How to Interpret the House-Tree-Person Test

The house-tree-person test can be an effective way to evaluate children, people with brain damage and people with a limited ability to communicate for personality disorders. A projective personality test, the house-tree-person test requires the test taker to draw a house, a tree and a person. The test is then used as a measure of self-perception, outlook and sometimes brain damage. Interpretations of the test are subjective, and based loosely on a set of basic principles.

Things You'll Need

• Paper
• Pencil

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Instructions

House Interpretations

• 1

  Notice the size of the house: a small house represents renunciation of family life, while a large house means the person is overwhelmed by his family.

• 2

  Observe the walls of the house: weak lines represent fragility in the ego, while strong lines mean the need to fortify boundaries.

• 3

  Determine the amount of detail put into the roof: the more detail, the more the person concentrates on fantasies, while an incomplete roof means evading formidable ideas.

• 4

  Note the inclusion of windows, doors and sidewalks, which indicate openness to interacting with other people.

• 5

  Discern the inclusion of bushes, shades, shutters, bars and curtains, which indicate a person's hesitation to open himself to others.

Tree Interpretations

• 6

  Notice the size of the trunk: a small trunk represents a weak ego, while a large trunk means a larger ego.

• 7

  Observe whether the trunk is split in half, which indicates a split personality.

• 8

  Determine what kind of limbs were drawn: detached or small branches represent a difficulty communicating with others, big branches mean connecting with others too much, pointy branches indicate hostility and dead branches represent desolation.

• 9

  Note whether leaves are included: drawing leaves represents successfully connecting with others, while no leaves means emptiness and detached leaves indicates a lack of nurturance.

• 10

  Discern the details of the roots of the tree: while normal roots represent a grounded person, a lack of roots means instability, exaggerated roots indicate an obsession with examining reality and dead roots represent feeling completely removed from reality.

Person Interpretations

• 11

  Notice the position of the arms: open arms represent an inclination to connect with others, closed arms mean hostility and disconnected arms indicate defenselessness.

• 12

  Observe the position of the hands: pointed fingers and balled fists represent hostility, while hidden or gloved hands mean antisocial tendencies.

• 13

  Note the details of the legs and feet: figures cut off at the bottom of the paper represent powerlessness, while both large and small feet mean the need for greater stability.

• 14

  Determine the details of the mouth: an open or large mouth represents dependence, a closed mouth means rejection of needs and a slash mouth or teeth indicate verbal hostility.

• 15

  Discern how detailed the face is: the use of more facial details indicates a person's need to portray himself in an acceptable way.