Introduction

Hello to those of you who are reading. I chose to create this blog because by studying cinema therapy and expressive arts therapy, I wanted to explore how dessert can help improve our mental and emotional well-being. Dear readers, I now ask you to pretend that each post is a "therapy session" when reading the posts. Each post is intended to discuss a negative emotion and is divided into two parts.

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So why don’t we begin with the first part of the “Dessert therapy.” Have you ever felt a craving for the desserts shown in a particular movie? Whether it's the pudding in the movie A Boy and His Samurai, the lemon meringue pie in Toast or the blueberry pie in My blueberry night, they all leave a strong impression on the audience and help the movie convey an emotion, a message. Some of these desserts express love, some are about the warmth of home, and some symbolize the past that the movie's protagonist wants to escape. When we use film as an intervention tool, the presence of the dessert element in the film not only adds interest and deepens our impressions, but it is also a good starting point to help us understand and relates to the film. Talking about the relates to the film, according to cinema therapy, the first step in the treatment process is to get us to identify ourselves with a character in the film, which we may find we share similar experiences, motivations or be experiencing similar internal conflicts with the character. This allows us to reflect on our own issues from a safe distance. As the character solve their problems, we will feel released and internalizes the characters' experiences.

 

For the second part of the therapy, you will be asked to participate in an expressive activity. Research shows that performing a creative art process can be used to face conflict or for self-awareness and self-growth. Baking is a very active artistic creation, by decorating cookies with various colors of icing, kneading, carving dough, etc., we can release our minds and feel connected to ourselves by baking and especially by decorating desserts. However, if conditions do not permit, you can also choose to paint a dessert, the important thing is to make sure that you are comfortable expressing yourself and making your discoveries.