The Human Figure Drawing: A Survey of Art Therapists
Graduation Date
Fall 2009
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Document Form
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy
Degree Granting Institution
Notre Dame de Namur University
Program Name
Art Therapy
Dean
Arnell Etherington, PhD, MFT, ATR-BC
First Reader
Laury Rappaport, PhD, ATR-BC
Second Reader
Joanna Wallace, MA, MS, LMFT, ATR-BC
Abstract
The purpose of this research was to gain insight into why the art therapy literature on the Human Figure Drawing (HFD) and Draw-A-Person test (DAP) was disproportionate to the mainstream psychological literature on the HFD and DAP. This research study utilized an internet survey to poll art therapists in the United States. Data was gathered from art therapists in order to assess if and how they use the HFD and DAP in their practice. The survey results established that most participants considered themselves familiar with the HFD and DAP assessments. The results ascertained that only a minority of participants regarded the HFD as a valid and reliable assessment. In contrast, the majority of participants believed the DAP was a valid and reliable assessment. The results of this survey determined that most of the participants do not currently use either the HFD or DAP assessments with clients (55 out of 81 participants).