[Electric76]

How many of you have shared pictures of your family or childhood with T? I wouldn't have done this myself, but last year while preparing for session I had pictures with my two major attachment figures from childhood wedged into a book. I was talking about them anyway so I offered to show her toward the end of session. Didn't want to put her in an awkward position like she had to force a reaction to them.

Then couple weeks ago my mom posted facebook pictures of our childhood home that is back up for sale. She had extremely similar pictures of us around the same ages in exact locations. My experience of seeing these was beyond words (I was crying and semi-speechless) so I brought them in for her to see herself. In addition were some pics of me ages 2 and 6 that speak a thousand words just through my body/facial expressions. It was powerful letting her into my history I barely remember.

BUT NOW I'm finding myself open to share more eventually. One being from graduation last weekend with me and my crush (whom I've been talking about for *months* and about to say goodbye to) but I'm like..."okay now I'm just getting weird" and at the same time "...BUT REALLY you see why i've been going crazy right???? SHE'S the one I've spent 600+ dollars talking about!!!"

Anyway, more than anything it just feels so GOOD showing faces to names. And seems so natural to do, especially with iphones. Nice to know she has an actual face in mind not a creation of her imagination which could be way off. But I don't think its typical coming into therapy armed with pictures is it?

Who else has shown pictures, and how often / how many times have you done so?

I have I find it helpful. My memory of my childhood is dim and fractured I can sometimes remeber with prompting things that have adversely affected me.

[feileacan]

I have shown the T a couple of pictures from my childhood where I am 1 year old and in the picture there is also my mother and a bunch of other children. Just by looking at that picture it is impossible to guess that I am the child of that woman. Nothing in the body language of me or her doesn't hint that. She has another child on her lap and I am a bit away and completely focussed on something else. I was only one year old and apparently I had already by that time given up on her completely.

Otherwise no, I haven't shown any pictures. I didn't have any attachment figures when I was a child. I don't even tell any names to my therapist. My T knows that I have H and two kids but I have never told him even their names, never mind any other people I have randomly happened to mention occasionally.

[junkDNA]

Yes I've shown him quite a few

[DodgersMom]

no but i thought about doing this

[SarahJackson]

Never. But I wanted to show them my ex for some reason ?

[ShashaCruz]

took two selfie with him i have no family photos

[nottrustin]

A few times over the years. When my children had their pictures done for their senior year of high school, a picture from shortly before I stayed to see her. I had lost 90 pounds and she could not imagine me being over weight. Recently I started work in on a photo collage of my mom and brought in a few pictures of her and I...and one from my teen years that was very telling about my abuse...

She has shown me pictures as well from her son's wedding, her dog, and of her various flower gardens (the flowers are part off her emails.)

I've shared a few pictures with her

[ruh roh]

All the time. Video too. I also brought in a live version (a parent). It helps to fill in the blanks. My therapist loves seeing pictures.

[InnerPeace111]

No, I have not shown my T any pictures and this is not something I intend to do in the future. I think it's just my preference. I'd rather just sit and talk to her.

[laxer12]

I haven't and probably won't. I'm not against it but I feel like it would take time away from other stuff and isn't all that important to what we would be working on.

Some of my most interesting and productive sessions started with discussion about pictures I brought in.

[Out There]

Yes , I have shown pictures , I've found it easier to talk about it and it's been very productive.

[ScarletPimpernel]

I've sent pictures to my T, but not of people. We don't really talk about my past, just the present. My mom had her birthday party a week ago, and she got my sister's and I to take a picture together with her. I was tempted to show T that picture kind of proving I actually have sisters. I don't know why I feel I need to prove anything though. She's never doubted me.

[MessyD]

I have finally found courage to show him my pictures, although we talked about me bringing those a few months back. I found it interesting how much he could tell from facial expression of me and others, some things that I didn't even realize that much before, but he was spot on. I was too worried that it would take time away from other stuff but now I'm glad I did it, as it feels like now he knows little more about me and it turned out to be a productive session. I only did it this one time, and I don't think I will anymore, as now he has a better idea, but I would probably want to talk about it little more.

[skysblue]

Originally Posted by ruh roh

All the time. Video too. I also brought in a live version (a parent). It helps to fill in the blanks. My therapist loves seeing pictures.

Same here - she's seen photos of all of the important people in my life. Also, have shown short videos and have also brought a live person with me to session. I want my T to know the 'whole me' and photos help that.

She loves it -especially old photos.

[brillskep]

What you describe sounds like a great experience of opening up to your therapist with more than just words. I think photographs capture a lot of the story that we may not even be aware of in the moment and some that can't be expressed in words, plus then the therapist also gets a different perspective. I think photographs are very useful in therapy.

I have shown pictures to my therapist (and other things that are important to me too, such as my favorite crystals from my collection). A couple of years ago I took a lot of significant photographs to therapy, of me at different ages, alone and with family, one with my childhood doll, another of me getting an award from the mayor when I was a teenager, one of myself together with my grandpa who passed away while I was in therapy with this same therapist, etc. I even brought him my high school graduation book with photos of me and my classmates and the parting notes they wrote for me. I don't remember how it came up, but it felt good to share my life story with him in a different, more tangible way, and I really felt his interest as we were looking at and discussing my photos. Actually he really enjoyed a photo of me as a child with my doll where I had a huge smile on my face, and since I happened to have two copies of that photo I gave him one to keep.

So not only do I think it's not weird, I actually think it can be quite useful, creative, and a way of being open in therapy.

[Elio]

Originally Posted by ruh roh

All the time. Video too. I also brought in a live version (a parent). It helps to fill in the blanks. My therapist loves seeing pictures.

Yep, frequently. I think showing her pictures from my childhood helped me remember things as well as helped her get a sense of the people in my world during my childhood. 2 narratives given to me by my mother were debunked by sharing what was basically my life through these pictures. 1. "I was always fat". I wasn't always fat. I didn't hit the overweight category until sophomore in high school despite being on very restricted diet starting as young as 5th grad. 2. "I was always sad"... nope, the pictures showed me displaying a wide range of emotions, lots were sad but there were other ones.

I showed her pictures of my in town house and the out of town house including maps of the area to give her a sense as to the impact of that move. It was very helpful for her in the sense of really seeing how the move changed my entire life.

I have yet to do a live person; however, she did meet my wife when she visited me in the hospital. I would love her to meet my grandson. I don't know how to make that happen and with him only 6, sitting there for an hour would be boring.

[ruh roh]

Elio, can you schedule a 15 min session (in addition to your regular sessions) to take your grandson? My therapist arranged for 30 min session for me once or twice when I needed to talk and she didn't have an opening, so she gave me half of her lunch time. Maybe yours can carve out something like that, only for just 15 min or however long your grandson can tolerate sitting?

My t has seen so many pictures of me as a child and my family that she can make references during therapy such as " you have the same color hair as your aunt T" and " well I know your grandfather was very tall too" etc

[stopdog]

The woman acted inordinately excited to see pictures. She constantly over-acts. She also mistakenly took it as bonding.

I've never done this, but I might tomorrow. was looking through old Facebook photos this afternoon and one with bio mom made me really sad. I know why, but maybe showing T will give him insight into family dynamics.

[feralkittymom]

I don't remember how many photos, but there was a period of a couple of months when I shared childhood photos with him. It was very emotional for me relating to the child I was, and between my T and I as he responded to the photos. It deepened the dynamic between us; there was nothing casual about the sharing.

[1stepatatime]

All the time😊