Mathilda R. Ström
Artist – author – director, producer, trained in screenwriting, the psychology of fictional characters, and storytelling
Also a youth mental health first-aider and an art-therapy practitioner
THE FOUNDER OF LA PORTE ROUGE
Trained in screenwriting and storytelling, I gradually developed my dramaturgy by navigating between cinematic, literary, and sometimes choreographic language, in order to explore characters and narratives in various forms.
As a little girl with an overflowing imagination, I very early on found refuge and expression in shaping inner worlds: playwriting, invented stories, poetry… and above all the creation of characters and their stories, which I have been shaping for as long as I can remember. This initial impulse—to give life to someone who does not exist in our reality, to listen to them, follow them, transform them—has accompanied my entire artistic evolution and remains today the beating heart of my work.
As I grew up, I naturally turned toward theatre and cinema. First through acting, particularly during my training as an actress at Cours Florent, where I experimented with very different identities: feminine and masculine, from Miss Julie to Roberto Zucco. This passage through embodiment introduced me to a psychological understanding of characters: their shadowy areas, contradictory impulses, and internal emotional mechanisms. Very quickly, the desire to construct the intimate architecture of stories pushed me behind the camera. I wrote and directed several short films, the first of which won an award in Paris at EICAR (The International Film School of Paris). My latest film, The Flow (2024), a danced fiction, will be presented at the end of the year at the InShadow Festival in Lisbon.
After several years working in Scandinavian audiovisual production, notably in Stockholm, as a production manager, screenwriter, and director, I broadened my field of writing by returning to novel writing, which had shaped a large part of my childhood.
Throughout this journey, an essential understanding emerged: the psychology of fictional characters is not only a dramaturgical tool but can also nourish and enrich a therapeutic space. By constructing, embodying, or supporting the creation of imaginary identities, I observed in myself and then in those I accompany real changes and movements: distancing, internal shifts, permission to reorganize, a liberating space for the unconscious. From this arose a conviction: imagination is a powerful ground for initiating inner transformation. When oriented constructively, imagination can become a true therapeutic tool, particularly for people experiencing psychological vulnerability, and especially for adolescents.
Today, as an art therapist, a youth mental health first-aider, and currently training in psychodrama (a discipline that mobilizes role-play, the inner stage, symbols, and role mobility to foster catharsis, symbolization, and restructuring), I situate my work at the crossroads of storytelling, clinical practice, and imagination.
This artistic creation laboratory, which I built from this conviction, was woven from the momentum of my personal expertise in dramaturgy and fiction, and was further shaped by the gradual intertwining of this artistic approach with clinical practice, in order to create narrative spaces where players and participants can express themselves differently, through fiction, embodiment, play, and the symbolized image of self.
The approach I advocate is plural and infused by the members of the therapeutic board who support me: therapist, psychologist, neuropsychologist, psychodramatist, art therapist, and specialized educators. Professionals who help me anchor imagination in its potential as a therapeutic narrative tool.
Research, creation, transmission: it is within this weaving of narrative, therapeutics, and imagination that my territory now resides.
- Partnerships and collaborations
- Partnerships and collaborations
Laetitia Lahanier
Helping relationship therapist, Laetitia draws inspiration from ANDC®, humanistic psychology, and ACT therapy to support her patients in gaining a better understanding of themselves and restoring their inner balance. She holds a degree in Clinical and Pathological Psychology from the University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis, as well as in Helping Relationship from the Centre de Relation d’Aide de Montréal.
She contributes a therapeutic and experiential perspective on the content and effects of the game. Together with Mathilda R. Ström (founder of La Porte Rouge), Laetitia Lahanier also co-organizes interdisciplinary round tables, bringing together mental health and education professionals to further enrich the tool and evaluate its clinical implications.
Carolina Becerril-maillefert
Psychologist, psychoanalyst, psychodramatist, and trainer.
Founder of CEPSY MORENO and of SFPS (French Society of Psychodrama and Sociometry).
Carolina provides guidance and advice through her expertise in the creation of serious games. She is a member of the interdisciplinary round tables, bringing together mental health and education professionals, organized by La Porte Rouge.
https://www.psychodramefrance.com/