Graphology

Domain XIV · Western esoteric, divinatory & new spiritual movements · Jean-Hippolyte Michon · 1871 · France

What it is

Graphology is the practice of inferring a writer's character or personality from handwriting. The term and the first society (Société graphologique, 1871) are attributed to the French priest Jean-Hippolyte Michon, who held that people reveal their inner selves when writing spontaneously; later…

Format

• Graphology itself has no therapeutic phases. The framework below is for the psychotherapist working with a client affected by graphology. No source gives session counts; the number of sessions follows the client's goals and is usually a strand within ongoing therapy rather than a separate course.
• Phase A. Engagement and meaning. Goal: learn how graphology entered the client's life (self-commissioned reading, employer, partner, school, online test), what was said, and what it means to them, in their words. Format: part of a normal session, client-led. Move on when the client's account and…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Version followed: graphology as European graphological bodies describe it in their codes of conduct (the European Code initiated by the Groupement des Graphologues-Conseils de France and the Société Française de Graphologie, effective 1 January 1992; the British Institute of Graphologists code, early 1980s), as reviewed in two papers by Nigel Bradley (2005), one published in the proceedings of the 8th British…

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• Phase C. Working phase. Goal: apply the relevant interventions in section 4 (reflective use of the report, evidence conversation if the client asks, hiring-rights steps, decision work, reassurance-seeking work, consent and relationship work). Move on when the client reports that the report no…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• unfinished practical steps. Working when the client has a plan they chose.
• the therapist offering opinions on a document. Working when the client has a route to the right expert.
• the client minimising control; escalation in an abusive relationship. Working when the client names the boundary and acts on it.
• pushing interpretations the client has not offered. Working when the client links the reaction to their own history and the charge reduces.
• shame about money spent; the practitioner relationship replacing other support. Working when spending is within the client's chosen limits.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.