Creative Therapy: How Photography Can Help People With Mental Health Issues

These days, more people are becoming aware of mental health issues. Instead of keeping their struggles to themselves, people are sharing how they cope. One of these is through photography. To help a person with mental heath issues express his or her feelings, some therapists are suggesting that they start capturing objects and moments on camera. Just like painting and writing, photography helps a person communicate what can’t be expressed verbally.

Image source: Webmd.com

Photography also allows a person to find inspiring and motivating images that will help them go through life. Taking a photo of a stunning sunset or a refreshing green forest can help a person feel calm. For others, taking a good picture makes them feel accomplished and lets them look forward to the next days. Some people also say that photography is a meditative activity. Focusing on the good clears a person’s mind of unnecessary negativity. The activity also fosters mindfulness and keeps a person’s thoughts anchored in the present.

Whatever the reason, photography is an activity that brings out the good in a person and in the world we live in. I’m just glad that my passion is becoming a way for people to get better.

Image source: Photographyspark.com

Judd Bergman’s the name. I’m a full-fledged New York City dweller and dad of three. Now that I have already retired from my job as a travel photographer, I can take my grandkids to see the Yankees play live because I know that the blood of blue and gray runs deep within them, too. This blog has more of my thoughts on baseball and photography.

Taking a Snap Of Big Apple

There’s no doubt that New York City is one postcard- (Instagram for our dear millennials) worthy town. Wherever you look, there’s always something interesting to document in the city -- the celebrated street couture, the legendary food trucks, the twinkling theater marquees, or even just the Humans of New York --- the Big Apple is, indeed, a photographer’s dream.

Image source: Weather.com

And the city’s views and sights don’t discriminate. Regardless if you are snapping away with your iPhone or documenting with your Canon or Nikon, New York always has something majestic to offer. Take it from me. I have been a travel photographer for five decades, and a New Yorker for heavens know how long, but I still get enamored by the city whenever I look through my viewfinder.

So, if you are planning to visit New York soon or would like to get reacquainted once more with The City That Never Sleeps, I suggest you explore my beloved urban jungle through your camera. You can begin with the usual stops: The Top of the Rock for a panoramic view of the city or the Brooklyn Bridge for some awesome night photography session. Of course, don’t skip the Empire State Building, but be ready to line up to get to the top. The wait, however, is worth it, for that incredible perspective of Manhattan.

Image source: WLIW.org

But if you want to photograph the other side of New York, you need to visit the places rarely found on tourist’s must-see list. These include The Bridge at Tudor City, where you can catch the best sunsets you have ever seen, The Tom Fruin Water Tower in Dumbo, Brooklyn, where art comes alive, and the Four Freedoms Park, where minimalism reigns.

I hope that these places will make you realize why people never get tired of photographing this city of mine.

Hello! Judd Bergman here. For more NYC snapshots and stories, follow me on Facebook.