7.5 Contributions
7.5.1 Contribution to theory
7.5.2 Contribution to practice
7.6 Conclusion
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CHAPTER 7: SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
“Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.” Dr Seuss
7.1 Introduction
The research aim that guided this research, was the development of a photo therapy tool. The study was undertaken to develop a photo therapy tool within the South African context. The literature study assisted in understanding photo therapy as a therapeutic tool with clients in a therapeutic setting. The developmental intervention research design guided the process of the development of the photo therapy tool.
7.2 Personal reflections 7.2.1 Critical findings
The successful development of a photo therapy tool that can conceivably be used by educational psychologist as an intervention strategy.
The usefulness of the photo therapy tool for educational psychologist in practice.
The impact of the photo therapy tool on educational psychologists; the young adults deemed it a useful tool in psychotherapy.
Contribution to theory through the value of photo therapy is that the development of the tool contributed to the theory of photo therapy as an intervention method.
7.2.2 Findings I expected
I expected that the photo therapy tool would be valuable, as in my experience as an educational psychologist and in dealing with photo therapy, I came to experience it as a constructive tool with clients in therapy, as photographs are an easily assessable, non-threatening way to assist therapists in the therapeutic process.
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I expected that most of the educational psychologists would concur on the constructiveness of the therapeutic tool, as most psychologists are open to new ideas and experiences and in the further development of their profession, especially educational psychologists who use expressive techniques in their approach of clients. (The selection criteria for participants – educational psychologists – were the use and understanding of expressive therapies. It is therefore understandable that they would perceive the photo therapy tool as valuable, as they were working in this field.)
I further presumed that most young adults would relate to an electronic and photo-based tool, as it seems that photographs, as a way of communication, are prevalent.
I was also of the opinion that the photo therapy tool would be useful in a multicultural environment within South Africa, as photographs can express a variety of meanings. The projective quality of photographs assisted with contributing to different interpretations and narratives.
Table 7.1 provides a summary of the assumptions that were stated in Chapter 1, Section 1.5, as well as comments obtained from the literature study and the empirical study.
Table 7.1: Summary of the assumptions of the study
Assumptions Conclusions
The newly developed photo therapy tool would be evaluated by educational psychologists and young adults, as a constructive therapeutic tool to be used in the diverse and multicultural domain of the South African context.
The photo therapy tool was seen as a useful tool by the educational
psychologists and the young adults, as most of them felt it reflects the South African context and that it is a tool they would consider using.
173 The nature of the developmental
intervention method is focused on the development process, therefore
implying that it would be an ongoing process. The newly developed photo therapy tool will be updated as our life world changes, especially that of the South African society being in the midst of development and change all the time.
The photo therapy tool would
continuously improve and change, as the tool would be used in practice. The context constantly changes; therefore, the tool would be continuously
updated.
7.2.3 Findings I did not expect
I did not expect the young adults’ insight into the advantages and characteristics of the photo therapy tool. I found that they showed emotional intelligence in the process, as well as in the value of therapy and the use of expressiveness in the therapeutic environment.
7.3 Limitations of the study
The following limitations are applicable to the study:
Consultation with more role-players could have assisted in a more finely tuned photo therapy tool.
The outcome might have been more trustworthy with a bigger sample of participants. No generalisations can therefore be made, but the findings imply that the photo therapy tool may be a useful therapeutic tool.
The focus of the study was the development of the photo therapy tool. This was a tremendously time-consuming process; consequently, the application of the photo therapy tool in practice was not done.
174 7.4 Recommendations
The initially stated central aim of this research was to develop a photo therapy tool for educational psychologists within the South African context. Though recognising the limitations of the study, I largely achieved the principal aim of developing a photo therapy tool for educational psychologists, thereby contributing to the knowledge base of the field of photo therapy. The photo therapy tool revealed that it could be utilised in the South African therapeutic setting, as it considered the diverse settings the educational psychologist may encounter. The research showed that there were gaps in knowledge about photo therapy as a therapeutic intervention strategy, especially in the South African context. The application of photo therapy in modern society, with numerous utilisations of photographs in modern society, needs to be considered, and new research in this field should be done. The benefit from further research is the pragmatic evaluation of the photo therapy tool in practice:
I would recommend that further research on the application of the tool in practice should be done to further refine the tool.
Further research to apply the principles of the newly developed photo therapy tool in diverse multicultural settings is also recommended.