in therapy drawing a house tree person test
The House-Tree-Person drawing was extracted from an intelligence test and used to analyze someone's feelings about their environment and themselves (Niolon, 2003). Each one is to represent how the person feels and thinks about themselves in the world. After the drawings are completed, there are questions that are usually asked to get more information about the house, tree and person. Rather than asking how the child feels, they focus more on the objects that were drawn as a way to draw the focus from the individual to the object. This helps so that the child doesn't get defensive or feel they have to explain themselves to anyone about their own lives. This is why art therapy can be so therapeutic; the child can feel as though they are not being forced to answer questions about themselves rather they are talking about their drawings, which are an extension of themselves. Children have a hard time expressing their feelings with words and drawings can really help get a sense of what they see, think and feel.
Through the use of the "House-Tree-Person" exercise, the therapist is able to gather extensive knowledge of the child's true feelings. After the child draws the three pictures, the clinician can gather further information about his or her views on the world. Also, asking more specific questions to further the clinician's understanding can greatly help analyze how the child is feeling (House Tree Person, n.d.). This technique can offer detailed insight into the child's mind that he or she may not have to words to describe to begin with (Buschel & Madsen, 2008 ). It can also provide the clinician with more clues as to the presence and severity of any domestic violence along with the level of trauma resulting from that particular household. This technique can be especially helpful in treating girls who were victims of domestic violence as they are often more likely to internalize their feelings while boys act out on them (Mills & Kellington, 2011).
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In analyzing the drawings, those that are missing details, are incomplete and faint lines are often signs of depression. With regards to the house pictures, a slope of the ground level is a sign of isolation and helplessness. A very small house signifies dissatisfaction with family life while a very large house shows overwhelming feelings regarding the family. The inclusion of items such as window coverings and long sidewalks show a hesitation to reveal any personal information.
The house should be a nurturing place, too small and they may feel neglected by their family life and too big they may feel overwhelmed by it. Lines and walls represent boundaries and strength, the roof represents fantasy life and incomplete or burning roofs can mean overpowering or frightening fantasies. Windows, doors and sidewalks are how someone enters the house so they relate to openness and willingness to interact with others. Shades, shutters, bars, curtains could mean an unwillingness to reveal much about themselves (Niolon, 2003).
The tree trunk represents ego, sense of self and intactness of personality. Heavy lines to represent bark means anxiety about oneself, small trunks represent limited strength or low confidence. A tree split down the middle could mean mental illness or a fragmented personality. Limbs are the efforts our ego makes to reach out, dead branches mean emptiness and hopelessness. Leaves represents that the efforts to reach out have been successful. Research shows weeping willows are more common in depressed people (Niolon, 2003).
If the person is of the same sex, they are like you, and if they are of the opposite sex, is a person who you may not want to admit is like you. Arms are the way we reach out to the environment, open arms indicate openness, closed arms shows defensiveness and disconnected arms are powerless. Pointed fingers and balled fists may mean aggression; hidden hands or gloves can be anxiety or antisocial tendencies; drawing clowns can mean hiding face and person and robots can mean loss of emotion (Niolon, 2003).
Source: https://sites.google.com/site/arttherapywithchildren/project/house-tree-person
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