Phototherapy in the Context of Psychotherapy

¹ Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts Mental Health Center, Boston, Massachusetts, and the Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC.

Phototherapy, or treatment with bright artificial light, has been used to treat seasonal affective disorder and related conditions. Using the cases of two patients who were treated with both psychotherapy and phototherapy, the author explores the potentially powerful psychotherapeutic aspects of this new treatment. Within a therapeutic relationship, light has a rich symbolism, and it may serve as an inanimate symbol of the therapist. Perhaps because of the lack of well-established guidelines or traditions regarding its use within psychotherapy, however, light treatment can lead to the violation of the usual boundaries of treatment. If this danger is avoided, phototherapy may be a powerful adjunct to psychotherapy.