Using Photography in Counseling: Images of Healing (original) (raw)
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Creative approaches to counseling help counselors to meet the needs of diverse populations. The utility of photography in counseling has been demonstrated through several case studies; however, clear implications of how photography relates to the counseling process have not been well delineated. The existing literature on phototherapy is reviewed and connected to specific photo directives within the counseling process and common psychotherapeutic techniques.
Establishing the Framework for Using Photos in Art Therapy (and other Therapies) Practices
Arteterapia. Papeles de arteterapia y educación artística para la inclusión social, 2015
What is PhotoTherapy and how does it differ from Therapeutic Photography? Is PhotoTherapy simply "Art Therapy using photos", or something different? And what, then is "Photo-Art-Therapy"? Is all this confusing? Yes! And in this Article written specifically for an Art Therapy Journal readership, I hope to provide a useful framework for positioning each of these in terms of their relationship to the others, and clarify their similarities and differences, including the areas where they overlap-and explain the criteria used for distinguishing between them. I will explain the "Continuum of Photo-based Therapy Practices" (with PhotoTherapy at one end, and "Therapeutic Photography" at the other) that is in common use around the world for positioning one's practice so that others will be able to easily understand what it is. I will then locate the subcategory of "Photo-Art-Therapy" from within this context. I will then illustrate with "real-life" examples how I (both a U.S. Registered Art Therapist and Canadian Registered Psychologist) have used my knowledge of Art Therapy theory and practice to enhance the potential effectiveness of my PhotoTherapy work during therapy sessions with clients-in ways that therapists and other mental health professionals who have not been educated about Art Therapy would be unable to do (or understand). By the end of this Article, I hope that readers will recognize that, whether an Art Therapist works from the "art-during-therapy" ("Art Psychotherapy") model of practice or the "art-as-the-therapyitself" (Therapeutic Art Activities") model, they can benefit from adding PhotoTherapy techniques to their repertoire of adjunctive interventions: using their clients' own personal snapshots and family photographs (and their interactions with these) to evoke feelings, thoughts, and memories-and related values, beliefs, attitudes, and expectations) in ways not possible when using other art media (or words) alone. After the definitions have been clarified and examples illustrated, the final Section of this Article will provide readers with information about many current practitioners in Spain (and how to contact _____________
Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome
In contrast with the recent increase in the use of photography as a therapeutic tool in psychological settings, lack of clarity exists regarding this intervention modality. While the distinction among Photo Therapy, Therapeutic Photography, and Photo Art Therapy is theoretically established we examined whether this classification is confirmed also in practice. Electronic databases (PsychINFO, PubMed, MEDLINE, and Social Sciences s-EBSCO) were systematically searched for studies published in the last fifteen years utilizing photographic techniques as the elective method of intervention. A total of 124 articles were identified, of which 21 met the inclusion criteria. Results indicate that photography has been used in health, clinical, social, and community settings. Photovoice, Photographic Self-Portrait, and Photo Presentation are the methods most commonly implemented. Several contributions could be placed in more than one of the above-mentioned models of intervention; suggesting tha...
P H O T O T H E R A P Y A FIRST ATTEMPT TO CONSIDER THE USE OF PHOTOGRAPHS IN ART THERAPY
Mark Wheeler currently works in the UK National Health Service as Art Psychotherapist in a multi disciplinary Child and Family Therapy service. Mark was the first UK Art Therapist whose original degree was in photography, which remains a strong element in his own artwork. Mark's duties also involve systemic therapy with families, in which he has undertaken postgraduate training. The systemic practice has had a direct bearing in his approaches to photographs in a therapeutic context. 'disorders' or 'dysfunctions, both emotional and neurodevelopmental'.
An Overview: Visual Communication in Photography as Healing Therapy By
Silpakorn University Journal of Fine Arts Vol.8(1-2) , 2020
The study explores the use of visual communication focused mainly on photography images as persuasion on Therapeutic Photography. The context of the study involves examining the photograph as a factor that contributes to the sustainability of visual communication in photography practice. The discussion examines the visual significance and understanding of image data using visual s and analyzing the value of photographic images for self-healing therapy. The study discusses; firstly, the value
Photography as a Wellness Tool for Counselors-in-Training
Journal of Educational Research and Practice
The academic journey to become a professional counselor can be challenging for counselors-in-training (CIT), adversely affecting their physical health, mental health, and wellness. Counselor educators (CE) have recognized a need for wellness training and interventions to assist CIT during graduate school and to prepare them for their careers. Photography is considered a tool in art therapy within the realm of expressive therapies that can be used for wellness purposes. We review wellness, CIT struggles with wellness, expressive therapies, and photography techniques to promote CIT professional development and wellness practices. We identify the history of photography tools, describe each tool more precisely, and provide examples of how they can aid CIT in addressing their health and wellness and increasing their knowledge and use of photography as a wellness tool with future clients. We discuss practice and research implications for CE and CIT.
Phototherapy and Therapeutic Photography - The Healing Power of Photographs
My interest in the field of work which I will be discussing in this thesis has also been very important in my own photographic work. Before I had even been reading about phototherapy, I was using my own photographs in this kind of context. For me personally photography has been helpful in order to cope with the challenges that I have faced moving between countries for the last ten years. Thus, I began to be more intrigued in actual phototherapy and therapeutic photography. Since it seemed that there was some confusion over the terms I wanted my thesis to draw a distinction between these two. What came to be even more important in the end was to reveal how phototherapy was developed. In order to find the answer, I began to explore the 19th century paintings and medical drawings in the hope that they could reveal some connections to phototherapy. From there I explored how photography came to be invented and how its therapeutic potential came to be discovered within psychiatry. Here the influence of psychoanalysis had to be taken into account as well as the rise of feminism in 1960s-1970s. Thus chapter one is devoted to the question of how phototherapy was developed and what came to influence this development. In order to understand better the therapeutic value of photographs, I will also look at how ordinary people have used photographs in a therapeutic way which is the main focus of chapter two. Post-mortem photography will be discussed in this context as a practice which brought comfort to people who were grieving over the death of a loved one. I am also intrigued in analysing what kind of role Kodak, the company that created snapshot photography played in the construction of ideas of how people should use their cameras and how they should represent themselves. This will lead into a discussion of feminist subversion and Jo Spence who could be considered as one of the pioneers of phototherapy or more preciously re-enactment phototherapy. Analysing the therapeutic use of photographs amongst ordinary people will also add more understanding of the actual development of phototherapy which is my main focus in this thesis. The last chapter is devoted to the question of how photography has been used in a therapeutic way in arts. The American photographer Nan Goldin is my key artist here as she has found photography’s power as a medium to visually explore her own identity as well as that of others. I will be looking at her work in comparison to paintings created by Vincent Van Gogh, Frida Kahlo and Egon Schiele, much in a similar way as I was trying to find the traces of phototherapy in the 19th century paintings. In this context mirrors will also be discussed in relation to Lacan and Jung as part of explaining the human need for the search of wholeness within themselves. Furthermore I am intrigued in finding out whether Goldin has used photography only for her own personal healing or has it been also aimed to help others? Through this I will hopefully be able to find connections between her practice and that of Jo Spence’s. After carrying out this research, I am able to answer the question of how phototherapy came to develop and how the therapeutic value of photographs have been cherished previously by its different practitioners.
2011
This article explains how and why involving people's own personal and family snapshots in their therapy treatment ("PhotoTherapy Techniques") can enhance and deepen that process, as well as improve the quality of therapeutic results. It tells how photographs bridge deep into areas of the client where words cannot reach -- and thus provide an excellent means of examining and exploring feelings with the least amount of cognitive interference or protection. Based on the rationale that photographs contain emotional contents along with their visual details, the article shows how therapists trained in PhotoTherapy Techniques can use their clients' own personal and family photos to trigger memories, evoke feelings, reconnect thoughts, hide secrets, and bring the past "to light" in new ways. PhotoTherapy techniques are shown to be based on the fact that all photographs speak metaphorically and symbolically to and from the unconscious without any words being invol...