“The Truman Show” as a therapeutic metaphor for commitment to values – a movie analysis

Abstract

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an experiential process-based model of psychotherapy. Based on a model of human suffering that takes into account six processes that are at the cornerstone of psychological inflexibility or flexibility. It uses a diverse set of intervention strategies such as paradoxes and metaphors. The aim is to favor the abandonment of control strategies of aversive private events and to promote behavioral engagement that leads the individual to live a meaningful life. The ACT therapist can use the six processes in different arrangements in each case to develop idiosyncratic interventional strategies that are contextually fitted for each client. The present study proposes the movie “The Truman Show” as a therapeutic metaphor to be worked on in the context of ACT, especially addressing acceptance processes, values and commitment actions. For that, a conceptual analysis of the cinematographic work was carried out, associating specific aspects of the plot to the processes worked by ACT. This study does not exhaust the possibilities of analysis of the work, but suggests some approximations between aspects of the movie with the reasoning of ACT. It is encouraged that further analysis be made based on this and other cinematographic works, aiming to create metaphors that are useful for therapeutic purposes.