DIRECTOR'S CUT: Therapist Reacts to MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO

How can you navigate change, stress, or sadness? How can you be a good parent as your kids navigate those emotions?

Licensed therapist Jonathan Decker and filmmaker Alan Seawright look to the absolutely delightful anime My Neighbor Totoro for some of the answers. This film is in many ways a guidebook for warm, affirming parenting as both the mother and father show love toward their children, and listen to their stories and concerns. For all the surreal and fantastical elements in this movie (like the giant cat bus, the soot sprites, and of course Totoro), it shows pretty realistic relationships between Mei and Satsuki and how they deal with their mother's illness. This movie just feels like wrapping up in a blanket of love and goodness.