VideoTherapy Report EU: the three W’s

(Why this project ? Why it matters now? Why do you need to make it?)

[from Any possible social impact? – DOX #85 SPRING 2010]

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It dates back in 2002 –  the first project that called for the use of the video camera in a therapeutic context undertook by Fabrizio Fantini (LaDamaSognatrice HD Audiovisual Production company co-funder together with Chiara Roncagli): the project turned out in the touching docudrama set inside a residential house for mentally handicapped persons of Cernusco sul Naviglio (MI), titled “Le Meccaniche dell’Amore” (“Mechanics of Love”).

Conceived for the sanitary structures circuit, for internal use only, it was completed after over a year of post-production (the MusicTherapist Fabio Federico Gallarati composed the original soundtrack ), but has never been shown to the general public: the strong emotional impact of the images and the high experimental nature of the project were sufficient to prevent the  release of the necessary authorisations.

This didn’t prevent Fabrizio from carrying on his theories about the effectiveness of the use of video in therapeutic processes; he then conceived the project “Volti e Risvolti di un Carosello chiamato: DROGA”,  a video-therapy techniques based learning path for students of secondary schools that foresaw the involvement of drug-addicted and socially disadvantaged people.  Also this time, the highly-experimental nature of the idea prevented public institutions from participating in the project realization.

In 2008 Fabrizio and Chiara took part to a claimed-to-be ‘videotherapy project’ titled  “Amletica”, that involved the patients of the CSM of Cento  (FE), and, disappointed by the failure of the therapeutic process, decided to investigate the rising methodologies used in the videotherapy field in Europe. VideoTherapy techniques were born overseas more than 30 years ago, but only in the last few years they have been adopted in Europe, sometimes unwittingly, more often incorrectly.

The aim of the project “VideoTherapy Report EU” is to reconstruct the story and the actual general state of affairs of videotherapy in at least four European countries where this discipline is spreading, shed light on the fundamental difference between “VideoTherapy” (using video during therapy) and “Therapeutic Video” (using video based activities as the healing process itself) defining who is eligible to practice each one.

Due to the lack of information about this issue, many public funds are given to project that have no therapeutic value and are led by people not qualified. The danger is both a huge waste of money and, what’s worse, the trivial effect it may have on people who invest their time in what they think is a therapeutic non-pharmacological  treatment.