2. HOUSE TREE PERSON ASSESSMENT

3. CONTENT
 Developer
 History
 Introduction
 Purpose
 Range & time
 Administration
 Instruction
 Interpretation
 References

4. DEVELOPER
 Designed by John Buck
 Originally based on the Goodenough scale of intellectual
functioning

5. HISTORY
 Developed In 1948
 Updated In 1969

6. INTRODUCTION
 (freehand drawing of House, Tree, and Person) is a
technique designed to aid the clinician in obtaining
information concerning the sensitivity, maturity, and
integration of a subject's personality, and the
interaction of that personality with its environment (both
specific and general).

7. TWO-PHASED APPROACH
 The first phase is non-verbal, creative, almost
completely unstructured; the medium of expression is a
relatively primitive one, drawing.
 The second phase is verbal, appreciative, and more
formally structured; in it the subject is provided with an
opportunity to define, describe, and interpret the objects
drawn and their respective environments and to associate
concerning them.

8.  Buck included both qualitative and quantitative
measurements

9.  Projective Test
 Ambiguous
 Abstract Or Unstructured Stimuli

10. PURPOSE
 Measure aspects of a person's personality through
interpretation of drawings and responses to questions.
 Also sometimes used as part of an assessment
of brain damage overall neurological functioning.

11. RANGE & TIME
 Anyone over the age of three
 Often used with children and adolescents.
 Takes an average of 150 minutes to complete
interpretation.

12. DESCRIPTION
 60 questions originally designed by Buck
 Such as, "Is it a happy house?" and "What is the house
made of?", "About how old is that tree?" and "Is the tree
alive?............(Post drawing questioning)

13. ADMINISTRATION
 Use three pieces of plain white 8.5x11 paper
 First phase is done with a crayon.
 Second phase of HTP, the test-taker draws the same
pictures with a pencil or pen. Again the test-giver asks
similar questions about the drawings

14. INSTRUCTION
 To draw a house, a tree and then a person, without
any additional comments as to type, sized,
condition and so on
 Draw good picture as you wish but complete

15. INTERPRETATION
 Analysis of the test takers responses and drawings aims
to make inferences of personality traits and past
experiences.
 Has little empirical evidence to support
its reliability or validity.

16. QUALITATIVE INTERPRETATION
 Placement
 Unnecessary part
 Omission
 Presser of pencil
 Eraser

17. PLACEMENT
 Drawing at top shows fantasy, mania
 Drawing on the mid shows normality
 Drawing on the bottom shows depression
 Drawing on the right side shows optimistic
 Drawing on the left side shows negative thinking

18. UNNECESSARY PART
 Lack of confidence
 Touchy
 Restlessness

19. HOUSE

20.  1] Details
a] Essentials [normal drawing]
At least one door, one window, one wall, a roof, a
chimney
b] Irrelevant [e.g., shrubs, flowers, walkway

21.  2] Chimney
Symbol of warmth, intimate relations and
sometimes associated with phallic symbol of
significance.
 Absence of chimney
Lacking psychological warmth or conflicts with
significant male figures
 Overly large
overemphasis on sexual concerns and / or possible
exhibitionistic tendencies.
 Smoke in much profusion
Inner tension

22. 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

23.  4] Fence around house
Need for emotional protection
 5] Gutters
 Suspiciousness
 6] Drawn on base of paper
Basic home or intimate insecurities

24. 9] ROOF
a] One-dimensional [single line connecting two walls
Unimaginative or emotionally constricted
b] Overly large
Seeks satisfaction in fantasy
10 Shutters
a] Closed
Extremely defensiveness and withdrawal
b] Open
Ability to make sensitive interpersonal adjustments

25.  11 ]Walkway
a] Very long
Lessened accessibility
b] Narrow at house, broad at the end
Superficially friendly
 12] Wall [adequacy of]
Directly associated to degree of ego strength

26.  13] Window [s]
a] Absence of window [s]
Hostile or withdrawing
b] Present on ground, absent from upper story
Gap between reality and fantasy
c] With curtains
Reserved and controlled
d] Bare
Behavior is mostly blunt and direct

27. TREE

28.  Extremely large tree
Aggressive tendencies
 Tiny Tree
Inferior, feelings of insignificance
 Faint lines
Feelings of inadequacy, infectiveness
 Tree composed of just two lines for trunk and looped
crown
Impulsive, variable

29. 5] Exaggerated emphasis on trunk
Emotional immaturity
6] Exaggerated emphasis on crown
Inhibited emotionally, analytical
7] Exaggerated emphasis on roots
Emotional responses shallow, reasoning limited

30. 8] Scar, Knothole, Broken Branch
Associated with trauma, e.g., Accident, illness, rape
[time determination in relation to length of tree]
9] No ground line present, no roots
Repressed emotions
10] Shading, excessively dark or reinforced
Hostile defenses or aggressive behaviors

31. 12] Fine, broken lines
Overt anxiety
13] Knotholes
Sexual symbolism
a] Small and simple
Sexual assault or initial sexual experience
b] Outline reinforced
Shock impact greater

32. d] Circles inside
Experience in the past and “healing”
e] Blackened
Shame associated with experience
f] Large
Preoccupation with procreation
g] Small animal inside
Ambivalence surrounding childbearing

33.  Leaves
Cut shows aggression
 Grass
Artistic ability
 Fruits
Family and children

34. PERSON

35.  Arms
Used to change or control surrounding environment
a] Fold over chest
Hostile or suspicious
b] Held behind back
Wanting to control anger, interpersonal reluctance

36.  Legs
a] Absent
Constricted, possible castration anxiety
b] Size difference
Mixed feelings regarding independence
c] Long
Striving for autonomy
d] Short
Emotional immobility

37.  Feet
Degree of interpersonal mobility
a] Long
Striving for security or virility
b] Tiny
Dependency, blunted feelings
c] Omitted
Lack of independence

38.  Fingers
a] Long and spike like
Aggressive, hostile
b] Enclosed by loop or single dimension
Wish to suppress aggressive impulse

39.  Head
a] Large
Preoccupation with fantasy life, focus on mental
life
b] Small
Obsessive-compulsive, intellectual inadequacy
c] Back to viewer
Paranoid or schizoid tendencies

40.  Mouth
a] Overly emphasized
Immaturity, oral-aggressive
b] Very large
Orally erotic

41.  Shoulders
a] Unequal
Emotionally unstable
b] Large
Preoccupied with the perceived need for
strength
c] Squared
Overly defended, hostile towards others

42.  Lips And Hairs
Sexual desires
 Designing Dresses
Obsessive compulsive
 Absence Of Ears
Hallucination or any medical problem with him

43. REFERENCES
 Groth-Marnat, Gary. Handbook of Psychological
Assessment. 3rd edition. New York: John Wiley and
Sons, 1997.
 Kline, Paul. The Handbook of Psychological
Testing. New York: Routledge, 1999.
 Reynolds, Cecil R. Comprehensive Clinical Psychology
Volume 4: Assessment. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1998.

44.  Richard Niolon, Ph.D., Chicago School of Professional
Psychology, Spring 2003
 House tree person technique revised manual john buck

45. ANY QUESTION