Syné & The Synesthete: Making Sense of the Senses

by Tania Grippi, PACFA Registered Practitioner & Founder at Syné Collective

At Syné Collective, we are deeply interested in how people make meaning of their inner worlds, especially when that world is experienced a little differently, or does not fit neatly into a familiar clinical box.

My exploration into synesthesia began incidentally, not through clinical training or professional development, but through curiosity sparked by a film adaptation of a novel.

Wanting to better understand the story, I look into the author's background, and discovered that he was a synesthete — someone whose senses automatically overlap in consistent ways.

What initially appeared to be a biographical detail soon became something more significantly — both personally and professionally.

A person wearing headphones and sunglasses sits contemplatively on vibrant, graffiti-decorated stairs.

Piecing it all together...

When I stumbled across this fairly abstract discovery, one I hadn't come across previously despite being in and around the Mental Health field for 30+ years.

Despite working in the meantal health field, learning about synesthesia in this context prompted deeper reflection. As I read further, the descriptions resonated with experiences I had long noticed in myself by never formally recognised or named but felt uncomfortably familiar.

These differences were always something I perceived as unique and unusual, and difficult to articulate, but not quite distressing enough to suggest pathology.

Years earlier, I had sought clarity through a neurological consultation. The outcome was reassuring: I was given the all clear. But synesthesia was never mentioned. Without a framework to understand these sensory experiences, I continued assuming they were either normal, idiosyncratic, or simply not clinically relevant — while quietly wondering where they fit.

This experience reflects something we often see in therapy: Reassurance without explanation.

Understanding Synesthesia in a Clinical Context

Synesthesia is a neurological variation in sensory processing, in which stimulation of one sensory pathway automatically and involuntarily triggers another. Individuals may experience sounds as colours, words as tastes, emotions as textures or numbers as spatial forms.

Importantly, synesthesia is not a mental health disorder. It's a stable, non-pathological difference in perception that often quietly exists beneath the surface of everyday functioning.

From a Therapeutic perspective, this distinction matters. At Syné Collective, we understand Therapy as a space where lived experience is explored, not reduced. Without awareness, a Client's sensory experiences may be dismissed, misunderstood or incorrectly conceptualised. Equally, Clients may not raise these experiences at all, having learned (often through medical reassurance) that nothing is "wrong" per sè, but without being afforded a clear understanding.

Sy-niche-thesia

Some common forms of Synesthesia are relatively well known, whilst others are discussed far less frequently in clinical and therapeutic settings. Let's explore a few:

Olfactory Synesthesia

Olfactory Synesthesia is a phenomenon where smells are automatically triggered by non-olfactory stimuli such as words, emotions, or thinking about a particular place or memory.

These smells are usually subtle, consistent, and experienced internally — not mistaken for real, external smells. For example, the word "Summer" might evoke the smell of fresh-cut grass.

Because smell is so closely linked to memory and emotion, Olfactory Synesthesia can be especially powerful. Without appropriate context, these experiences may be mistaken for trauma-related sensory recall, intrusive imagery, or metaphorical language, rather than recognised as a consistent perceptual pattern.

Other Forms of Synesthesia

You may have heard of more common types of synesthesia, such as Grapheme–Colour Synesthesia or Sound–Colour Associations. For example, seeing the letter A as the colour Red, or hearing a Sound that is the colour Green.

Each Synesthete has their own unique associations, and they appear automatically and are the same time with each sound, or number/letter, etc.

Other less common forms of Synesthesia include:

• Lexical-Gustatory Synesthesia: Tasting Words of Phonemes (ie, hearing the word "Wednesday" and tasting Chocolate.

• Number-Form Synesthesia: Seeing numbers in specific spatial arrangements. For example, the number sequence of a year might appear as a spiral or map in the mind's eye.

• Ordinal Linguistic Personification: Perceiving letters, numbers, or weekdays as having personalities and genders. For example, Monday might feel stern and serious, while the number 7 might feel playful.

• Mirror-Touch Synesthesia: Feeling physical sensations when observing others being touched. For example, seeing someone's arm brushed may make the synesthete feel a corresponding sensation on their arm.

• Spatial Sequences Synesthesia: Seeing time concepts like days, months or years in specific spatial layouts. For example, months may appear in a circular pattern surrounding the body.

• Emotion-Colour or Emotion-Taste Synesthesia: Experiencing emotions as colours, shapes or tastes. For example, feeling joy might evoke bright yellow, while sadness might taste like tart lemon.

Recognising these variations can deepen the understanding of clients' sensory worlds and inform therapeutic attunement. At Syné Collective, we are attentive to these nuances — particularly where perception, memory, and emotion intersect.

Hands gently intertwine against a blurred natural backdrop, capturing the essence of human connection and the profound sense of touch.

Why Awareness Matters for Clients & Synesthetes

For many synesthetes, recognition comes late. People often assume their sensory experiences are shared by others until they learn otherwise — sometimes decades into adulthood.

When these perceptual differences are neither named nor explored, clients may internalise confusion or self-doubt, wondering whether their experiences are unusual, imagined, or insignificant.

In therapy, synesthesia can influence how clients:

• Recall memories with vivid, multi-sensory detail

• Experience emotions linked to colour, sound, or smell

• Respond to grounding, imagery, or sensory-based therapeutic techniques

• Make meaning through sensation, metaphor, and embodied experience

Importantly, recognition does not require formal diagnosis. At Syné, understanding itself is often enough to bring coherence to long-standing experiences.

Why Synesthesia Awareness Matters for Therapists

For therapists, awareness of synesthesia — including less commonly recognised forms — supports more accurate attunement, formulation, and therapeutic presence.

A client describing “a smell that appears when I hear certain words” may be reporting a literal sensory experience rather than symbolic language or pathology. Without awareness, therapists risk misunderstanding or over-interpreting what is, in fact, a stable perceptual difference.

Therapists who themselves are synesthetes may also benefit from this awareness. Unrecognised sensory cross-activation can subtly shape emotional resonance, interpretation, and clinical perception within sessions. Reflecting on one’s own sensory processing supports clearer boundaries and more intentional therapeutic work.

Integrating Synesthesia Awareness Into Therapy

Integrating an awareness of synesthesia into therapeutic work does not require specialised tools or diagnostic pathways. It begins with curiosity — a core value at Syné Collective.

This may include:

• Asking open-ended questions about sensory experience

• Normalising perceptual and neurodivergent differences

• Avoiding assumptions of a shared sensory reality

• Adapting interventions to align with a client’s sensory world

This approach is particularly relevant when working with neurodivergent clients, trauma survivors, highly sensitive individuals, and those who naturally communicate through imagery, sensation, and embodied awareness.

The Cost of Reassurance Without Explanation

This experience highlights a subtle but important clinical gap: reassurance alone is not the same as understanding.

Being told that nothing is wrong, without providing meaningful context or understanding into the why, can coexist with years of unanswered questions.

It was only through an incidental encounter that for me personally, a meaningful framework finally emerged.

For therapists and clients alike, recognising synesthesia is not about diagnosis or categorisation. It is about clarity, validation, and accurately understanding lived experience.

We believe therapy is not just about symptom reduction, but about making sense of how each person experiences the world, including the ways their senses, emotions, and meanings come together.

In a profession grounded in meaning-making, acknowledging perceptual differences — especially those that quietly persist beneath the surface — is not optional.

It is essential.

The image captures a close-up of an eye, emphasizing its intricate details and highlighting sight as a vital human sense.

Looking for a Therapist with Lived Experience?

Syné Collective is a Boutique Psychotherapy Practice grounded in curiosity, attunement, and deep respect for neurodiversity and lived experience in the beating heart of Sydney CBD.

Tania Grippi, who authored this pieces, is herself a Synesthete. If this article resonates with you, or raises questions about how you experience your inner or sensory world, we invite you to explore this further with Tania, or any of our Practitioners.

You can learn more about Tania Grippi on her Psychology Today profile, and book a free 15-minute Discovery Session here.