Photo-psycho-praxis.

This paper is a summary of the ideas presented in Mark Wheeler's keynote speech to the 2008 First International Phototherapy Symposium held at University of Turku, Finland. Ideas from art psychotherapy, psychological aesthetics, systemic therapy and photography combine to address the processes by which phototherapy, phototherapy techniques and therapeutic photography affect the psychological states of makers and viewers of photographic images in a variety of contexts. The ideas presented in Photo-Psycho-Praxis arise from domestic photography, fine-art photography, art history, art therapy, neuroscience and psychological aesthetics. This paper weaves together ideas from these diverse areas of enquiry to generate insight into the psychological dimensions of making and viewing photographs and how these impact on therapy when photographs enter the process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]