Drawing on God: Psychotherapy and Images of Go

Drawings of God by psychotherapy clients can yield interesting and potentially valuable diagnostic and treatment planning information. The following brief analyses of two drawings will serve as a preliminary report on a forthcoming extensive and systematic study. The dozens of drawings to be studied were collected in a variation of a projective test where clients were asked to draw a picture of God, in addition to the usual drawings of a house, tree, and person. Following completion of the drawing, I interviewed the client about his or her drawing of God. In the planned larger study, I intend to analyze the drawings using insights drawn from standard projective drawing interpretation.

The drawing of God in Figure 1 came from a 43-year-old white male professional with the diagnosis of recurrent Major Depressive Disorder (DSM-IV). On entering therapy the client reported classic depressive symptoms: depressed mood, marked loss of interest and pleasure in usual activities, weight loss, fatigue, and insomnia. The cur-rent episode of depression appeared to be at least somewhat related to and occasioned by marital conflict. He reported he was very unhappy in the marriage but felt pressure to make it work in order to provide a stable home for the nine-year-old son. The man is a practicing Protestant Christian with a traditional theological belief system.

Figure 1 [image is unavailable]

The drawing can be interpreted as reflecting the man’s current feelings of depression and inadequacy, as well as his idealization of how he wants his life to be. With other bodily elements intact, the lack of distinctive facial features is remarkable. Facial features function as sources of sensory satisfaction or dissatisfaction and as means of communication. The dim facial features, especially in profile, suggest withdrawal tendencies as well as timidity and self-consciousness in interpersonal relations. All of these features are consistent with the client’s verbal report of his situation.

Page 95

The figure’s arm, hanging limply at his side, probably suggests his felt weakness and current ineffectiveness. The infantile four fingers also express his feelings of inadequacy. The short legs, covered to a large degree by the deity’s robe, are consistent with a sense of immobility and restriction. Emphasis on belts can suggest sexual preoccupation. In this case, the belt’s tassels, hanging limp, can easily be related specifically to the man’s report of temporary sexual dysfunction and generally to his feelings of inadequacy.

All of his other projective drawings were located on or close to the side edge of the paper, suggesting a feeling of constriction. The drawing of God, however, is located only slightly to the left of center. This placement, along with the sun, the rays emanating from the figure, and the slight upward direction of the path, suggest both the client’s hope and his optimistic evaluation of the future. Other drawings were also embedded with signs of hope and determination but not to the extent of this God drawing.

The dark burden placed on the back of God is, of course, the burden the man currently feels. When discussing this aspect of the drawing, he had the insight that he did not have to carry his troubles by himself. Without prompting, the client indicated that he felt relieved, finally, to be discussing his troubles with someone. He expressed the expectation that therapy would help him work through his issues. The therapist in this case had a beard; note the beard drawn on the God figure.

When asked to imagine/fantasize about what was going to happen with this figure in the future, the man, collapsing himself into God in the fantasy, said that the figure would continue walking toward the sun (perhaps symbolizing Jesus at some level in the client’s mind) and the burden would melt into the sun.

The drawing of God in Figure 2 came from a seven-year-old boy who was troubled because of the death of his grandfather and mildly anxious that some other “bad thing” was going to occur. The child lives in a Protestant Christian family with a traditional theological belief system.

The two most noticeable features of this drawing are the sun and the strong arms of God. The sun is personified with eyes and what the boy described as a “vampire” mouth. Strongly reinforced eyes, as in this picture, can suggest anxiety. This child said that the sun is usually shining happily but that he is somewhat afraid of this sun because it has a vampire mouth. Although he did not so verbalize, it is reasonable to conclude that the child has projected onto the sun his sadness and

Figure 2 [image is unavailable]

anxieties and that the sun also symbolizes future threat.

When asked to explain the various features of his God figure, the boy focused on the arms, which he said were very strong. Strong arms, in both child and adult drawings, often indicate a perceived need for achievement and/or physical strength, and can indicate an active, even aggressive, contact with the environment. When asked why they were so strong, the child said God could take care of any bad thing that might happen and that was why God was smiling. He said God was also praying that nothing else bad would occur. The undefined hands and feet are age appropriate.

Both clients appear to project onto the drawings their current emotional situation (real self) and their hoped-for life situation (ideal self). My preliminary study suggests that in the God drawings extensive projection occurs, even more so than in standard projective drawings of houses, trees, and persons.

Page 96