At the Trauma Informed Practice Conference in Birmingham in September, Nandor Grosch presented the work he does through film-making with institutionalised children, in Hungary. A project where he allows the children to determine the story that is going to be acted out and helps them act it out and film it. Over 400 films have been made by the children to date, over the years.
Mr Grosch pointed out a number of things he had noticed in the course of doing this work. All of the children he works with have been through traumatic experiences, and alongside the practical assistance on the various aspects of film-making, they are offered counselling as well. However, in his experience, the process of film-making itself can be very therapeutic.
A lot of the stories told in the films are about the things the children have experienced, either directly or indirectly. Sometimes he finds that they use fantasy characters or elements to serve as symbols for things that are too hard to face head on. Or sometimes, the children will decide on a realistic story, but they will change the outcome, so that they can play out how things would have gone if this or that had or had not happened.
He also found that while children may have a lot of trouble talking about their experiences, by discussing similar issues as part of developing the story, or going through them again while playing a character, provides them with a way to think and speak about their own lives in a safe way. It provides the opportunity to create a distance between the topic and the child, while at the same time finally allowing the child to confront the topic.
I have seen something similar myself in a project I’m involved in, where volunteers also work together with the children to allow them to make a small film about a subject of their choice. It also appears to give children, who in daily life are given little say over anything, a sense of control over what happens.
And I believe that even if there is no film-making involved, allowing children to put together a story and act it out, perhaps as a kind of stage play, can have a great beneficial effect. It can be a way for children to help confront and deal with some of their experiences, and to make sense of them, by trying out different ways of reacting to the situation given and explore different possible outcomes. Though some counselling support does need to be available if things get too much for the child.
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