House Tree Person

House, Tree, Person (HTP)
Reference: Buck, John N. (1949). The H-T-P Technique. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 5, 37-74.
Purpose: This projective assessment may provide information on personality characteristics and interpersonal interactions.
Ages: No age limit is noted.
Materials: (6) blank, white sheets of 7”x8 ½” paper, several #2 lead pencils, and set of crayons including red, green, blue yellow, brown, black, purple, and orange; a stopwatch is recommended
Administration: For the HOUSE drawing, the paper is placed horizontally, with the word, “HOUSE,” written at the top of the page. For the TREE and PERSON drawings, the paper is placed vertically and labeled accordingly. The directive goes as follows: “Take one of these pencils, please. I want you to draw me as good a picture of a house as you can. You may draw any kind of house you wish, it is entirely up to you. You may erase as much as you like, it will not be counted against you. In addition, you may take as long as you wish, just draw me as good a house as you can.”
The same essential directive is then given for the TREE drawing, and then again for the PERSON drawing.
The stopwatch is used to monitor the amount of time used by the client for each drawing. There is no time limit.
Inquiry: Post Drawing Inquiry consists of 22 questions and gives the artist an opportunity to discuss, describe, and explain the pictures drawn.
HOUSE
Is it real or imaginary?
Is it your house or someone else’s?
Is it positive or negative?
Would you like to own this house?
Who lives in this house?
Does the house look close or far away?
What’s the weather like in the picture?
What does the house need most?
Where is the house located?
TREE:
What kind of tree?
What is the age of the tree?
What season is it?
Where is the tree located?
What does it need most?
If you were in the picture, where would you be?
PERSON:
Is this person real or imaginary?
Is this person a male or female?
What is the age of person in drawing?
What is this person like? (personality characteristics)
What does the person in the drawing like most/least about himself/herself? (favorite things)
Would you like to know this person?
*Ask all questions for both persons drawn.
After 2nd drawing: If these two met, what would happen?

Interpretation: No one sign is conclusive of anything. Look at the whole picture that emerges from the HTP. Also, consider the answers to PDI questions. Presence or absence of emotional indicators will allude to maladaptive or healthy adjusting. The evaluator will get an overall impression of how the artist is coping. The evaluator will consider Graphomotor Factors, General Projective Drawing Factors, and the specific suggested findings regarding House, Tree, and Person Drawings.
Graphomotor Factors include erasing, placement, pressure, size, stroke, line, and shading.
General Projective Drawing Factors include detailing, distortions, disproportions, omissions, edge of paper, ground line treatment, midline emphasis, symmetry, transparencies, miscellaneous factors, such as clouds, spontaneously drawn sun, etc.
Considerations specific to House, Tree, and Person Drawings:
Generally, the house is thought of as a self-portrait representing how the artist perceives the quality of his/her relationships, especially the relationship with his/her mother. The house is representative of the person’s ego strength and ego boundaries. Furthermore, the top of the house is thought to represent the person’s fantasy life; the basement, the person’s unconscious; and the first floor, reality. Buck’s essential House features include 1 door, 1 window, a roof, and a chimney.
The tree is thought be a self-reflection and a representation of the artist’s intrapersonal relationship. Here, the roots are representative of the unconscious; the trunk, ego strength; the crown, fantasy; and the branches, how the person interacts with his/her environment. How satisfied one is with his/her environment is related to the whole depiction of the tree. Bucks’s essential Tree features include a trunk and at least 1 branch.
The person drawing (drawn twice) represents his/her interpersonal relationships, and may reflect transference to mother and father. Buck’s essential Person features include a head, a trunk, 2 legs, 2 arms, 2 eyes, a nose, a mouth, and 2 ears.
Strengths: The HTP is an in-depth projective assessment with many factors that combine to create an impression for the evaluator. As opposed to many assessments which only provide one drawing from which to draw conclusions, the HTP provides four drawings. An extensive PDI is also included, which provides greater depth and insight into the drawings.
Limitations: Because of the in-depth nature of this assessment, it may difficult to complete in one session. The evaluator must also consider the fatigue factor when requesting that a person complete the HTP, especially if the artist is a child, ill, or emotionally exhausted. If the evaluator uses a stopwatch as suggested, the client may feel rushed or anxious.
Completing a written HTP evaluation is also very time-consuming for the evaluator.
Reflection: This assessment provides a great amount of useful information about the artist. I especially like the PDI questions because a more realistic picture is likely to emerge. It is a little lengthy, so I might try completing the assessment in more than one session to lessen fatigue. I probably would not use a stopwatch and would change the administration language a bit to sound less intimidating to create a more caring, open, and comfortable environment.