SEFAPP at the Movies: “Inside Out:” A Story of Emotional Life

Presenter: Linda B. Sherby, Ph.D., ABPP

Date: Sunday, February 26, 2017

CE Credits: Three (3) CE Credits

In this presentation, Dr. Linda Sherby takes us through the movie, “Inside Out,” an animated Disney/Pixar film whose target audience was supposedly children. 

On the contrary, Dr. Sherby maintains that “Inside Out’ is an insightful movie that touches on the complexity of emotions, memory, childhood development, attachment, defense, the unconscious, and more. The movie visually depicts what therapists deal with in their offices every day, illustrating both that emotions organize rather than disrupt both our internal and external worlds and that the integration of emotions, including sadness, is essential for growth and development. 

The movie also illustrates how memories are internalized and how these internalizations affect our view of both ourselves and our lives. How and what we feel is crucial to our way of being in the world. The movie also succeeds in arousing our own emotions. We care about these animated characters, including the visually depicted internalized emotions, voices and even an imaginary playmate. This success is due to the movie’s ability to tap into our universal experience of loss as an essential part of development and life.  

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