PRINCIPLES AND METHODS OF USING ASSOCIATIVE CARDS IN PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOTHERAPY

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

The article discusses the principles of working with associative cards. The ways of using associative maps are systematized. The effectiveness of the application of these projective methods is analyzed. Key words: associative cards, projection, psychotherapy, client

Associative cards, as a very effective tool in practical psychology, are successfully used by various specialists, regardless of the direction of psychotherapy they have chosen. This relatively new innovative method is gaining more and more interest and immense popularity, both among practitioners and among that category of the population that strives for self-knowledge, self-development, feeling a desire to look inside oneself, to learn something new and unknown..

The card chosen by the client, as a rule, resonates with the most important actual experience, event, unmet need, traumatic memory, hidden complex, etc. at the time of the session [1, 6]. In the case of successful overcoming of psychological defenses, insight arises (insight, a sense of enlightenment), leading to overwhelming results that help to find an answer to a question or problem. The neutralization of psychological defenses arises because, describing the pictures, the client ceases to defend himself. The types of psychological defenses that are most actualized in the process of working with cards include projection, repression and identification. Projection reveals in the map that which responds to the client, that he, not wanting to see and recognize in himself, projects onto others (for example, his motives, values, needs, dispositions, conflicts, etc.). With the help of repression, the impartial part of the personality is placed in the unconscious. Identification of oneself with the hero of the created stories, stories and fairy tales contributes to the transfer to his image of his own dispositions, aspirations, desires, etc. [3, 5].

The following can be distinguished principles of using associative maps:

1. Metaphorical and imaginative. The card is a door to the inner space of a person, providing quick contact with the unconscious. The metaphor, like the key in the fairy tale about Pinocchio, easily opens these doors. Metaphors, images and associations make it easy to come into contact with the repressed material. And, since the unconscious manifests itself as a metaphor, the cards are perceived by this structure of the psyche as some kind of metaphor.

2. Symbolism. Each client sees in the symbol a certain meaning that is meaningful only for him, arising as a result of the integration of the conscious (thoughts, representations, ideas, memories, etc.) and unconscious material. Motives, values, needs, dispositions and conflicts can be manifested in a symbolic version. In the process of interpreting the cards, the language used in everyday life is transformed into a special symbolic language, a product of symbolic logic.

3. Versatility. Associative cards as a tool of art therapy are used by psychologists of various psychotherapeutic schools in working with clients of any age, any level of education, any social stratum, any nationality and any religion. Moreover, the cards make it easier to work with a wide range of people with an insufficient level of education, a low level of intelligence, and difficulties in verbalization (for example, with alexithymia).

4. Unambiguity and accuracy. It implies correct, correct and precise formulation of questions. Let's give an example of ambiguity. The client complains about the influence of negative energy on him. An ambiguous question of a psychotherapist will sound like this: "Are you experiencing mental impact on yourself?"The client's answer in the affirmative will give almost no information, since it can be interpreted in different ways. The client can mean under the influence of both the event and the people around him, and "energetic vampirism." The question is inaccurate, incorrect and ambiguous, and, therefore, ineffective.

5. Availability of contacting the client. The speech addressed to the client should be clear to him, understandable and should coincide with his speech practice. So, for example, when addressing a client with a request to choose a card associated with his hobby as a resource, the word “hobby” should be used in the request, and not its synonym, “an affectively saturated socially positive dominant”.

6. Algorithmization. The sequence of presentation of cards and accompanying questions, which are built taking into account the need to use the following algorithm for the psychogenesis of the problem: the first group of symptoms is diagnosed based on the initial complaints presented by the client, his relatives or on the basis of direct observation of his behavior; symptoms and syndromes are identified that are combined with those already established; analysis of maps and answers to questions in the context of assessing etiological factors, the type of response to the problem (endogenous, exogenous, psychogenic) and the level of disorder or mental disorder.

7. Verifiability and Adequacy. The implementation of these principles requires clarification of the congruence of the discussed concepts and the elimination of non-ecological interpretation of the answers. WITH

for this purpose, the client is asked questions such as: "What do you mean by the word (for example) self-destruction?"

8. Impartiality. There is no “right” or “wrong” interpretation of cards, just as there is no right or wrong way to draw cards. The specialist should not impose on the client his interpretation and his own opinion about the presence of a particular symptom.

9. Associativity actualizes the problem through emerging associations that help relive some chapters of the story of his life. We distinguish two ways of association: direct (indirect) association. Ways of association of words (contained, for example, in the set "OH" [7]), with the problem under consideration can be a direct association. For example, when studying the problem of alcoholism, the client gets the word "self-destruction" and the connection is perceived as literal and direct. In the case of an indirect association, when considering the same problem, the client draws out, for example, the word "humiliate" and sees in it the main reason for alcohol abuse - constant conflicts with his wife, who wants to humiliate him.

Dichotomous association (synonym / antonym). For example, a client with the above-described problem retrieves a card “with a fire in a fireplace” from the “OH” set and says that he does not see any connection between the image on the card and his problem.

We ask the question: “Where are you more likely on this map? (point your finger) ". The client's response is "I'm on fire."

We suggest, without hesitation and at a fast pace, list 4-5 synonyms associated with the word "fire" and choose one - the most "hot" of them (synonymous association). The client chooses "burning". “… For me it is burning. I am burning in this fire. " If the client continues to find it difficult to establish a link between the image and the problem, please list the antonyms. So, for example, in this case, the most impressive word for the client was the concept of "flood" that he proposed to the polar fire, which he associated with a multitude of additional problems that flooded him, which appeared as a result of frequent and uncontrolled alcoholization.

10. The complexity of the impact. Despite the fact that the spiritual, cognitive, emotive, bodily and behavioral levels can become possible targets of therapy, it should be remembered that the main task of the therapist is to primarily influence the emotive and bodily levels, since it is in them that the negative charge most often "settles". The following concept is useful from this point of view. The response to trauma is the use of an unconsciously stored defensive coping, a strategy that once helped to cope with negative experiences. Unprocessed negative emotions, feelings, fears, etc. cause bodily tension, the neglect of which transforms it into a bodily psychosomatic symptom. Work with the rationalization of the problem and with irrational thoughts, of course, is necessary, but it is far from it - the guarantor of the effectiveness of therapy. Practice shows the need to work primarily with emotions, feelings and body.

For example, as a result of rational psychotherapy conducted with the help of metaphorical cards, a woman who sought help for her husband's alcoholism was able to forgive him (on a cognitive level). However, during the second session, she noted that every time she sees her husband, the client's body literally "itself jumps away from him in the opposite direction," confirming the well-known expression that the body will not deceive.

11. Security. Associative cards make it possible to project your internal state onto them in security mode, disconnecting from the disturbing material for a while. Any card can be interpreted in different ways, and thanks to the multitude of cards and the variability of their combinations, the client finds exactly the picture that helps to project the current state. The principle of safety is, firstly, that in the process of work, the card can be turned over, removed, moved away, moved to the safe distance chosen by the client, and secondly, the story about the cards is accompanied by the feeling that the person is not talking about himself, but about the cards and, thirdly, the client himself chooses the degree of self-disclosure and the depth of immersion in the unconscious.

12. Environmental friendliness. We use two basic principles in therapeutic work:

1) not want more than what the client wants (exclude domination, authoritarianism, psychological pressure), and

2) not to impose on the client the choice from which he refuses.

13. Confrontation. The map chosen by the client allows you to quickly penetrate the depths of the unconscious. At the same time, the person does not realize that his preferred image “speaks” about the problem much more than what he wants to communicate. Confrontational questions help not only to tell about what is happening in the picture, to find out the cause of the problem, but also to "push" the client with those thoughts, sensations, feelings and experiences that he avoids. The spontaneous and unexpected images that arise at the moment of confrontation recreate the circumstances of the trauma, incident, etc.

14. Mediation. The card acts as an intermediary between the inquiring specialist and the responding customer.

15. Expressiveness. The ability to express the current state, emotions and feelings with the help of metaphorical associative cards.

16. Informativeness. The cards provide access to the many messages stored in the unconscious.

17. Creativity. Associative cards are a trigger for the launch of a creative center, in which sudden insights occur with the help of fantasies and non-trivial associations.

18. Efficiency. Associative cards bring to the surface deep conflicts, complexes, experiences, help to realize them, reflect, facilitating self-development and self-knowledge.

The main ways to use metaphorical associative cards include:

1. Open: (cards presented to the client with images upside down reduce anxiety) is the preferred and safest method for clients. Maps are chaotic

laid out on the table (or on the floor). Looking at the images, the client chooses the most impressive pictures.

2. Closed: cards are laid face down. The client chooses any of them. Previously (at will) he can ask himself a question related to the problem or its solution. Unfolding the card with a picture facing him (contact with the unconscious), he tries to find the answer to his question. In another version, the client takes the card (without thinking about anything), and, having seen the image, independently interprets it (for example, tells a fairy tale).

3. Combined: first, it is proposed to make an open choice of a card (a conscious attitude to one's problem), then to extract a few pictures blindly. There is a closed image selection and an open word selection.

4. Working with word cards and image cards (photographs, drawings). Taking into account the presented review of the methods and principles of using metaphorical associative cards will not only facilitate the work of a specialist, but will also serve as a guarantee of its effectiveness.

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