136 • Introduction to Art Therapy
rather because they are assumed to tap significant symbolic issues. A bridge, for example,
can represent connections and transitions. The added instructions to indicate the direc-
tion of travel by an arrow, and to show where the artist might be with a dot, further amplify
the information.
Many projective themes have been proposed by art therapists, such as a rainbow
(Shoemaker), a rosebush (Allan, 1988), or a road (Hanes, 1997)—each with a rationale.
Noting that abused children often drew inclement weather, Trudy Manning^10 theorized that
drawing A Favorite Kind of Day (AFKD) would reflect how a child viewed his interpersonal
environment. She also designed and validated rating scales, using measures of weather, size,
and movement.
Creative Analysis, the elaborate system developed by psychologist Ernest Zierer and his
art therapist wife Edith (Figure 6.13), was practiced at Hillside Hospital from 1943 to 1967.
For assessment, they used “a battery of therapeutic painting tests which are structured but
not explicitly directive of the patient’s painting activity.”^11 The sequence was flexible and
determined by each individual’s needs. The initial diagnosis was arrived at by making a
record of specific elements in the artwork, and creating what they called a “psychogram.”
They devised a similarly visual way to represent progress over time, measuring the degree of
color integration in a patient’s artwork, and then recording their observations in what they
called an “integration graph” (DVD 6.11).
Art Assessment Batteries: Individuals
A battery—a series of tasks in a prescribed order—is the norm for diagnostic interviews
in psychology. Hammer, the most vocal proponent of projective drawings, recommends
a drawing battery. Indeed, most experienced clinicians agree that a single product—like a
Figure 6.13 Edith Zierer, creative analysis.