Art Therapy

HouseTreePerson (HTP)
The House-tree-person test (HTP) is a projective test designed to measure aspects of a persons personality. The test can also be used to assess brain damage and general mental functioning. y virtue of being a projective test! the results of the HTP are subjective and open to interpretation by the administrator of the e"am. HTP #as designed by $ohn uc% and #as originally based on the &oodenough scale of intellectual functioning. uc% included both 'ualitative and 'uantitative measurements of intellectual ability in the HTP ((). A )*+-page manual #as #ritten by uc% to instruct the test-giver on proper grading of the HTP! #hich is more subjective than 'uantitative. ,n contrast #ith him! -olt.n (ass published a more sophisticated approach! based on system analysis (//0A! /even-/tep 0onfiguration Analysis). Administering the Test: HTP is given to persons above the age of three and ta%es appro"imately 1*+ minutes to complete based on your level of mental functioning. 2uring the first phase! the test-ta%er is as%ed to dra# the house! tree! and person and the test-giver as%s 'uestions each picture. There are 3+ 'uestions originally designed by uc% but art therapists and trained test givers can also design their o#n 'uestions! or as% follo# up 'uestions. This phase is done #ith a crayon. 2uring the second phase of HTP! the test-ta%er dra#s the same pictures #ith a pencil or pen. Again the test-giver as%s similar 'uestions about the dra#ings. 4ote5 some mental health professionals only administer phase one or t#o and may change the #riting instrument as desired. (ariations of the test may as% the person to dra# one person of each se"! or put all dra#ings on the same page. 6"amples of follo# up 'uestions5

After the House5 7ho lives here8 ,s the occupant happy8 7hat goes on inside the house8 7hat9s it li%e at night8 2o people visit the house8 7hat else do the people in the house #ant to add to the dra#ing8 After the Tree5 7hat %ind of tree is this8 Ho# old is the tree8 7hat season is it8 Has anyone tried to cut it do#n8 7hat else gro#s nearby8 7ho #aters this tree8 Trees need sunshine to live so does it get enough sunshine8 After the Person is dra#n5 #ho is the person8 Ho# old is the person8 7hat do they li%e and disli%e doing8 Has anyone tried to hurt them8 7ho loo%s out for them8

Interpretation of results: The 'uantitative measure of intelligence for the House-tree-person has been sho#n to highly correlate #ith the 7A,/ and other #ell-established intelligence tests. The subjective analysis of the test ta%ers responses and dra#ings aims to ma%e inferences of personality traits and past e"periences. The subjective nature of this aspect of the HTP! as #ith other 'ualitative tests! has little empirical evidence to support its reliability or validity. This test! ho#ever! is still considered an accurate measure of brain damage and used in the assessment of schi:ophrenic patients also suffering from brain damage.