Photography as a tool for social work with substance users in recovery

Abstract

It is fruitful if the social worker has an innovative tool – in this case, an objective – which helps to realize underlying contents that would escape our attention or would not even manifest themselves. The photo reveals information on the behaviour of actors; broadens our perspective; and opens possibilities for further analysis. Photos deepen our understandings concerning the case; facilitate social work interventions and serve as a creative therapeutic tool. What is the world like according to a person in recovery? How can the recovering person become an active participant of the therapeutic process and an explorer of one’s own life? In the current research the harmony between the data obtained from the lifespan interview and the photos yield a conclusion that phototherapy is a feasible method in social work. The conditions, which are necessary for applying the method, are easily available for anybody.