The Art of Seeing Beyond

What autostereograms teach us about therapy

Photo by FLY:D on Unsplash

Plenty of inventive metaphors have been created to describe psychotherapy, ranging from personal training to peeling onions. These metaphors give us an intuitive understanding of therapy, demystifying it and making it more accessible to clients.

Today, I want to propose one more metaphor, and explain how the process of therapy is similar to seeing an optical illusion called an autostereogram.

Behold, the autostereogram

The autostereogram is an interesting creature. On first glance, it appears to be only a jumbled arrangement of colors and shapes. A more scrutinizing look will reveal some regularities here and there, but nothing more.

Under the right circumstances, however, the autostereogram transforms into something totally different. When we view it the right way, a 3-D image leaps out from the screen. Out of an apparent chaos, an ordered figure emerges.

If the image doesn’t appear for you, keep reading for more instructions (Source)

What explains this optical phenomenon? The shapes on the screen aren’t so random after all — they’re arranged in such a way that each of your eyes sees a specific…