Eikonotherapy
Healing Through Iconographic Creation
Eikonotherapy is a developing prayer-centered framework that explores the potential emotional, psychological, and spiritual dimensions of creating sacred images within the tradition of Orthodox iconography. Developed by artist and psychology researcher Aleksandar Tesanovic, it grew from his exploration of the relationship between religious art, creative practice, prayer, and human psychological experience.
The origins of Eikonotherapy can be traced to Tesanovic’s academic and personal exploration of the intersection of art, Eastern Orthodox spirituality, and psychology. An early form of the project emerged during his work as a psychology teaching assistant at Arizona State University, where he began exploring questions concerning the psychological experience of creating sacred imagery. Over time, these ideas developed into a broader framework combining iconographic creation, Orthodox spiritual practice, prayer, and self-reflection.
Central to this exploration is Eikonolexia, Tesanovic’s artistic practice in which a sacred image is formed through handwritten words of prayer. Rather than functioning merely as text placed within an image, the written prayer itself becomes the visual structure of the work — forming line, light, shadow, garment, face, and ultimately the sacred image.
While Eikonolexia primarily describes this artistic process, Eikonotherapy explores the experience of creating sacred imagery as a possible means of prayer, self-reflection, emotional expression, and spiritual introspection. The emphasis is not on artistic ability or technical perfection, but on attentive participation in the creative and prayerful process.
Within this framework, the creation of an icon or Eikonolexia becomes a slow and deliberate practice. Repetition, handwriting, drawing, silence, prayer, and sustained attention may provide space for reflection on personal experiences, emotions, suffering, relationships, faith, repentance, and meaning. The creative process is therefore approached not simply as the production of an artwork, but as an opportunity for deeper engagement with one’s inner life and with the spiritual meaning of the sacred image being created.
The repetitive and attentive nature of the process is an important element of Eikonotherapy. As words of prayer are written repeatedly and gradually become an image, attention is continually returned to the prayer and to the sacred person being depicted. In this sense, the artistic process is inseparable from the prayerful process: the words do not merely accompany the image — they form it.
Eikonotherapy remains a developing and exploratory approach. It has not been established or scientifically validated as a clinical psychotherapy or mental-health treatment, and it should not be presented or understood as a substitute for professional psychological, psychiatric, or medical care. Further theoretical development, systematic observation, and empirical research are necessary before claims regarding its therapeutic effectiveness can be established.
At the same time, Eikonotherapy is being developed within an explicitly Eastern Orthodox spiritual context. The work has received the blessing of Elder Paisios, Abbot of St. Anthony’s Greek Orthodox Monastery in Arizona. This blessing concerns the spiritual and iconographic dimension of the work and is understood separately from scientific or clinical validation.
Eikonotherapy therefore stands at the intersection of Orthodox sacred art, prayer, spiritual practice, psychology, and ongoing research. It explores what may occur when the creation of a holy image becomes more than an artistic act — when the hand writes, the mind attends, and the words of prayer gradually become image.
Eikonotherapy is not presented as a replacement for psychotherapy, medical treatment, or the sacramental and spiritual life of the Orthodox Church. Rather, it is an evolving exploration of the relationship between sacred creation, prayer, psychological experience, and the inner life.
