Clinical and therapeutic uses of children’s drawings

Children’s drawings have a long history of use in clinical settings to aid diagnoses and screen for personality factors (Machover, 1949; Koppitz, 1968). However as pointed out by Bekhit, Thomas and Jolley (2005) caution is required if children’s drawings are to be used to provide a diagnosis as often the instruments used have little support for their reliability or validity. Drawing is used as a therapeutic tool for which there is growing evidence to support the beneficial role it can play alongside other forms of therapy (Case & Dalley, 2007; Warren, 2008). However caution is still urged when using drawings in a therapeutic context, again specifically in terms of using them to provide an indication of an individual’s personality or intelligence (Neale & Rosal, 1993; Wilcock, Imuta & Hayne, 2008).

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