Podnebesnaya E.B. The Possibilities of Transmitting an Internal Mental Images through Non-verbal Communication

The changes that took place in 2023 in the field of providing psychological assistance to the population gave new impetus to the development of both long-established methods and the emergence of new ones. Methods of short-term psychological assistance are becoming particularly relevant. These include the method of systemic constellations. The wider use of constellations is limited by the lack of sufficient scientific research on the phenomenon of substitution perception, which underlies this method.

The purpose of this work is to study substitution perception with the aim of expanding the possibilities for practical application of the method of systemic constellations.

The study involved 138 adult subjects, mostly women, participants in a regular psychological assistance group for systemic constellations.

An experimental study was conducted based on a previously developed methodology. Its procedure consisted in the targeted creation of conditions that ensure the active manifestation of the phenomenon of substitution perception. The method of expert assessments was used to verify the conclusions. While not being an experiment, the work done nevertheless goes beyond the scope of research and observation, since deliberately organized situations were created for its implementation. For this reason, the conducted research is designated as experimental.

At the level of empirical research, specially created conditions made it possible to observe the active manifestation of the phenomenon of substitution perception. At the theoretical level, the facts observed regarding the phenomenon of substitution perception were considered from the perspective of the informational capabilities of non-verbal communication.

The theoretical analysis of the data obtained makes it possible to define substitution perception as a form of constructing a mental image reflecting the meanings of a non-verbal communication partner, which arises to guide orientation activity on the internal plane. The results of the work done make it possible to strengthen the scientific foundations of the phenomenon of substitution perception, which expands the possibilities of using the method of systemic constellations in psychological practice. It is planned to continue studying the phenomenon of substitution perception in the future.

Key words: substitution perception, method of systemic constellations, Hellinger constellation, experimental research, interpersonal perception, nonverbal communication, nonverbal behavior, transmission of an emotional state, mental image, short-termism

For citation: Podnebesnaya, E.B. (2025). The Possibilities of Transmitting an Internal Mental Images through Non-verbal Communication. New Psychological Research, No. 3, 291–311. DOI: 10.51217/npsyresearch_2025_05_03_14