The SSCA Method: Introduction

Click here for the first chapter: Hidden messages

Welcome to the first chapter!

We will learn the seven-step method (SSCA) for the psychological interpretation of drawings, paintings, scribbles by children and adults:

how to interpret pictures step-by-step,
practical methods and techniques,
what to observe: hidden cues,
how to recognise the psychological “essence” of a picture.

Listen and prepare to explore a whole new world of the psychological understanding!

The top five mistakes made by 9 out of 10 examiner

Hint: You can't understand a picture without context

Blind diagnosis and forgetting about the process

Egocentric perception

You can't see the forest for the trees

Speculative symbolism

Step 1: A brilliant idea

The phenomenological map

Let's draw the map together!

Professor Sehringer's brilliant idea

Unnoticed cues with which the subject speaks for himself

How to avoid overexplaining?

Step 2: Hidden cues in the process

Understand how it was made

A scribble test: model reactions

Unnoticed nonverbal cues

How to discover even more signs

Step 3: Levy's method for illuminating insights

A phenomenological point of view

Step 4: Intuitive analysis

The method of free impressions

The five most important features

Exercises for the top five characteristic techniques

Where is the viewer's spontaneous focus?

Hárdi’s motor empathy method

Kinaesthetic empathy: your body helps you

Visualization: the drawing comes to life and steps off the paper

Empathetic questioning: now you step into the picture

Step 5: Global analysis

Binoculars instead of microscopes

If you still can't see the forest for the trees

Step 6: The place of the part in the whole

The secret lies in the details (item analysis)

Step 7: Recognising essence

A single sentence that contains 30 pages of information

Summary

The pieces come together

Upon completion of the course, you will receive a certificate of completion, which you can share with your friends, relatives, co-workers and employers.

About the author

Prof. Zoltan Vass, PhD is University Professor of Psychology and Head of the Faculty of the Psychology of Visual Expression, Károli University, Budapest.
He has published over 20 books and 400 scientific articles in 7 languages.
His method of Seven-Step Configuration Analysis (SSCA) awarded several scientific prices.
On SSCA, 7 scientific symposia were organized.
It has led to the establishment of three accredited clinical trainings and a postgraduate faculty with a total of 1622 participants.
It is taught or referenced in 152 courses in Hungary, Transsylvania, Germany, France, Russia, China, Israel etc.

International appraisals

Prof. Dr. Diane Waller MA(RCA) DPhil, FRSA, OBE

Emeritus Professor of Art Psychotherapy, Goldsmiths, University of London

“This is an extraordinary work
different from the work already in the public domain in that it proposes a new, much more complex approach to the interpretation of drawings and paintings"

“It opens up avenues
on the long-debated efficacy of projective drawing as diagnostic and therapeutic tools"

Prof. Catherine T. L. SUN

Professor & Head, Department of Counselling and Psychology, Hong Kong Shue Yan University

Prof. Dr. Carlos R. Hojaij

Clínica Psiquiatria Biológica Brasil, São Paulo

“Fantastic (!!!) ... No doubt it does deserve a world wide publication, for it will be very useful to so many professionals researching and working in art therapy and any one interested in expression and psychology"

How to understand drawings and paintings

Uncover hidden significance

Are you a teacher or a kindergarten teacher?

Are you a psychologist or art therapist?

Are you a student?

Do you draw or paint?

Do you want to use it with your clients?

Are you interested in knowing who you are, too?