Advances in phototherapy training

Although phototherapy has been around in one form or another since the advent of the camera it has only recently, with the wider use and lower prices of computers and digital editing equipment, taken on more universal interest within the art therapy community as a viable new modality for art therapists who have not, in the past, had the resources available to implement a more traditional film-based phototherapy component in their practice. This paper demonstrates the integration of digital media into the training of phototherapists within graduate-level art therapy training programs. While the examples and illustrations given here are of graduate students enrolled in masters-level art therapy training programs, these exercises may be modified for use with various client populations. This paper addresses the need of those creative art therapists who are currently in practice and have not had the advantage of benefiting from the advances in digital technology that currently enrolled students have had.