Why do some people see the unseen?

Art therapy relates to the concepts of the unconscious in many respects - most art therapists presume that particularly the patient's artwork visualises something of his or her unconscious inner life. Current controversies in psychoanalysis about consciousness and unconscious in the therapeutic relationship can be most valuable for art therapists and reach beyond the scope of the artwork representing the invisible. The new concept of the unconscious distinguishes between the vertical and the horizontal dimension, denoting the mechanism of repression in the psychic processes on the one hand, and the horizontal social resonance space on the other. Successful therapy crucially depends on the horizontal dimension of the unconscious, indicating that therapeutic competencies are closely related to non-conceptuality. Consequently the focus in art therapy is not only on the artwork and its potential unconscious aspects, but it concentrates on the effects of the unconscious in the on-going processes between therapist, patient and artwork. For the art therapist this means to relate in a very special way to the patient as well as to the emerging art and to frame his intervention accordingly. The essay researches the concept of the unconscious from different perspectives and it explores and locates the structures of the complex lines of relationships between therapist, patient and artwork.