The Importance of a Controlled Environment

Last weekend my niece and nephew visited me.   My niece is 8 and my nephew is 12. So I quickly got out the paper and pencils and told them to go at it! "Draw me a house, a tree, the sun, a snake, a path, and an ax please!" "That's easy!" -- harmonious response, and then they got to it.  As I went into the kitchen and got to working on my patented triple-chocolate-AWE-SUM-O-and more hot chocolate with Oreos and whipped cream, I couldn't wait to see their drawings.  On the way back from the kitchen to the living room, I had to stop myself from drinking (or is that eating?) their rewards. (I made it, they got their goodies -- don't worry!)  Well, here are the results: Niece:

Nephew:

Dammit! They copied each other!  The HTP and the extended HTP are not group efforts.  Each person must draw his/her drawing in"near isolation" free from outside influences or distractions.  Sometimes this works with small kids -- even in a living room with a bunch of people.    But usually it doesn't.  I was not clear in my instructions. Not only did they copy each other in "the big picture", but even in the smallest details -- both suns have sunglasses!  The placement of everything is exactly the same, the size and shape of everything -- exactly the same!  With the one exception of my nephew placing the sun a tad bit farther from the house than my niece, both drawings are carbon copies. QUICK ANALYSIS All is not lost, despite the copying, we can see a nice big HAPPY sun, indicating a strong positive bond to their father. TWO TREES? This is actually common. Father AND Mother, or two mothers? How about: mother and step-mother? The snake is on the chopping block! You will see this quite often with children. Normally the snake represents sexuality, but what kind of "sexuality" can we expect from an 8 and a 12 year old? Frequently the kids will see the snake as an "evil" and it must be killed. No better way than the ax and the tree stump! Notice once again, although a person was not required, they drew one anyway. More to come in the book my friends! Stay tuned, we are going live in June / July! See you in therapy, Eric on behalf of Siggy