AMITY INSTITUTE OF PSYCHOLOGY

AND ALLIED SCIENCES

 7 Semester
TH

    PSYC641 Art Therapies ASSIGNMENT  

Submitted by

ARUSHI SINGH

 Enrollment No- A0423417001

B.A + M.A CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY (DUAL DEGREE)

Batch 2017-2021, Section-A

                                               Submitted to

   Faculty Name      :   Ms Tamanna Saxena

 House-Tree-Person (HTP)

John Buck, 1948

The House-Tree-Person (HTP) is a projective technique developed by John Buck, which was
originally an outgrowth of the Goodenough (Florence Goodenough) scale utilized to assess
intellectual functioning in an individual. The HTP was developed in 1948, and updated in
1969. Buck believed that through drawings, individuals objectified unconscious difficulties
by sketching the inner image of primary process. In the HTP, the patient is asked to draw a
house, a tree, and a person, and these drawings provide a measure of self-perceptions and
attitudes. As with other projective tests, it has flexible and subjective administration and
interpretation. The primary purpose of the HTP is to measure aspects of a person's personality
through interpretation of drawings and responses to questions. It is one of the robust tests to
assess psychopathology.

It can be taken by anyone who is 3 years old or above. The test consumes around 150
minutes. The person taking the test is first asked to draw, and then is later questioned based
on his/her illustration. Usually, the first phase of drawing is coloured using crayons, and then
pencil is used for the next phase.

Subject’s Name: Uday Singh

Age: 17 years old
Civil Status: Single
Sex: Male
Education: Higher Secondary School (+1 level)

ADMINISTRATION

The subject is asked to use a crayon to draw pictures, respectively, of a house, a tree, and a
person. Each drawing is done on a separate piece of paper and the subject is asked to draw as
accurately as possible.

INSTRUCTIONS

HOUSE- “Here I want you to draw a house as good as you can.”

TREE- “Here I want you to draw a tree as good as you can.”

PERSON- “I want you to draw a person as well as you can.”

Upon completion of the drawings, subject is asked questions about the drawings. There are a
total of 60 questions that are asked.
Personality Evaluation

House Interpretation
Mood- Extremely large and dominating Overly restrictive, and controlling
house
Walls- Shabbily drawn; no fine lines Moderate ego strength
Roof- Large roof with no windows on it Involved with an inner world fantasy
Doors and Windows- Large bolted-up front possibly suspicious
door and many closed windows
Chimney- Missing chimney Passivity or a lack of psychological warmth
in a subject’s home life.
Accessories of the house-
1. Pathway- Wide pathway that leads 1. Subject is accessible, open, and
directly to the front door direct
2. Fences- Presence of Fences
3. Staircase- Presence of a 3- way 2. Shows defensiveness.

staircase 3. Strong needs to exercise a high

degree of structure over his
environment

Tree Interpretation
Mood- Tall, full, open, and integrated Wish to be dominant; good overall
relationship with the environment
Trunk- shading on the trunk; lines are Sense of vulnerability, anxiety, and
heavily drawn; scars on trunk insecurity; presence of traumatic event
Branches- lots of long and twisted branches Subject is ambitious and putting more effort
moving upward in “reaching” for opportunities
Roots- small and ineffective Subject is having a difficult time “getting a
grip” on life
Leaves- presence of lots of healthy green Successfully connecting with others
leaves
 Person Interpretation
Size- Person drawn of same gender; Clear gender identity; Moderate level of
moderately large drawing leaning towards self-esteem
left side of the page
Arms- Open arms inclination to connect with others;
welcoming nature
Hands- Pointed fingers Presence of aggression
Face-
1. Mouth- closed, tight mouth with 1. Denial of needs with some amount
straight lines drawn for lips of passive verbal aggression

2. Beard present 2. Male dominance

3. Ears present 3. Willing to take advice from others

Legs and feet- straight, long legs with large Need for security; desire to be independent
feet
Genitalia and breasts not drawn Sexual discomfort

Summary of Findings

The subject has an overly restrictive and controlling nature which is due to him having a
dominant personality type so there is a need to control everything happening around him. He
has a moderate ego strength and involved with an inner fantasy world. He has a vision that he
has set himself and he likes to devour in that vision even if that cannot exactly work out in
reality therefore, he likes to indulge in wishful thinking and daydreaming. He is a doubtful
person as well as he is always under the idea of suspicion regarding everything, for example-
whenever he has to make a decision, he will review all the pros and cons in an extensive
manner and will end up in having doubts about all the available options at the end. His family
members are more focused on his career and future prospects rather than his efforts so there
is a lack of psychological warmth in his home life. The subject is quite direct and open in
what he wants to do and how he wants to do but often gets confused in his approach due to
him being a little defensive because of all the suspicions he has. There is a strong need to
exercise a high degree of structure over his environment which is because of the above said
reasons as well. All this has led to him being vulnerable at times and him having a sense of
insecurity and anxiety which at times effect his overall mental health. One specific traumatic
event that has had a severe impact on him is the event of him shifting from the school in
which he studied since childhood till 10 th standard to a new school in his 11 th standard
because of it being a school in Delhi and the perks of it. It was the first major decision he
ever made in his life and he was quite unsure about everything. COVID 19 hit the country
and it became even more stressful for him to adjust in his new school with new teachers
without ever being there physically and meeting them respectively. He wasn’t able to connect
with anything so he became overly anxious about it. This also reinforced his aggression or
rather passive verbal aggression. This is also why he has been having trouble getting a grip in
his life. Although he is ambitious and is trying to put forward more efforts in reaching for
every opportunity he gets and is ready to hear people’s advices. The subject has a clear
gender identity but with a slight sexual discomfort which can be explained by the fact that
certain cultural barriers exist in his community. He also has moderate level of self-esteem. He
has an inclination to connect with others with a welcoming nature to compensate for the lack
of warmth he gets in his home life.