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Self-Portraits
Photos Made by Clients of Themselves
Photos
of a p erson,
taken by themselves without any outside interference (i.e.,
"self-portraits"), let them explore who they are when they
know no one else is there watching, judging the results,
or attempting to control the process. Since issues connected
to self-esteem, self-knowledge, self-confidence, and self-acceptance
lie at the core of most clients' problems, being able to
see themselves for themselves, un-filtered by the
input or feedback of others, can be a very powerful and
therapeutically beneficial encounter.
B ecause
self-portraits permit direct nonverbal self-confrontation,
they can be not only validating and empowering, but also
the most threatening and risky kinds of photos to open one's
emotions to -- which is precisely the reason they
are such quick and effective activators of deep process
work in therapy situations.
Carefully
guided while at perhaps their most vulnerable moments
of
self-encounter, where defensive rationalization is difficult
(because there
is no one else "there" to shift blame onto), clients
can use self-created photos to internally dialogue with
themselves in their own private inner language -- and explore
on their own any resulting consequences or discoveries.
And when such "face-to-face" meetings are contained and
guided by a therapist aware of that client's particular
issues, they truly are able to get a "better picture" of
themselves.
Self-portrait
PhotoTherapy techniques are a safe way for clients to
meet
denial head-on and probe their own limitations and defenses
in carefully-managed amounts. Self-portraits provide
a way
for clients to differentiate themselves from the parts
of themselves that they may not like or want, and try
out alternatives
(without other people having to know).
When
therapy clients visually confront themselves without
other
people's opinions filtering the process, they usually come
to realize how many of their perceptions and self-jud gments
arise from having internalized other people's expectations
about them, rather than reflecting their own true "inner
self". Thus clients can begin to understand that they themselves
(not other people) are actually responsible for initiating
desired changes and improvements (or not!) -- and therefore
realize that it is up to them alone to initiate that
process (and take responsibility for the results).
Therefore,
self-portrait PhotoTherapy work is the best of the five
techniques for helping clients internally understand the
difference between "I can't" and "I can, but I won't"...
How This Technique Works
Clients
take se lf-pictures,
including visual/metaphoric "stand-in" equivalents of
themselves, as they want their image to be. Whether
these photos are made spontaneously with an instant camera
during the
counseling session, or taken or collected later in response
to their therapist's "homework assignments", each image
will be an exploration of a different facet or aspect
of
themselves.
For
example*, the client could be asked to create a self-portrait
(or series of self-photos) that shows: "How I feel today";
"How I wish others would see me"; "What I was like as a
child", "The parts of me I like the best (or least)", "How
my mother wanted me to be", "What I'll be like when I'm
the same age my father is now" -- or even a bit deeper,
such as: "What I'd be like if I didn't have these problems",
"The me nobody knows", or, "Who I'd be if not being who
I am now".
The
photographic results of such assignments will answer
things  in
ways that words could never encompass as fully, and in discussing
the images afterwards, the supportive assistance of the
photo-evidence (created by themselves, and thus unarguable
as to intent or bias) provides additional contextual details
that were previously unconscious and thus unavailable for
informing the therapeutic process until given voice through
photographic activation.
* These questions are
samples given only to illustrate the kinds that therapists
might ask clients when using this technique. Feel free
to try them out yourself with your own personal photos,
but unless you are professionally trained in counseling,
please do not use them with other people, as the results
could be harmful.
• • •
As
with the other
four PhotoTherapy techniques, self-portraits can be
worked with either on their own or in combination with other
kinds of client photographs, as well as in combination with
expressive arts media and other appropriated imagery for
additional therapeutic enhancement.
See examples,
more photos illustrating this technique,
and personal anecdotes sent in
by visitors to this site.
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An Example
(Taken from [pre-publication
draft of] PhotoTherapy Techniques
-- Exploring the Secrets of Personal Snapshots and Family
Albums)
Lee
had be en
HIV-positive for over seven years when he carefully arranged
himself for this photograph. He had a friend take it, but
only to act as his "human cable release". For a half-hour,
he carefully arranged various poses and then told her each
time when he wanted her to hit the shutter on the pre-positioned
camera. Once the film was developed, he had his favorite
image printed large, and framed it to keep beside his bed.
Apart from that friend, Lee never showed those self-portraits
to anyone other than his therapist, who he began seeing
for counseling when he realized the time had arrived to
begin coming to terms with his approaching death (which
has since occurred).
He
explained,
"When
I was a baby, life was good. I was kept clean, warm, and
fed. I got unconditional love from my parents. Life was
safe and kind. When I first found out that I had been
infected by HIV, it was in those very early days of the
plague when nobody knew what it was yet, much less how
to prevent getting it. So I didn't even know I had been
putting myself at risk. When they told me that I would
soon get worse from AIDS and then die quickly, it put
a cold shock right through my body. My heart froze up
in fear. I felt like I'd been raped. It was a bunch of
really awful feelings. And it just wasn't fair -- because
I didn't know [about all this] or I would have protected
myself.
"What's
this picture about? Well, when I first got diagnosed,
I really felt like a little boy crying out, "I want my
Mommy"! Seriously, that's the first thing that came to
my mind. But she had been dead a long time [by then],
so I had nobody to go "home" to, nobody's lap to crawl
into. My lover had already died and [the rest of] my family
mainly disowned me when they found out I was gay. They
don't know I have AIDS, and I won't let them have the
pleasure of finding out so they can tell me it is God's
punishment. My friends are understanding, but they aren't
coping very well with my dying -- and neither am I! I'm
not ready yet -- not sure if I'll ever be.
"Every
time I start thinking about it, I get more scared and
really need to find a place that is safe so I can catch
my breath, and push AIDS away for a little while. I
go
relax at a friend's cottage, but that's just for a short
time. So when I was at this motel attending a conference,
and there was this crib in the room, it really brought
back memories of being so little that I fit into one.
So when I saw that crib, I just decided on the spur
of
the moment to climb in. I didn't think about it much
-- just climbed in. And you know what? I felt so safe
in there...
"So
the next day I asked my friend to come up to my room
with
her camera and I did it again, so that I could remember
that there used to be this place once where I was happy
and had no worries, when my life was clean and pure
--
and where I had no concept of death. Every once in a
while I take out this picture again and remember what
it must
be like to have no fears. It really makes me feel better
for a while..."
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More Photos
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Personal
Anecdotes*
* If you want to submit your own personal
anecdote to this page, send it to the PhotoTherapy
Centre for consideration.
Back
to the other four techniques
PhotoTherapy
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