Using Videotherapy to Address the Social and Emotional Needs of Gifted Children

Career Counseling Is Personal Counseling: A Constructivist Approach to Nurturing the Development of Gifted Female Adolescents

“…Clips from films such as Dead Poets Society (Haft, Witt, Thomas, & Weir, 1989) and Mona Lisa Smile (Goldsmith-Thomas, Schindler, Schiff, & Newel, 2003) can serve as examples. Ultimately, identifying vicariously with characters and their strengths as well as their weaknesses may be helpful for gifted students who feel lonely (Milne & Reis, 2000) and may aid them in considering their own strengths, the barriers they may face, their resilience, and their identities more fully. In constructing personal narratives, it can be helpful to review the life stories of others and to be reminded that "our narratives are the means through which we imagine ourselves into the persons we become" (Hopkins, 1994, as cited in Rossiter, 2002.…”

“…Although virtually no empirical research attests to cinematherapy's effectiveness (Sharp, Smith, & Cole, 2002), it augurs well as a catalyst for discussion and for use either as a direct intervention or as a metaphorical tool, and some authors assert that movies are more powerful than any other form of art (Wedding & Boyd, 1997). Recently, researchers have suggested its use in general counseling and social development with gifted students (Hall, 1990;Milne & Reis, 2000;Newton, 1995). For instance, a television series like Bramwell (Whitby & Davidson, 1996 and movies like Gorillas in the Mist (Glimcher, Clegg, & Apted, 1988) and Contact (Zemeckis & Starkey, 1997) show outstanding women facing gender barriers; however, the options are virtually limitless, given that almost any movie can elicit discussion about gender roles, stereotypes, and characteristics that either preclude or promote success.…”

Current research on the social and emotional development of gifted and talented students: Good news and future possibilities

“…Thus, stress management techniques and/or counseling provided by individuals with training to work with this population may be beneficial. Specific strategies such as bibliotherapy (reading books about gifted persons; Hébert, 2000) or cinematherapy (watching movies about gifted individuals; Milne & Reis, 2000) can serve as a different kind of self-help experience. True stories, such as biographies of famous people, and fictional stories, like Little Man Tate and October Sky, can help gifted youth understand their giftedness and inspire them to persist in developing their talents.…”

Fostering the social and emotional development of gifted children through guided viewing of film

“…Newton (1995) and Milne and Reis (2000) have proposed the use of film with gifted adolescents, and their theoretical rationale can be applied to younger gifted children as well. Newton (1995) highlighted advantages of using what he referred to as "cinematherapy" with gifted adolescents by proposing that movies may appeal to visual learners more than books because movies involve multiple senses.…”