PhotoTherapy Techniques: Exploring the Secrets of Personal Snapshots and Family Albums / Edition 2

by Judy Weiser

Overview

"PhotoTherapy Techniques: Exploring the Secrets of Personal Snapshots and Family Albums" is the most comprehensive introduction to the field of PhotoTherapy available. Emphasizing the "what", "why", and "how" of these practical techniques, this book has long been considered an excellent substitute for a training workshop!

Written by Canadian psychologist, art therapist, consultant, trainer, and PhotoTherapy pioneer Judy Weiser, this book (now in second edition) explains and demonstrates each of the major techniques involved, and provides theoretical rationale from both psychology and art therapy contexts. It also includes many photo-illustrated client examples, case transcripts, and practical experiential "starter" exercises so that readers can immediately begin using these techniques in their own practice.

This book is about photography as "personally-symbolic communication", rather than "art" -- exploring what a photograph is about emotionally, in addition to what shows on its surface visually. Thus these techniques require no previous experience with cameras or photographic art -- and they can therefore be used successfully by therapists of all theoretical orientations, work settings, or client specializations.

Often used as a text for university courses as well as for "Continuing Education" licensing credits for numerous mental health professions, this book is a "must" for not only therapists and counselors, but also anyone interested in coaching, personal development, art therapy, social change, diversity training, conflict resolution, special education, community development, visual literacy, visual anthropology/sociology, visual-based research, and even scrapbooking!

Though long-considered a "classic" for teaching how to use photos in people-helping work, this book is still even more relevant in this "digital age" of mobile phone pictures and online sharing (because it is about the "heart part" of these images rather than their "art part!"!) -- and thus not at all dependent upon which kind of technology created them!

*For more information, see her Website "PhotoTherapy & Therapeutic Photography Techniques", at: www.phototherapy-centre.com

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780968561904
Publisher:	Phototherapy Centre Press
Publication date:	08/03/1999
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	416
Sales rank:	738,437
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.85(d)

About the Author

Judy Weiser is a psychologist, art therapist, author, international lecturer, trainer, consultant, and adjunct University instructor - and early pioneer of PhotoTherapy and other related photo-based helping techniques. Founder and Director of the PhotoTherapy Centre in Vancouver, Canada (1982), she is considered the "world authority" on how people's interactions with personal photographs can be used to help them improve wellbeing and make positive changes in their lives! Author of the classic text "PhotoTherapy Techniques: Exploring the Secrets of Personal Snapshots and Family Albums" (now in 3rd printing, with translations published in Italian, Korean, and Russian -- and soon Spanish) -- as well as dozens of professional Journal articles and book chapters on these subjects, some of which have been translated into Japanese, Italian, Korean, and Russian). She also created and maintains the primary informational resource and networking website for the field ("PhotoTherapy & Therapeutic Photography Techniques") as well as the related Facebook Group "PhotoTherapy, Therapeutic Photography, Photo Art Therapy, and VideoTherapy", which now has over 8,000 members.Judy has given over three hundred Educational Workshops, Advanced Training Intensives, and Invited Lecture Presentations about these Techniques in over 50 cities world-wide during the past 40 years (including Italy, Russia, Netherlands, Mexico, Korea, Finland, Sweden, Spain, Latvia, Poland, England, Scotland, USA, and Canada). She has also accepted numerous invitations to give Keynote or Plenary Presentations at International Professional Association Conferences in Poland, Italy, Mexico, Russia, United States, and Canada.Former Editor of the journal Phototherapy, she is also on the Editorial Boards for the Italian Journal PsicoArt: Rivista on line di arte e psicologia and the Journal of the Canadian Art Therapy Association ¬- and serves as Consultant for the Center for Visual Therapies (U.S.), the Institute for Psychology and Photography (Mexico), PSYFoto (Russia), VideoReport & LaDamaSognatrice Produzioni Audiovisive (Italy), and The ONE Project (Canada). Having spent over 35 years using PhotoTherapy Techniques in her own private practices as a psychotherapist helping socially/culturally/racially marginalized, disenfranchised, and otherwise-excluded populations, Judy now consults, lectures, and teaches internationally by invitation, as well as offering various-length Educational and Training Workshops about how to use PhotoTherapy (and related) Techniques to help people make desired changes. And she will soon be offering a comprehensive package of Online Courses about both PhotoTherapy and Therapeutic Photography techniques, as well as related topics.- Judy Weiser can be contacted at: [e-mail] or call/text: 604-202-3431 Additional Biographical information -- and a list of her numerous Professional Publications (available for free download) -- can be found at: http: //phototherapy-centre.com/about-judy-weiser/

Table of Contents

1) Photographs as Therapeutic Tools

2) The Five Techniques of PhotoTherapy

3) The Projective Process: Using Photographic Images to Explore Client Perceptions, Values, and Expectations

4) Working with Self-Portraits: Understanding the Images Clients Make of Themselves

5) Seeing Other Perspectives: Examining Photographs of Clients Taken by Others

6) Metaphors of Self-Construction: Reflecting on Photographs Taken or Collected by Clients

7) Photo-Systems: Reviewing Family Albums and Photo-Biographical Collections

8) Using PhotoTherapy to Promote Healing and Personal Growth

Editorial Reviews

"Fills a tremendous gap in the literature... Therapists, psychologists, mental health professionals, educators, and expressive arts therapists will find this book an invaluable resource."

- Dr. Cathy Malchiodi, Director of the Institute for the Arts & Health, and Faculty, Lesley University and Philips Graduate Institute

"Judy Weiser is developing an interesting and useful way of using photography for stimulation of personal growth... I think it holds great promise for therapeutic purposes... Judy is an energeting, creative, intelligent person who I believe is making an important contribution -- and is most worthy of further study"

- Dr. Virginia Satir, DSS, June 26, 1984

"Judy Weiser is a real pioneer in this field, and one of the best teachers and therapists in the entire world! I myself, being an experienced Psychotherapist and Psychiatrist, was very much helped by reading her book and by participating in her workshops."

- Prof. Rodolfo de Bernart, Psychiatrist, Directorof the Family Therapy Training Institute of Florence, Italy; Professor of Family Therapy and Psychiatry, Universities of Siena and Florence, Italy

"A thorough, exciting, and most necessary book for all mental health professionals who wish to expand their helping repertoires... Lucidly brings to light both the theory and practice of PhotoTherapy techniques, and demonstrates the latent power of photographic images to help and heal."

- Dr. David Krauss, Psychologist and Co-Editor of PhotoTherapy in Mental Health

"Judy Weiser is the leading world expert on the application of PhotoTherapy Techniques in the mental health field - and I highly recommend her Book, which not only shows you how to use these techniques to benefit your clients, but also explains the underlying theory and reasons why they are so successful!"

- Joni Gilbertson, MA, NCC, LCPC, DCC; Counselor, Educator, Trainer

"This book opened me up to a new world, where photos can be helpful in therapy. I am studying to be a counselor, and I also have a passion for photography. This book explains how using photos in therapy has nothing to do with beautiful pictures, but rather what has meaning for your clients in their therapy. It is a book that would be welcomed by all therapists."

- Anne Mcneil, Therapy student

From the Publisher

Weiser shows how mental health professional can use clients' personal photos and family albums as catalysts for therapeutic communication. She reveals how initiating a dialogue based on such personally symbolic artistic expressions gives form to feelings which otherwise might be resistant to verbal investigations. She shows how to use this dialogue to stimulate recall of forgotten, blocked, or denied information and memories, and to apply these insights to an effective therapeutic framework. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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