I am a psychotherapist and use movies with individual clients as well as groups. E-Motion Picture Magic is well written and user friendly. Ms. Wolz does a nice job of offering both theory and practical information. I particularly like her sections on using movies to release negative beliefs and her exercises that help the reader increase self-awareness by noticing reactions to film characters. Last, but certainly not least, I really appreciate, and have already used, her thorough film index. I will refer to this book often.

As a psychotherapist I find Birgit Wolz's book to be helpful. I work mostly with teenagers and have found that both music and movies have been the most important ways to reach them. E-Motion Picture Magic offers not only a well written base of theory into the idea of cinema therapy, but provides the reader with a marvelous movie index that can be easily looked at based on the topic needs. Teenagers struggles often with the ability to express their inner selves, but quite easily talk about the plight of others. Movies and their characters provide a safe environment for teens to express their needs. The tools that Birgit Wolz provides in her book enable the therapist to more skillfully navigate with both groups and individuals. I fully intend on maintaining this book as a great guide in my practice.

I thought E-Motion Picture Magic was very straightforward and explained well. My movie watching experience has been enhanced tremendously thanks to the teaching in this book. Near the end of the book I had this urge to run and start a movie group.

I was very happy that Dr. Wolz did the detailed exercise using a movie I had actually seen. It helped me to follow the exercise better and experience the benefits. The movie index at the back of the book is very useful, especially if you are looking for movies that address specific issues you wish to explore.

Self-help and pop psychology books have been around for a long time. Most of them that I have read help neither myself nor my understanding of human behavior. But Birgit Wolz's E- Motion Picture Magic is not your everyday self-help guide , nor is it pop psychology. It is a fantastic guide to solving emotional problems by interacting with the stories and characters portrayed on the silver screen. We know that movies are entertaining. But now we know they can also be therapeutic.


Doctor Wolz helps us to understand the reality of our own lives and to discern the path to happier lives by showing us how to use the reel of film that is projected onto the big white screen (or the little screen on our DVD/VCR/TV) to more effectively comprehend the reel in our heads that is often hidden from what we we perceive as reality. By interacting with movies and using what Wolz calls "conscious awareness" we place ourselves right into the story. By watching the behavior and attitude of the characters we can get inside their skin . It is in this way that without taking the risks of real world experimentation (or even the real world expense of psychotherapy) we can use the movie story to discern the meaning of our own story. We can use the problems of the characters to bring our own problems into the light of day. We can use the plot's solution to problems to guide us to a path more satisfying to our own needs.


Most useful are the straight forward exercises the author suggests by asking us, for example , to remember a time in our lives that we faced problems and dilemmas similar to those portrayed on the screen, to focus on the ways that the story enlightens the actors concerning particular problems, and to ask ourselves how the characters master challenges successfully. As we connect with what is going on in the movie, we can also connect with what is going on in our own lives. Also of great use and interest are the film index and film lists which catalogue subjects that are part of the human condition (bereavement,ethics, children, romance, love, addiction,illness etc. etc.) and link these topics to specific movies.


When I watched City Slickers I did so passively and was amused and entertained. But I am going to watch it again soon and do so with an eye to conscious awareness of what is going on . Dr. Wolz tells us that this is a movie that can help with regard to "men's issues". For me, the words "men's" and "issues" are redundant. I really don't know what the difference is between being me and being an issue. Maybe with the help of this wonderful book I can take one step toward separating what it means to be a "man" and what it means to be an "issue".

Clear and concise. Very useful for a professional and also for the average joe.

I use this technique with family business consulting clients very effectively. It provides a great perspective in discussing interpersonal issues in a way which can help depersonalize conflict and promote healthy discussion. The book has been extremely helpful.