Make metaphorical cards. Metaphorical associative maps as a tool in the work of a practical psychologist

A deck of Metaphorical cards is a set of pictures, with various plots or abstract color spots, sometimes with words. This is a direct and relatively easy road to the unconscious.

When a person draws a card for himself, he immediately has a whole set of thoughts, associations, memories, and fantasies. Sometimes insights happen. There are no right or wrong interpretations here. Everyone sees something different, purely personal. Moreover, at different periods of life, associations for the same person will be different.

Metaphorical associative maps are a relatively new tool in psychotherapy, related to projective techniques. Projective techniques are based on identifying various associations (projections) with their subsequent interpretation.

History of Metaphorical Cards

The invention of metaphorical cards can be dated back to 1975. The first deck was released by Eli Raman, a Canadian art critic. The purpose of the deck was not psychology, but the cultural education of the masses.

Later, an approach was developed in which metaphorical cards could be used in practice. Such cards were called Oh, because people, seeing the picture that fell out, often exclaimed in surprise “Oh!”, This picture so accurately reflected what worries them most.

The first “Oh” cards for working with the subconscious appeared in Germany in 1985. Eli Raman and Moritz Egetmeyer first presented the games to the public in Essen during game days. Psychotherapist Joe Schlichter developed rules and principles for using cards as a psychological tool. This was done in the original, therapeutic-associative format: cards were drawn blindly - one with a picture, the other with text, and it was necessary to comment on what spontaneous feelings, thoughts and associations arose. Working and interacting with cards and the people using them stimulated and contributed to the emergence of new card concepts and, accordingly, new decks.

Working with Metaphorical Maps

Metaphorical associative cards can be used in individual psychotherapy, in trainings, and in working with family systems. They provide an opportunity to see a picture of any interpersonal relationships, internal contradictions, and even relationships with any object (for example, money). Working with maps allows you to explore and simulate any processes, both in the present and in the past, and, importantly, in the future.

Metaphorical associative maps trigger internal processes of self-healing and finding an individual way out of the crisis. This quality of theirs cannot be overestimated.

This is not fortune telling

Metaphorical association cards are often compared to the Tarot. But these are different things related to different egregors (energy information systems). Although they really have a lot in common. In and with Metaphorical cards, similar layouts are used, where each card is assigned a certain meaningful position. For example, three cards are laid out in the positions “How I see myself,” “How others see me,” and “How I really am.” Some techniques for working with such layouts are also used in both systems. Only if in Tarot this is called “magic”, then in working with metaphorical cards- “working with the subconscious.”

In both cases, Jung’s theory of synchronicity works flawlessly, almost never failing. Jung described synchronicity as a creative principle constantly operating in nature, ordering events in a “non-physical” (non-causal) way, only on the basis of their meaning and regardless of time and space. If we translate everything into simple language: “Accidents are not accidental.” The client always pulls out exactly the card he needs. This is why metaphorical cards are called Oh-cards. The word “Oh” is translated into Russian as the interjection “Oh”, “Oh!” or "Ah."

Scope of application

The scope of application of Metaphorical cards is vast and inexhaustible. Cards create an atmosphere of security and trust. They help to understand the psychological causes of events happening to a person and find solutions to difficult situations. The ease of use of cards allows you to use them without special training for personal growth, interesting family leisure, and games in a friendly company.

• Interpersonal relationships (personal, friendly, family, etc.)
• Conflict resolution (external or internal)
• Study of family systems, construction of a genogram
• Modeling and research of any processes in the past and future
• Developing positive thinking
• Self-analysis and self-development
• Personal growth
• Processing psychological trauma
• Overcoming stress
• Working with fears
  and much more

Metaphorical associative cards (MAK, OX cards or projective cards) are not fortune telling or magic. This is a projective psychological technique, an effective tool in the hands of a professional psychotherapist.

Metaphorical cards do not have specific meanings, as in the Tarot or the Lenormand Oracle. What is important here is the personal vision of each client, his associations, thoughts, sensations and feelings that the image on the selected card evokes. Different clients perceive the same card in completely different ways; everyone sees in it something of their own that is important directly to them at this stage of life.

Analysis of this information helps to find the causes of events happening to a person and correct the situation.

Advantages of MAC

Versatility and simplicity

Projective cards are easy to use and suitable for working with clients of all ages and nationalities. They are highly effective both in individual and family therapy, and in group therapy.

Softness, comfort and safety

OX cards allow you to gently and delicately address the subconscious. Working with them is comfortable for a person, because he talks and fantasizes about the characters and actions depicted on the map, and not about his life. The client chooses the cards himself, interprets them at his own pace, and talks about his associations.

The language of metaphors and images reduces the chances of additional retraumatization, because in a metaphorical map a person will see only what he is ready to work with.

It is in such a safe environment that the roots of the problem can be found and a constructive solution can be modeled.

Reduced resistance

Working with projective maps, it is easier to bypass resistance and other defense mechanisms of the client’s psyche. Appealing to the right hemisphere through an image allows you to penetrate directly to the internal subconscious conflict. Fears, insecurities, grievances, etc. that a person wanted to deal with are revealed in his stories and associations. By recognizing them and drawing parallels with his life, the client can begin to adjust his behavior.

Speed ​​and depth of diagnostics

With proper support from the therapist and the necessary clarifying questions, working with Metaphorical Associative Maps allows you to reach the client’s real request in a few minutes. OH cards very quickly help to clarify and understand the client’s problem, understand his perceptions and unconstructive patterns of behavior. At the same time, the subjective reasons for the client’s difficulties, lying in the deep layers of the subconscious, come to the surface. And the goal of therapy is not to heal symptoms and get rid of only painful consequences, but to transform the attitude that lies at the origins of the problem.

Therapeutic effect and a unique way out of the situation

Verbalizing a problem (i.e. saying it out loud, admitting to yourself that it exists) is in itself a very important step towards overcoming it.

Metaphorical cards help to reconstruct a traumatic event that happened to a client and put it into words. And then they launch a resource - internal processes of self-healing and finding your own unique way out of the crisis.

All the right answers and solutions always exist within the person himself. Analyzing the drawn card, the client himself answers the question posed. Because only he himself is capable of finding the optimal way out of the situation.

Modeling the future

First, the thought and our vision of the situation are born, and only then real events occur. Therefore, it is very important to invest productive attitudes and images into the subconscious. Working with projective maps makes it possible to explore any processes in the past, present and future and model new options for resolving situations. Subsequently, positive attitudes and a mindset for success will bear fruit in the client’s real life.

How are sessions using MAC performed?

1. The client and therapist discuss the situation, find out the purpose of the work, and formulate a request. For example: “I would like to get rid of the fear of loneliness and start living a full life”; “I have a very big grudge against my father. How can I let her go?”; “What is the cause of my financial problems? How to normalize your financial condition? etc.
2. Work begins according to the method proposed by the therapist. The client pulls out cards openly or blindly and tells what he sees on them, what he feels at that moment. The therapist listens very carefully and asks the necessary clarifying questions.
3. The client and therapist discuss and analyze what was seen in the picture. Parallels are drawn with real life client, establish cause-and-effect relationships.
4. The therapist accompanies the client on the path to solving his problem. The client independently looks for a way out of the situation, realizes his resource, notes for himself the first steps to achieve the goal.

What difficulties does working with Metaphorical Association Maps help you overcome?

• Problems in personal life
• Problems of child-parent and family relationships
• Interpersonal and intrapersonal conflicts
• Resentment, guilt
• Dependencies
• Stress, pathological fatigue
• Psychosomatic diseases
• Problems in relationships in a team
• Business problems

“It’s difficult for me to open up to people,” admits 29-year-old Evgenia. “I came to a psychologist, but I couldn’t bring myself to speak. Then he laid out a stack of cards with landscapes and offered to look at them. I liked some of them and put them aside. The psychologist asked why I chose these particular ones. Gradually I started talking...” These cards are special, not playing or fortune-telling.

“They are called metaphorical or associative,” explains psychologist, director of the Genesis publishing house Ekaterina Mukhamatulina, “because the images presented on them become a visible metaphor of our values, fears, desires, or are associated associatively with our internal experience. Another name is therapeutic cards, because psychologists use them in their work.”

Individual meaning

The photograph shows a deserted street in the evening, illuminated by rare lanterns. “This is an image of loneliness,” says 32-year-old Anna, “so I’m wandering through life alone, without companions, and it’s already starting to get dark, and it scares me.” 45-year-old Ivan perceives the same image in a completely different way: “The working day is ending, and I can finally relax, walk around the city, and no one will bother me,” he explains his choice.

Metaphorical cards are not a psychological test, although in working with them, as in many tests, the mechanism of psychological projection is also involved. What's the difference?

“The test included a set of all possible results even before we started performing it,” explains the creator of several decks of metaphorical cards, psychologist Galina Kats. - Having passed the test, we ultimately receive a ready-made conclusion about our character, abilities or condition, this already depends on the purpose of the test. It's different with cards. The choice of this or that card in itself does not say anything. There are no ready-made results, there is a process: we assume, make clarifications, reflect and gradually delve deeper into the meaning.”

This path can be taken independently or together with a psychologist, whose task in this case is to move with us, without getting ahead of ourselves.

Reduce anxiety

Almost everyone who comes to a psychologist for the first time experiences anxiety to one degree or another. It’s not easy to immediately trust another person, especially someone you don’t know yet. It's not easy to talk about issues that frighten you or make you feel ashamed. It’s much easier to start by discussing the picture, because then you can stay in the shadows for a while. Talk not about yourself, but about the image and control the degree of your frankness. This is especially valuable for those who find it difficult to be the center of attention.

“Many people are preparing for an unpleasant or difficult conversation with a psychologist, and looking at pictures is a simple activity in which no one can fail, so the tension quickly subsides,” notes Galina Katz.

Cards can be used at any time when the client is experiencing anxiety and there is a need to help him feel safe.

Find your way to important topics

Few people know in advance what result they would like to achieve during psychotherapy. Some are brought into the office by a vague feeling of dissatisfaction. What is its cause, where did it come from and what exactly would you like to change in life - these questions can become the beginning of psychotherapeutic work. Taking the deck in your hands at this moment, you can select symbolic images “as it is now” and “as I want it to be”, making them visible.

“We live in a visually oriented culture,” emphasizes psychologist Galina Katz, “so visual images are easier to perceive and serve as a starting point for conversation. If we listened to music more, we could probably turn to melodies. But we are more accustomed to watching. That’s why we offer pictures that spark the imagination.”

Metaphorical cards help not only at the beginning of psychological work. They allow you to address taboo or difficult topics such as violence or incest.

“For many clients, it’s easier to show the corresponding card than to put into words what happened to them,” notes Galina Kats.

For example, the client cannot say out loud: “my father beat me,” but she chooses a card with a picture of a swinging hand. Then, with the help of a psychologist, he finds the strength to describe everything that happened. Thus, thanks to metaphorical cards, the ban on speech is lifted, and feelings finally find their expression.

For different purposes

Some people like cards with specific images (a house, an apple), while others are more comfortable working with abstract images. Preferences depend on habits of thinking and perception. Psychologists often offer the client several sets to choose from. For example, a deck of two parts: the larger cards depict different bodies, male and female, in home or formal clothes or naked, and the smaller cards contain... heads. You can select a body and attach different heads to it. Or vice versa.

The result is strange, sometimes fantastic combinations - on a woman’s body, dressed in a dressing gown, the curly head of a black woman. These hybrid beings take on meaning within the context of the client's psychological life. “The head can symbolize the mind or conscience,” explains Galina Katz, “and the body can symbolize desires, physical life.”

There are other sets of cards, such as a deck suitable for talking about childhood. On one card, a child holds the hands of both parents; on the other, he looks out from under the lid of a large chest. These decks are suitable for working with both adults and children. Decks with large, bright and simpler designs have been created especially for children. They help children learn social skills: being friendly; ask questions; asking someone else to stop if they are doing something unpleasant...

There is a “Cope Deck” (“cope” in English means “overcoming”), created to work with trauma. It is divided into two parts: half of the cards depict traumatic situations, such as physical injury. The second half shows different resources for coping: support from friends, creativity. With their help, you can talk about how we usually cope with difficult situations and find new, untapped opportunities.

How to choose

If we select metaphorical cards for ourselves, for reflection, meditation or discussion with friends, then the choice depends on the purpose and our taste. Everything matters here - the theme (for example, the set “Windows and Doors” is suitable for thinking about the way of interacting with the outside world, and “Roads and Roads” is for understanding the paths of life), and the color scheme, and even matte cards or glossy.

“Many people perceive gloss as something more joyful and optimistic,” notes Ekaterina Mukhamatulina, “but there are also those for whom it symbolizes detachment, it’s like “someone else’s life.” Now in the publishing house "Genesis" you can buy some sets in two versions, matte and glossy. However, professionals prefer matte ones; they are more suitable for psychological work.”

What if we are going to see a psychologist? “In this case, you need to choose not the cards, but the specialist who works with them,” emphasizes Galina Kats. “The cards themselves are only an auxiliary tool; they are not a method of psychotherapy, but only a tool for it.” At the same time, they are universal, they are used by psychologists practicing a variety of approaches, from Jungian to cognitive.

Let's play

You can play with these cards. But there will be no losers, everyone will win.

Let's take the game “To Your Misfortune” as an example. Players draw an equal number of cards from the deck, usually 5–7. The first one chooses one of his own and quickly comes up with a story “based on the picture,” addressing it to the other player and starting with the words “to your misfortune.”

For example, a card with a dragon can serve as the basis for the following opening: “Unfortunately for you, a terrible dragon is chasing you, he wants to eat you.”

The other player’s task is to “cover” the presented card with one of his own, accompanying it with a happy ending, which begins with the words “to my happiness.”

For example, the “dragon” is covered by the “lake”: “Fortunately for me, I can swim, but the dragon cannot. I dive into the lake and find myself safe.”

The next move can develop this plot or start a new one. Other players can help the “attacker” or the “lucky one” - there is room for imagination.

“Such a game stimulates ingenuity, trains the skill of quickly finding a way out of a situation,” explains Galina Katz, “and also allows you to express aggression in a playful, non-offensive form. “It’s your misfortune” is good to play in the family or with colleagues, because hidden aggression is almost always present in any group.” And the game helps relieve the tension that arises from this.

Detailed information about metaphorical cards can be found on the websites publishing house "Genesis" and psychological Center "Creative World".

Metaphorical associative (intuitive) cards (MAC), which have become very popular in psychology, are called cards because they are a set of small pictures made in the form of fortune-telling cards or postcards. Metaphorical maps can depict people, various life situations, abstract pictures and spots, animals and birds, natural and city landscapes, household items, and scenes from fairy tales. A deck of associative cards can consist of a set of any pictures.

Sets of associative metaphorical cards, unlike, for example, do not have a clear compositional, logical and quantitative structure; these cards do not have predetermined interpretations. Some decks of association cards consist of images with captions or explanatory texts, others include only cards with pictures, and there are sets consisting of cards with images and cards with words.

There are also metaphorical cards that contain only texts. Each deck of metaphorical association cards is unique, but can be endlessly combined with other sets, opening up new possibilities for the imagination.

Psychologists call the use of metaphorical cards a technique of self-knowledge, a flow of free associations, awareness of hidden experiences and needs, understanding of a person’s unconscious impulses and aspirations, and working with the subconscious. However, there is no difference in what exactly such a process of self-knowledge is called - fortune-telling or a technique of self-knowledge. After all, any of this is also an appeal to yourself, to your inner state, to your experiences and thoughts. That is why the process of working with metaphorical associative cards can be called fortune telling, as a result of which a person receives an analysis of the current situation and a forecast for the future. Moreover, such a forecast will not predetermine or predetermine obligatory events - it, as in all fortune-telling, may well change after some actions of a person in the present, a change in his attitude to current events, a change in psychological state or mood.

As mentioned above, each metaphorical associative card does not have an inherent meaning, and the image on it is only a symbol or metaphor. When fortune telling, a person’s personal reaction to the picture given to him is important - everyone will interpret and interpret the same image in their own way, unconsciously connecting the card with their experiences. Moreover, at different periods of life and in different life situations, the same person can perceive and interpret the same picture of metaphorical associative cards differently.

So, for example, a map with a photograph of an evening deserted street, illuminated by rare lanterns, will be perceived by one person as a frightening image of loneliness, and by another as a positive symbol of the end of a working day, when one can finally take a break from hard work.

How to tell fortunes using metaphorical associative (intuitive) cards

The rules are flexible and not limited by any framework. To work with intuitive maps, much less special knowledge and skills are required than, for example, for. If in the case of the latter you need to understand a developed and rather complex sign system, then with metaphorical maps everything is much simpler: what a person sees on the map and at the same time feels is the result.

When guessing on associative metaphorical cards, you can ask any questions: about the situation, about the choice of path, about the beginning of any business, about relationships, about the result of certain actions. The main thing is to understand that the correct formulation of the question is very important here. Intuitive cards should not be asked, for example, “When will I find a job?”, “Will I get married?” or “When will I get rich?” Metaphorical cards do not have any specific interpretation, and no one can say what the dropped card means for a specific person - only the associations that it evokes personally in the fortuneteller are important. It is these associations that are the answer to the questions.

Metaphorical association cards allow you to work only with your own “I”. With their help, it is impossible to find out what, for example, another person thinks about us. If we do ask such a question, we must remember that the answer will not be what a person thinks about us, but how we ourselves imagine what this other person thinks about us.

Metaphorical associative intuitive maps online

Questions when fortune telling on metaphorical associative (intuitive) cards should be of the following nature: “What will my path be?”, “What should I work on in myself in order to find a suitable job?”, “How will my business progress?”, “What do I need to realize in myself in order to get married?”, “What do I need to change in myself to achieve what I want?”, “What will help me on the path to my goal?”, “What do I need to understand and realize in order for something to happen?” what do I want?”, “What is stopping me on the way to my goal?”, “For what reason is there not enough warmth in our relationship?”, “What do I need to change in myself for our relationship to change?”

It is better to divide complex questions into simple ones, that is, ask not “Why can’t I find a new job and what will help me do this?”, but “What is stopping me from finding a new job?” and “What will help me find a new job?” For each question the answer will be its own card.

Otherwise, the principle of independent fortune telling on metaphorical associative cards is no different from the same process on any other card: after formulating a question, one card is selected from the deck, which is the answer. When working with associative cards, there are various approaches or techniques that can be compared with various card layouts. Just as you can consider a situation using different layouts, so in fortune telling on metaphorical associative cards you can use different techniques: for example, one or three cards.

In order to help other people work with metaphorical associative maps, special education, knowledge, and experience are needed. That is why many techniques involve working with intuitive maps under the guidance of an experienced leading psychologist. But the good thing about these cards is that, even without special education, you can simply use them for yourself.

It often happens in life that you need to clarify some current situation, find a solution to a problem, an answer to your question. You can sit for a long time and delve into the past, thoughts, experiences. Coming to a dead end, not finding an answer, and starting all over again. It is very difficult to find what you need among the information that has accumulated in your head. Especially without the help of a processor or some techniques that take time to learn.

What to do?

Metaphorical associative cards (MAC) are an excellent tool for clarifying any situations, which can be used solo and without special preparation.

Nowadays there are many types of metaphorical cards: there are cards with pictures on a specific topic, consisting of several decks, etc. But today I want to talk about what it is using the example of OH-cards.

OX cards consist of 2 decks: a picture and a frame with words. Each deck contains 88 cards. Other types of associative cards also go well with OX cards.

How do they work with metaphorical cards?

Each deck comes with instructions for working with the cards. But, in fact, there are no strict rules. You just need to focus on the question that interests you, pull out a frame with a word from the deck, and then a picture and see what is depicted on it and how it is connected with the word on the frame. And so as many times as you want - at least the entire deck. The point is that it’s more difficult to tell a person about yourself, but it’s easier to tell a person about a picture. And when a person finds a connection between the cards, tells what is depicted on them, he suddenly begins to understand that this is all, in fact, he is talking about himself. It begins to seem that the cards are “telling” him what is happening. But there is no mysticism in this. A person simply sees in the picture what his attention is on. The picture, like a hook, “catches” information from his head and the person unloads this data. He begins to realize what is happening, whereas before he was trying to find the answer to his question in a sea of ​​​​information and could not focus on anything specific. Surprisingly, very often people draw those cards that hit the bull's eye. At the same time, different people see different things in the same picture.

Another interesting point: during the process of telling a story, a person may even notice that something on the map has changed, for example, the drawn character began to smile, but before that he was gloomy. This is facilitated by the style of execution of the cards: the pictures on them, as a rule, are drawn vaguely so that the subconscious and imagination of a person can “complete” the necessary elements.

Feelings help you understand what is shown on the map. You just need to see what sensations arise from a card or combination of cards. Very often specific episodes come to light, even things that seem to have been forgotten.

HWhat else can you do using cards?

The scope of the cards is wide: with their help you can not only work with experiences, but also play with friends, telling stories, put the card on a sheet of paper and finish drawing, simply lay it out without asking, etc. The main thing to remember is that all the answers are within us, and cards only help us find and realize them.