Women in midlife (ages 40–65) face a convergence of psychosocial stressors, including hormonal transitions, caregiving demands, identity shifts, and cultural invisibility, yet accessible, non-clinical supports remain scarce. This program evaluation examined whether participatory therapeutic photography, paired with brief written reflection and community witnessing, could function as an art therapy-informed, strengths-based intervention for this population. Five participants completed a week-long photography sequence structured around a challenge, reframe, and reflect arc, selecting three captioned images and a written reflection to represent their experience. Images were displayed in a digital frame installed where three midlife women served as community witnesses. The researcher collected data through a participant focus group, an individual interview, and a witness focus group. Thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2022) yielded 76 codes organized into seven core themes and five cross-cutting pattern codes (art therapy-informed, strengths-based, participatory, community-based, and trauma-informed), confirming the program operated as designed. Captioning emerged as the most therapeutically potent element, facilitating emotional processing and cognitive reappraisal. Witnesses experienced empathy, connection, and gratitude. Notably, joy appeared only in witness data while participants described outcomes closer to hope, a distinction with implications for how strengths-based interventions are conceptualized. Over 800 women expressed interest in participating, underscoring demand for accessible creative interventions for midlife women. Findings suggest the model is feasible, replicable, and relevant for art therapy practice and future research.
