Using Drawings in Assessment and Therapy

I have a book on our bookshelf left over from my college upper-level Psych days called Using Drawings in Assessment and Therapy (A Guide for Mental Health Professionals).
The basic gist of it, is to use drawings as a clinical tool to help patients express fears, traumas, fantasies, and to help professionals in the diagnostic and therapeutic processes. The book helps to explain and interpret drawings, and gives suggestions for using drawings in pscyh therapy.
It's an interesting book...a lot of it makes me roll my eyes, but it IS interesting and has some merits.
One of the most common assessments is the House-Tree-Person Assessment.

About a year ago, Casey was at our house one night and he saw the book and asked about it. So I did one of the "exercises" with him. I told him to draw a simple house, and that I would interpret it. He drew his house, and I told him not to show it to me. Based on what I knew about Casey, I said, "I bet your house has __this thing__ on it" and " Your house probably has __this item__ beside it". Casey was impressed (if I do say so myself) that I basically described many elements of his drawing before I even saw it.

Cool, huh??
Wanna play??

Here's what you need to do.
Get out a piece of paper and draw a house.
That's it. Your only directions.
Draw a house.

Do It right now.
We'll wait.



seriously.....the "assessment" is no fun, unless you do the drawing first.






--------------------

Okay, did you draw your house??

Here's what the book says about the elements of your house:

"The drawing of a house tends to elicit connections regarding the examinee's home and the interpersonal dynamics being experienced within the family setting."

A Chimney
(symbol of warm intimate relations and sometimes associated with phallic symbol of significance)

(a) absence of chimney - lacking psychological warmth or conflicts with significant male figures.
(b) overly large - overephasis on sexual concerns and/or possible exhibitionistic tendencies
(c) smoke in much profusion - inner tension

Door
(a) above baseline, without steps: interpersonal inaccessibility
(b) absence of door: extreme difficulty in allowing accessibility to others
(c) open: strong need to receive warmth from external world
(d) very large: overly dependent on others
(e) with lock or hinges: defensiveness

Fence around house: Need for emotional protection

Gutters: suspciousness

Drawn on the base of paper: basic home or intimate insecurities

Perspective, from below: Either rejection of hoe or feelings of an unattainable desirable home situation

Perspective, from above: Rejection of home situation

Roof
(a) Unidimensional (single line connecting two walls): Unimaginative or emotionally constricted
(b) Overly large: Seeks satisfaction in fantasy

Shutters
(a) closed: extreme defensiveness and withdrawal
(b) open: ability to make sensitive interpersonal adjustment

Walkway
(a) very long: lessened accessibility
(b) narrow at house, broad at end: superficially friendly

Wall (adequacy of)
directly associated to degree of ego strength

Window(s)
(a) absence of windows: hostile or withdrawing
(b) present on ground, absent from upper story: gap between reality and fantasy
(c) with curtains: reserved, controlled
(d) bare: behavior is mostly blunt and direct

-----------------------

So....did any elements of your house drawing portray you or your home life as stated in the book? Do tell!
And if you think this was fun, we can do the person-tree aspect, or other exercises again. :)