Article contributed by Michael Cidlik
In much of the existing work on unusual or altered experiences, hearing voices has received the greatest attention. This focus has been important and necessary, as voice hearing has long been misunderstood, stigmatised, and reduced to symptoms that should be eliminated. However, this emphasis has also meant that visual experiences, visions, are more often overlooked or treated as less significant. For many people, this does not reflect their lived reality. Many individuals experience visual phenomena that are just as powerful, influential, and emotionally charged as voices, and sometimes even more so.
Visions can take many different forms. Some people see figures or beings, others see scenes, images, or perhaps shadows. Some visions are brief and subtle, while others are vivid, persistent, and deeply unsettling. They may appear with eyes open or closed, during waking states, moments of exhaustion, emotional overload, intense stress or it might just be an everyday experience. Regardless of how they appear, visions, for many people, often have a strong impact on a person’s sense of safety, identity, and ability to navigate everyday life.
In many clinical contexts, visions are still primarily understood as symptoms that need to be controlled or suppressed. While other approaches may reduce distress for some people, it often leaves important questions unanswered. Why does this vision appear? Why now? Why in this form rather than another? When these questions are not explored, people are left alone with experiences that may feel frightening, meaningless, or overwhelming.
An alternative way of approaching visions, is to treat them as meaningful psychological and emotional experiences. This does not require believing that what is seen exists in a literal or external sense. Instead, it involves taking the experience seriously as something that carries information. Just as dreams often communicate through images rather than words. Visions may express emotional states, fears, needs, or memories that have not yet found another way to be understood.
For those familiar with the Maastricht approach to understanding voices, many of the same principles can be applied to visual experiences. The approach does not focus on deciding whether an experience is real or unreal, but on understanding how it functions. Questions about when the vision appears, what it reacts to, how it affects the person emotionally, and how it relates to life history can offer valuable insights. When explored in this way, visions often become less chaotic and more understandable.
In Denmark, a version of the Maastricht interview has been adapted specifically for people who experience visions. This adaptation allows individuals to explore visual experiences in a structured, respectful, and non-pathologising way. The aim is not to interpret the visions from the outside, but to support the person in developing their own understanding. I am available to help share and further develop this work in other languages and contexts, and anyone interested is welcome to contact me.
Many people notice that certain kinds of visions appear repeatedly across different individuals and cultures. These are often powerful figures or images that feel larger than the individual experience itself. Some people see threatening creatures or figures that seem dangerous and overwhelming. Others see protective beings, animals, or presences that appear when they feel unsafe. Some encounter children, shadowy figures, judges, watchers, or guides. Although the form differs from person to person, these visions often serve similar emotional functions.
Such visions tend to emerge during periods of vulnerability, trauma, or loss of safety. They may reflect a need for protection, a sense of danger, unresolved fear, or a struggle to maintain control. Because these experiences are image-based rather than verbal, they can feel primal and immediate. The emotional impact is often stronger than the person’s ability to reflect on it at the time.
From my own experience, I know how overwhelming such visions can be. On the first day of my psychiatric admission, I saw a large dragon. It felt dangerous and threatening, and I was terrified of it. I could not tolerate its presence and had no capacity to think about what it might represent. In that moment, the dragon was simply something that made me feel unsafe and exposed.
Many years later, after working extensively with my experiences, I came to understand that the dragon was not there to harm me. It appeared at a time when I felt profoundly unsafe and vulnerable, and it functioned as a clear signal of danger and insecurity. Over time, I came to see that it was showing me when I felt threatened and needed protection. The image itself did not change, but my relationship to it did.
This change did not happen quickly, and it didn’t remove the vision. What changed was how I understood it. Instead of reacting with fear, I noticed what was happening in my life and in my body when the dragon appeared. In this way, the vision became a source of information rather than an enemy.
Many people report similar processes with their own visual experiences. Figures that initially feel hostile or terrifying may later be understood as signals of stress or danger. Images that seem intrusive may reflect unmet needs, unresolved memories, or attempts to create safety. This does not mean that all visions become comforting or easy to live with, but it can reduce the sense of chaos and helplessness.
It is important to emphasise that working with visions does not mean minimising the distress they can cause. Visual experiences can be exhausting, frightening, and disruptive. They can affect concentration, relationships, sleep, and self-confidence. However, when people are supported in exploring their visions with curiosity, respect, and at their own pace, many experience a greater sense of agency. The vision no longer defines them; it becomes something they can relate to and understand.
Working with visions is a gradual process. It often involves paying attention to bodily reactions, emotional states, and life circumstances rather than focusing solely on the image itself. There is no single correct way to do this work. What matters is that the person feels safe, respected, and in control of how deeply they explore their experiences.
Understanding visions can open a path toward greater self-knowledge and coherence. Rather than being meaningless intrusions, visions can be understood as meaningful responses to lived experiences. When approached with care and support, they can offer insight into fear, protection, vulnerability, and the conditions under which a person feels safe or threatened. In this way, visions may become guides to understanding rather than sources of constant fear.
To contact Michael, email [email protected]
