The opening scenes to the film, Common Threads: Stories of Life After Trauma, show an idyllic scene of children playing beside the ocean on a peaceful beach in New England.

As the film title suggests, the peacefulness may be symbolic of life after trauma - but then the viewer is drawn in by the very personal stories of two adults, Connie Robillard and Marcel Duclos, who experienced abuse as children but have since learned how to overcome those traumatic times and move on with their lives as adults.

The two are colleagues as professional psychotherapists who practice with Eventide Counseling in New Hampshire, and have co-written a book of the same title that tells each of their stories with poetic interludes. The book is used in the seminars they put on for other mental health professionals, and with the documentary completed by Weyburn native Amber Ward, they have been provided with an artistic visual tool that will also be used in their seminars to professionals.

The daughter of Darryl and Patricia Ward of Weyburn, this is Amber's first feature length documentary through her production company, Shadow Lane Productions. Connie was a subject in a documentary about artists that Amber helped her mother-in-law produce. This is where the two met. Connie liked Amber's work so much she approached her to do the Common Threads documentay.

"When Connie approached me she wanted to do something a bit more educational. I felt that it needed to be done on a more personal level in order to touch or reach more people," said Amber. "I come from a very artistic background, and thanks to Connie and Marcel's trust, was able to infuse a lot of my artistic vision into the documentary. The entire piece has very beautiful, peaceful and reflective moments, which some people have said are therapeutic. One of the major reasons behind doing this project was for Connie and Marcel to tell their story, encourage others to do the same and hopefully help on some level."

The film will premiere on Saturday, Sept. 15 at Southern New Hampshire University in Robert Frost Hall at 7 p.m. Amber and husband Jeremy Cleek, both producers and founders of Shadow Lane Productions, will be present for the premiere showing, along with Connie and Marcel.

"Jeremy was not only a producer but sound designer and color timer as well, and a huge help," said Amber. "I could have never done this without him."

The book deals with a very serious, dark subject, namely that of child abuse, and Amber had to think of a way where they could present their stories, but also provide lighter points during the film to allow the viewer not to be overwhelmed by the stories.

Taking part of the idea from the poetic images in the book of children playing by the ocean, Amber filmed a number of scenes using Connie's grandchildren on a beach in New Hampshire, and these serve as counter-points to the more serious moments when Connie and Marcel individually tell their stories - a process both authors admit was tougher than they thought it would be. (The children really represent innocence.)

"Connie was very open to it, and Marcel was a little more reserved. When he wrote the book, that was the first time he told anybody. To hold that in all that time and then to do a book to give to your family was a big thing for him," explained Amber, adding, "They're amazing people."

"The film was more difficult (than writing about it). I recalled how at first I spoke more circumspectly in the film, but when we showed a trial of the film to a group of colleagues, they said, 'you don't really say what happened to you.' I'm a very private person; I'm sure Amber had her hands full with me," said Marcel.

"It was much more difficult to do the film than to write about it, partly because we were telling our story to Amber and she was hearing it for the first time. It was very emotional," added Connie.

Marcel noted that Connie was the first one to start writing her story, and he encouraged her in it; she in turn asked why he doesn't share his story in a similar way, so he started writing his story as well.

With the film, he said he respects Amber's work and approach to making it, and hopes it can help people the same as their book has been able to do.

"We're just two real persons, nothing extraordinary. Trauma need not be the end of somebody's story," he said of the subject matter.

The film will be shown to a large conference of professionals in Illinois in early October, and Marcel notes both of them are excited at the quality and visual treats that are in this documentary.

"We showed it to a number of professionals, and they said, 'this has to be seen, it's beautiful work.' I participated at first with some resistance, but once I got to know Amber, she was very respectful," said Marcel.

His main hope for the film is that it will argue against the belief in our culture that abuse is a taboo subject that's never discussed out loud, and as a result children are vastly undervalued.

"The abuse of children in the Western world is horrific. To this day, I witness in my office people emotionally abusing their children right in front of me without any thought. If the film can argue against that, it would be wonderful," he said.

For her part, Connie believes they can reach more people with the film in their seminars than just by using the book, and it will touch both the professionals they often talk to and the general public as well.

"It's a beautiful piece of artistic work. It's an interesting film from a professionals' point of view, but also from an artistic point of view," she said.

In between the scenes where she or Marcel are talking, Amber has interspersed the scenes with Connie's grandchildren, which Connie thinks has provided a good contrast "with the dark reality of abuse."

The final result is a film that went beyond what she was expecting. "I had a dream inside of me for a film, but she took the film farther than the dream I had for it. I can't imagine anyone could have done a better job of it than what she did."

Connie Robillard has a Master's degree from Rivier College and has advanced training in Internal Family Systems Therapy, EMDR and Experiential forms of psychotherapy. Marcel Duclos has studied Pastoral Psychotherapy, Jungian Analytical Psychotherapy, Core Energetic Evolutionary Therapy, EMDR and Internal Family Systems Therapy.

After graduating from the Weyburn Comprehensive School, Amber went on to graduate from the Visual Communications program at Medicine Hat College, and the Vancouver Film School in B.C.

Currently, Amber lives with husband Jeremy Cleek in Minneapolis, Minn., where both work for Tightrope Media Systems.

To see a trailer for the film, visit the website www.shadowlaneproductions.com, and for more information about the counseling practice, go to www.eventidecounseling.com.