A book about grief through photography and reflection

Choosing Light: Transforming Grief through the Practice of Mindful Photography and Self-Reflection

“Dr. Thomas’ masterful writing about the practice of mindful photography and reflective journaling benefits people who grieve and those who sit alongside them– her words [in this book about grieving] are a gift. This book is an awakening for the soul.”

— Susan L. Schoenbeck, nurse educator; author

"Dr. Thomas presents a fresh, innovative, and impactful vision for the use of mindful photography in processing loss and grief. This book provides an extraordinary new set of tools for counselors and individuals that creates an intersection between psychology, spirituality, and art."

GRIEF CAN TURN OUR WORLD UPSIDE-DOWN AND INSIDE-OUT

Overwhelming grief can lead to a loss of meaning and direction that can last years. Through the practice of mindful photography and self-reflection, we can use photography as therapy and learn to face grief and create authentic meaning from our experiences of loss. Learning to slow down, notice, create, and reflect inspires a sense of confidence, inner strength, gratitude, meaningful insight, and wisdom. And as we engage these skills through practice, our unique story and path unfold.

For those actively grieving as well as for death and grief practitioners and educators, this book will show you how the Within and Without™ Mindful Photography therapeutic method can be transformative for individuals, groups, and communities. Through guided steps and real-life exemplars, you will learn the framework to help support your clients—or yourself—in creating authentic meaning and insights through grief.

What You'll Learn

Endorsements

“In lucid, nearly meditative text and engrossing images, Jessica Thomas ushers the reader into the quietly compelling practice of mindful photography, and in doing so opens doors of perception to deeper realties that await discovery for all those who grieve. Part guide and part fellow traveler, Thomas draws on her own life losses to build a bridge of compassion into those of her readers, inviting curiosity about the correspondence between the visual world without and the personal world within. The result of this reflective practice is greater wisdom, self-care, and the discernment of new and resonant meaning in the face of impermanence and change.”

“Bringing together the processes of transforming, grieving, and reflecting, Jessica Thomas brings us into a novel and powerful way to integrate and understand the experience of grief and the counter-instinctive secret blessings that it holds. It has been said that the degree to which we do not accept life as it is given to us---rather than what we wish and even insist that it be---keeps us from moving through the experience of loss to the other side of grief’s sorrow and pain. Jessica’s approach holds great promise in deepening our understanding and attaining this most often hidden and truly sacred side of the grieving process.”

“Choosing Light offers a gentle invitation to those who are stepping into the realm of grief to slow down and find anchors of connection and support. Grief is disorienting and most are left wondering what to think, feel, and do. In the pages of this book, those who are grieving and those who support them will find not a prescription, but options for what we might do in and with our grief. “

“I am pleased to recommend ... Dr. Jessica Thomas’s book, Choosing Light: Transforming Grief Through the Practice of Mindful Photography and Reflection on Self-Made Images. I come to this having worked with her and the innovative study she completed on her Ph.D. dissertation on this same topic at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in 2016. It is clear from her new book prospectus that she has continued to explore and develop her project in ways that make what she has done in the field of psychotherapy and contemplative photography even more profound and relevant to the needs of the broader public. I am especially pleased to see how her project has evolved to include ways photographs help facilitate personal growth through ongoing bonds with departed loved ones.”

Choosing Light

Who Should Read this book

The Academic

For Professionals & Educators who want a creative way to help their clients in fields of therapy & counseling, death industry workers, and organizations including hospitals, hospices, & grief organizations. This book on grief will help you feel energized by your work instead of burnt out. Through guided steps and real-life exemplars, you will learn the framework to help support your clients in creating authentic meaning and insights through grief.

The Grieving

For individuals who might feel isolated in their grief and are seeking a sense of community and understanding that resonates with their personal experiences. For those interested in intersections of art and science, art and psychology, or the power of vivid imagery to make an impact and change your perspective- both those seen with the lens of your eyes and with the lens of the camera. This book uses self-reflection therapy to grow and transform through your grief.

Meet Dr. Jessica Thomas

About the Author

Dr. Jessica Thomas holds an MS in Marriage and Family Therapy and a PhD in Psychology with an emphasis in Transpersonal Psychology. She is a therapist, clinical supervisor, grief educator, and organizational consultant. Jessica has served on the not-for-profit board of the NW Association for Death Education and Bereavement Support for over eight years.

As a professor at Lewis & Clark College, she has created coursework and taught on death and grief, psycho-spiritual development and counseling, research methods, and clinical supervision. Jessica’s subsequent developments include integrating her mindful photography therapeutic method into groups. Within and Without™ Mindful Photography reflection groups support those who are traversing grief due to a death or other major life transitions.

When Reading,

Open Up To

Accessible and practical guidance on mediating or transforming grief
Creative and innovative approaches to self-healing
Insights from a trusted and experienced professional
Stories and examples that resonate with your experiences
A sense of community and shared understanding
Exploration of grief and loss through the lens of Mindful Photography
Applicable concepts and practices to your own life
Understanding grief not just as a challenge but as an opportunity for growth
Techniques for self-reflection and creating meaning from loss
Comfort, inspiration, and empowerment in your journey through grief

What Readers Are saying

“Contemplative photography, or mindful photography, is a series of methods for letting go of discursive fixation and releasing into the vividness of direct experience. It is also a way of expressing that vividness to others. Entering into direct experience creates space in the mind for perceptions, feelings, and emotions to be accommodated and recognized. In CHOOSING LIGHT, Jessica Thomas puts these powerful methods to use to help people deal with the great challenges of death, grief, and loss. I commend this important effort.”

“Dr. Thomas’ masterful writing about the practice of mindful photography and reflective journaling benefits people who grieve and those who sit alongside them. Her words are a gift that when opened empowers the reader to uncover and make meaning out of often hidden, mysterious layers of personal feelings around death. Viewing the shared images makes readers’ hearts swell with emotion. This book is an awakening that is good for the soul.”

“In a dominant culture so uncomfortable with death, where ancestral mourning rituals are long forgotten, creative practices like the mindful photography and reflection skillfully taught by Jessica Thomas can offer a transformative portal to meaning-making and healing. I engaged in this practice, with Jessica's support, while mourning the illness and death of a close friend; it helped me slow down, notice the beauty, shed some tears, and think about life and death in fresh ways.”

"Choosing Light eloquently reflected many aspects of my grief experience. Reading about and discussing grief processes and transformation in Dr. Thomas’s class helped me better articulate my own experience, and I believe this will be helpful when working with clients. "

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