Can comics help us process emotions, inner experiences and life challenges, while opening new ways to explore empathy, perspective-taking and emotional understanding?

The Visual Method is a new visual method at the intersection of comics, psychology and meaning-making developed by Marina Tjetland. It is based on the logic of comics and sequential drawing, where experiences are explored frame by frame. Through simple drawings, people can express situations, feelings, tensions, inner states and changes in a way that may feel easier and safer than explaining everything directly with words.

At the centre of the method is the idea that drawing is not only an artistic activity, but also a tool for thinking, reflection and meaning-making. Participants do not need drawing skills. Simple characters, symbols, metaphors and comic panels are used to make complex or delicate experiences more visible, approachable and easier to explore.

In this session, Marina Tjetland will introduce the Visual Method, share what makes it novel and distinctive, and reflect on its psychological potential. She will also guide the audience through a simple comic drawing exercise, giving participants a direct experience of how sequential drawing can support self-understanding, empathy and emotional insight.

With

Marina Tjetland, comic artist, writer, speaker, and founder of the Visual Method.

Additional participants TBA