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Before you continue reading, I’d like to recommend you do this quick test. You’ll need a little piece of paper and a pencil.

Fig. 7. Geometric shapes which are used in the test “Constructive drawing of a person”.

Draw a person made of rectangles, circles and triangles. You can vary the size of the elements. There should be ten geometric shapes in your picture.

This test is called “constructive drawing of a person”. The authors of the test are Russian psychotherapists Victor and Helen Libin. This test is quite simple and the result can be quite useful. I introduced this test into psychotherapy and self-regulation. According to my research, such drawing is a projection of a person’s self-awareness and is an imprint of a person’s energetic profile.

How can one’s fears be reflected in the drawing? In this case the following combination of figures is typical: a round head and an oval body. Wide-open eyes and a navel serve as additional characteristics. Arms and legs are usually made of triangles.

Triangles in the picture are a sign of a lack of fulfilment, especially when compared with the more “stable” rectangles and circles which our mind intuitively uses as figures with more volume in order to depict zones of the body filled with energy. As our body can feel energy stored unevenly, we can reflect it in the picture.

Typical combinations

As an example, I would like to demonstrate several typical configurations which often appear in these drawings. They are very common, and are often reproduced by patients suffering from similar problems.

Fig. 8. Typical combinations in the test “Constructive drawing of a person”.

Anxiety and helplessness are shown with a big head and small extremities (I). Feeling unappreciated, angry and rebellious is pictured with the “inflated” body and a square head (II). Asphyxia during labour and a central nervous system injury can be seen though the “unstable” graphics and a head filled with different elements (III). Brain energy deprivation syndrome and sympathoadrenal episodes can be revealed through a narrow space at the level of a neck or a body, a big head, “a hat” or other elements on the head (IV). Feeling relaxed and comfortable is shown with circles (V).

Reservoirs of our consciousness

The drawings reflect the state of the two above-mentioned “reservoirs of our consciousness’; these are our head and body.

They can be filled in moderation, and in this case a person preserves energy and successfully overcomes the obstacles that come his or her way. However, if the reservoirs are overloaded, then life efficacy decreases.

The size of the head shows the degree to which the brain is activated, and the size of the body gives us information about the state of the autonomic nervous system.

Smaller arms and legs with an enlarged body is a combination which can be seen even in the drawings of quite successful people who in their childhood used to be vulnerable too and had to live through traumas and tensions while getting used to new circumstances. I have even witnessed figures with enlarged heads and shrunken extremities in the drawings of famous meditations masters in India. These disorders had appeared long before they started practising self-fulfilment. It’s quite likely that their experience and practice has helped them to avoid any further stress, but the old stress still remain.

These are the major principles of the diagnostics. Now let’s move on to the healing practice.