ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the family album in the light of theories of marital and family interaction. It shows that how photographs can be used in therapy to facilitate patients’ understanding of the interactional patterns and of the self in relationships. As the album is worked through in the therapy situation, individuals, couples and families may be enabled to identify and recognise the network of patterns in which they have become trapped. Many times in therapy, the interaction between the partners is very powerfully expressed in their expressions, postures and body language. The inextricable link between mind and body means that physical, visual images can tell the therapist much about emotional states. The photograph album helps to develop and preserve such myths, highlighting the family’s fervent attempts to present itself in the best possible light. The family thus uses its photograph album to support and maintain such fabrications, to present itself in bright colours and fixed images.
