PhotoTherapy, Photo-Art-Therapy and therapeutic photography (Weiser)

Domain VIII · Creative & expressive arts therapies · Judy Weiser · 1993 · Vancouver, Canada

What it is

PhotoTherapy is not a separate school of psychotherapy but a set of techniques that a trained counsellor or therapist of any orientation adds to their existing practice. It uses ordinary personal snapshots, family albums, photos taken of the client by others, self-portraits and any other images,…

Format

• Weiser gives no fixed phases, session count or sequence. She says the five techniques overlap, work best combined, and are chosen and dosed for each client; if one technique is not productive, try another. The only sequencing guidance in the sources: (a) the photo-projective process underlies all…
• Format as published: individual counselling/therapy sessions; couple and family sessions (especially album work); groups and workshops; homework (photo-taking or photo-gathering) between sessions; digital photos reviewed immediately in session. No camera skill is needed and artistic quality is…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Session length and count follow the host therapy (e.g., 50-60 min sessions; 1-3 day educational workshops and 6-day intensive training are Weiser's training formats, not client formats).
• PhotoTherapy is not a separate school of psychotherapy but a set of techniques that a trained counsellor or therapist of any orientation adds to their existing practice. It uses ordinary personal snapshots, family albums, photos taken of the client by others, self-portraits and any other images, plus the feelings, memories and thoughts these evoke, to reach material that words alone do not easily reach. Weiser…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• fatigue in palliative clients; shorter sessions.
• imagery triggering trauma; keep eyes-open option.
• working when the client sees patterns they repeat.
• working when a new perspective on the self emerges.
• working when choices form a pattern the client recognises.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.