Features Apr 22, 2015 at 4:00 am

What Do You See When You Look at This Desert?

A Real Man Who Fears His Feminine Side Sits on Sheila Heti's Fictional Couch

Sheila Heti

This desert is one of 21 backgrounds included in psychologist Edwin Shneidman’s paper-doll set Make a Picture Story, also known as the MAPS test. It was used in the 1940s to analyze patients. Sheila Heti used it to ask Desmond, a bank manager, what he sees.

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Comments

OH MY GOD MOST TEDIOUS SERIES EVER JESUS MAKE IT STOP

beef rallard on April 23, 2015 at 11:15 AM

Semi-amusing but in more of a laughing-at-the-author way. Nice creative fiction. I suspect nearly any college graduate could proffer their own interpretation as well, so.....

EonBlueApocalypse on April 24, 2015 at 12:58 PM

This series is like someone without medical qualifications taking an ancient, outdated medical test and using it incorrectly to 'diagnose' people with illnesses. Pretty fucked up. Also just pretentious as hell.

Humorless psychologist on May 5, 2015 at 6:04 PM