Judyta Daria Potocka
Chapter 2
Filmmaking as an Alchemical Vessel in the Process of Art Therapy
Chapter Highlight
The chapter explores Filmmaking as an Alchemical Vessel (FAV)™, an approach grounded in analytical psychology that contextualises filmmaking as a metaphorical vessel;a contemporary container for projection, amplification, and the transformation of psychic life. It offers individuals the possibility of developing their own “alchemical method” working through the structure of filmmaking, using the full array of filmmaking tools in ways applicable across diverse settings. The chapter also discusses how this approach can be integrated into art therapy, building on the foundations established in film/video-based therapy.
At the centre of the chapter lies an arts-based case study with an adolescent boy on the autism spectrum. The study focuses on individual art therapy sessions in which communication unfolds entirely through filmmaking. Working together to tell the participant’s stories, the case exemplifies how filmmaking provides insight into the inner world through symbolic amplification. By tracing recurring images, themes, and motifs of home, adventure, and friendship,the study illustrates how the psyche finds opportunities for expression. Through collaborative filmmaking—experimenting with the camera, taking on filmmaking roles, storyboarding, and editing—the participant progresses from solitary play and echolalia to sustained engagement, ultimately unlocking verbal, bilingual communication.
Filmmaking is framed as an “inner journey” in which a personal system of references, akin to archetypes, emerges through active creation. The chapter emphasises the significance of therapeutic presence, highlighting its mirroring function and the importance of a “journey companion.” With each new generation’s familiarity with film and video media growing, filmmaking becomes not only a symbolic language but also a creative bridge;it activates imagination within a structured yet flexible container, allowing movement between modalities.
The chapter is based on Judyta’s Dean’s Awarded Master’s Thesis Twórczość filmowa jako naczynie alchemiczne w procesie arteterapeutycznym na podstawie pracy z nastoletnim wychowankiem w spektrum autyzmu (Eng. Filmmaking as an Alchemical Vessel in the Process of Art Therapy, based on work with an adolescent boy on the autism spectrum, Ignatianum University, Kraków, 2024). A digital copy will be available soon.
Filmmaking as an Alchemical Vessel (FAV)™ — Ongoing Project
FAV™ is an ongoing research and creative project developed through Judyta’s personal and professional experience. It draws on her work as a filmmaker in large-scale collective processes, her experimental practice, and her pedagogical and therapeutic work with children, young people, and people with disabilities. She is currently developing a self-directed research project at the intersection of dreams, personal development, artificial intelligence, and creativity, exploring further possibilities of FAV™.
About the Author
Judyta Daria Potocka is a visual artist, filmmaker, art therapist, pedagogue, and lecturer based in Poland. She holds an MA in Filmmaking from the University for the Creative Arts, Farnham, and an MA in Art Therapy from Ignatianum University, Kraków. She combines new media with traditional expressive arts in therapeutic and educational settings, facilitating self-discovery, creativity, and learning through storytelling. Judyta also leads international Erasmus+ training programmes for youth workers and facilitates local community projects in Kraków using film and theatre methods. She teaches Film and Photo Therapy at WSB University in Poland.
Judyta is an award-winning Director of Photography in the independent film industries of the UK and Poland. She also produces experimental and personal work exploring autoethnography, the relationship with the camera, and the visual image. Her work has been published in Surveillance & Society.
She is a founder of the international artistic collective Without a Head, which offers a collaborative space where creative process is inseparable from product and artistic expression is recognised as a fundamental means of personal growth. The collective has produced one medium-length and one feature-length project to date (The Wind and the Whimpering, 2023 and BABA, currently in post-production), both exploring the fairytale and mythical possibilities of cinema.