Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book addresses self-help for the client and activist client as an aid to self-development through carrying out phototherapy and therapeutic photography on themselves. As a visual medium, photography would seem like a natural contender for therapeutic use, and yet its potential has been sparingly explored until now. In recent years, there has been renewed interest in phototherapy techniques – especially for clients who are strongly resistant to therapy and those who find it easier to communicate through visual aids. The field is especially relevant today, in an era of smartphones where a visual narrative of the client’s feelings, memories, reactions, and thoughts exists as a series of photographs – potentially available to share with the therapist as a catalyst for therapeutic communication.