PhotoTherapy techniques in counselling and therapy: Using ordinary snapshots and photo-interactions to help clients heal their lives

PhotoTherapy Techniques use therapy clients’ own personal snapshots and family photos (and the feelings, memories, thoughts and information these evoke) as catalysts for therapeutic communication and healing. This article discusses this flexible system of interactive techniques and demonstrates how they can be used by any kind of trained Therapist regardless of conceptual orientation, professional affiliation, preferred intervention model or approach (or degree of prior familiarity with photography itself), as well as how these techniques can be of particular benefit in Arts Therapies practices. After a brief review of theoretical underpinnings, comparisons of similarities and differences with Art Therapy (and Therapeutic Photography), and an introduction to the techniques in general, each of the five major PhotoTherapy techniques is presented and illustrated with anecdotal examples from the author’s professional practice as an Art Therapist, Psychologist and Trainer of these techniques.