🎃 Facing Our Fears: Exploring Emotions Through Horror Movies

In acknowledgment of the creative work of Makayla Stefanski, LCMHCA

Halloween season invites us to play with fear — to watch horror movies, tell ghost stories, and explore the unknown from a safe distance. But what if fear could also become a doorway to better understanding ourselves?

Makayla Stefanski, LCMHCA, created a thought-provoking and creative therapeutic exercise designed to help clients who struggle to identify and express emotions. By using the lens of horror movies — where fear, tension, and transformation are front and center — clients can safely explore the feelings that often stay hidden beneath the surface.

Makayla’s approach encourages reflection through questions like:

• What horror movie scene most reflects your own fears or anxieties?

• If your fear were a horror movie villain, what would it look like, and how would you defeat it?

• Which horror movie survivor do you relate to the most, and why?

• Which villain might have turned out differently if someone had cared for them?horror movie questions

These prompts invite clients to think deeply about their emotional landscape in a way that feels less intimidating and more engaging. For someone who finds it hard to say, “I feel scared,” it can be easier to say, “This scene reminds me of how I feel when I’m overwhelmed.” Through metaphor, emotion becomes accessible.

Horror films also offer a mirror for resilience — the survivors who endure, adapt, and grow stronger echo our own capacity to face what frightens us and move forward. By identifying with characters or storylines, clients can begin to see their emotions not as threats, but as messages about what matters most to them.

Makayla’s exercise highlights a powerful truth: fear can be both frightening and transformative. When we explore our inner monsters with curiosity instead of judgment, we open space for healing, self-compassion, and growth.

So this Halloween, as we celebrate the spooky and the strange, let’s also celebrate the courage it takes to face what scares us — and the growth that can follow when we do.

🕯️ About Dragonfly Counseling PLLC

At Dragonfly Counseling PLLC, we believe that healing begins with awareness, compassion, and creative connection. Our team offers in-person and virtual counseling across North Carolina and Virginia, helping clients find hope, change, and growth in every season — even the spooky ones.