Therapeutic Photography
My path to Therapeutic photography was accidental - my father gave me a SLR camera when I was recovering from an illness and I discovered that it was an empowering tool. Photography helped me to process my feelings, I began to understand the emotions and pain surrounding my illness.
Setting me on a path of self-discovery, I started to challenge my beliefs regarding self-concept and cultural identity, with one ultimate goal – to find my authentic self.
Fast forward many years, I graduated with a Distinction from Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen with a Postgraduate Certificate in Therapeutic Photography.
Combining my academic training and lived experience in my therapeutic workshops, I am able to demonstrate how well-being can be supported through arts practice and community engagement. By creating a space where participants can pause, reflect and see themselves in a new light, they can also explore their emotions, build self-esteem, and gain a deeper sense of self through the creative process. Photography becomes a tool for mindfulness, helping to slow down, process experiences and enhance mental well-being. By capturing moments with intention, we learn to reframe our perspectives, find beauty in the everyday and cultivate resilience. My workshops aren’t just about taking photos—they’re about self-discovery, healing and reconnecting with the present moment in a meaningful and empowering way.
Methodologies
As a therapeutic photography practitioner, I carefully tailor and facilitate workshops according to participants’ needs. Methodologies include the SHOWeD method, which is primarily used in Photovoice and community-based settings. By applying five key questions to each chosen photograph, participants can start to explore their emotions. I believe that every image holds a story, and through this creative process we can explore issues, reflect, unlock resilience, enhance connections with each other and support our well-being in ways words often cannot.
One of my favourite methodologies is the blend of photography and collage. The simple combination of a blank page and a safe space enables the participant to use this methodology to explore overwhelming and intense emotions that are hard to process.
The physical technique is tactile and therapeutic - the cutting, ripping, and layering of materials, the feeling of different textiles, recycling images to gain new meaning through collage. The resulting image helps to strengthen and explore emotions, memories, deepening our understanding of self-expression, reflection and ultimately well-being.
Participants start to bring fragmented parts together to ‘feel whole’, create a new narrative, a ‘whole’ new image. This process enables one to acknowledge, understand and create an image that embodies the present moment. Photographing the collage afterwards changes the way it exists, strengthening its emotional value for the participant, becoming a precious therapeutic object - a method I call ‘Photo Emergence’.
Through Her Lens Workshop
I had the pleasure of facilitating this workshop - Through Her Lens: A Thoughtful Conversation on Cultural Belonging Through Photography bringing together South Asian women in Belfast and Delhi for an intimate online exchange rooted in reflection, identity, and connection.
“The session will be facilitated by Natasha Bhatia, a therapeutic photographer whose practice is deeply attuned to the emotional and reflective possibilities of image-making. Her presence adds a thoughtful dimension to the gathering, helping shape a space that feels safe, intimate, and grounded. With Natasha’s guidance, participants will be encouraged to approach photography not just as visual documentation, but as a tool for expression, healing, and deeper self-understanding” - Samridhi Saini, Founder of FolkDeep
A selection of feedback quotes from this workshop
“It helped me to improve my reflective practice and understand the importance of Therapeutic Photography” (Anonymous)
“The session was truly enriching in terms of the content of the conversations we had. Also in understanding the practice of capturing these small moments of our lives through any kind of expression and transforming it into a channel of our feelings” (Anonymous)
“It was an insightful session. Therapeutic photography was a new concept for me. I really enjoyed it” (Anonymous)
“Would love to have more such sessions and conversations, which lead from our self to each other to the wider world, and right back” (Anonymous)
To read more about this workshop please visit
https://folkdeepofficial.pages.dev/through-her-lens
The Yellow Table
I am delighted to announce a new collaborative initiative with Dr. Lynne Connolly as we set up an independent organisation called 'The Yellow Table'.
We are both visual artists and practitioners working with photography and therapeutic approaches, bringing academic training in Therapeutic Photography and lived experience of how life and managing mental health can be supported through arts practice and community engagement.
We invite you to join us at the Table for a session of therapeutic photography, exploration and visual play. Why ‘The Yellow Table’? Come along to one of our workshops and find out! Whilst we are getting ourselves established online, for more information please email mail@natashabhatia.com