[Mouse_]

....I actually pressed send and sent pictures of me family to T...saying I don't know if its allowed, but I just want too, so I have

I've brought pictures in of my family to show T - after our vacation to the beach, I actually brought my camera and had him sit there and look at every single picture I took! lolol

I think it's okay. I think T likes being able to "see" who we're talking about.

[Mouse_]

EM - LOL!!!!

T replied, she said Thank you, and that all 3 of them look very much like me and that she says that by showing them to her/me I am trying to claim them...where as my adoptive mother never claimed me...then she said thank you again

Good for you Mouse and T!

My T is big into pictures. She does this thing where she covers the pic with a piece of paper, then slowly slides it down and stops just at/under the eyes.

I have seen so much in my family's eyes that I never ever would've noticed before.

She also does a half and half thing, where she covers the left side of the face and then compares it to the right. You actually do see a difference in sides!

That's great Mouse!! I think it is important for a T to see pics of the family because as one of my professors said, "The client is never alone in the therapy room"-- meaning that when we go into therapy we are also bringing all of our relationship dynamics in with us. So I think it's really important, even though we are the focus of our own therapy, to let our Ts get to "know" these important people in our lives.

Whenever I would take a picture of my dad, he would refuse to look normal, lol. He always had to do something ridiculous in the picture. Well one time, he poured a packet of sugar onto the table and took a straw and was pretending to snort the sugar. I took a picture, and this is the picture I chose to show T when I wanted him to see my dad. I thought it was perfect because that was just my dad, being my dad. T must have thought, "Geez, now I know where she gets it from." Hehehehe

[pachyderm]

I think if I showed T pictures of me when I was young he would try to see how early "it" began...

[sunrise]

Mouse, I think sharing pictures can be very therapeutic. Great response from your T. Your sharing the pics of your family is another measure of your closeness and that you want your T to understand the many parts of you. I think the pics we do choose to show tell a lot about us (e.g. like the pic Pinksoil shared of her father). I have shared pics of my two daughters with my T, but never sent him one of my H (and now of course he's met everyone). I wanted him to see pics of people who were important to me--in a good way.

I think I saw a book once all on the topic of the use of photographs in therapy.

[sunrise]

Here is the book, in case anyone is interested:
Phototherapy Techniques: Exploring the Secrets of Personal Snapshots and Family Albums

"Photo Therapy techniques use ordinary personal snapshots and family photos (and the feelings, memories, thoughts and information these evoke) as catalysts for therapeutic communication and personal healing, reaching areas inside a person that words alone cannot access."

[Mouse_]

Thanks for that link sunrise, very interesting.

When I arrived for T yesterday, I smiled and said, its ok I haven't brought the family album along with me LOL!!...she said, it was nice to see them and now it makes it more real, she said, now when I speak of my children, she has a mental image...