Types of Art Therapy Assessments
This type of art therapy assessment gathers information from several sources about one client.
(Example: DDS)
Clinical Interview
When the artwork seems hesitant to reveal the self, very controlled, restrictive color, restricted affect, or if the client often refuses to draw, it can be indicative of this eating disorder
Anorexia
Author of "Art as a Way of Knowing", this art therapist used Jungian and Humanist Ideas to explore art making as a psycho-spiritual path, and advocated for a "return to the studio"
Pat Allen
Aimed towards children & adolescents with disabilities and communication difficulties, this assessment was created by Donna Betts in order to test perception, memory, and other cognitive capacities.
Face Stimulus Assessment (FSA)
This art therapy assessment, created by Hanna Kwiatkowska, was made to help the family and art therapist understand the family system
Family Art Evaluation
These are three early art therapy instruments that served as the foundation for art therapy assessments.
1) the Ulman Personality Assesment Procedure (UPAP), developed by Elinor Ulman
2) *the Family Art Evaluation, developed by Hanna Kwiatkowska
3) Rawley Silver's tests
When the artwork indicates distorted body parts, bizarre facial expressions, geometric patterns, unusual coloring, fragmentation, disturbed spatial orientation, regression, excessive writing, or themes of depersonalization, it can be indicative of this: ______.
Schizophrenia
Known for using the Open Art Assessment, this theorist describes the "framework for freedom", as a balance between structure and looseness in art therapy sessions.
She is a psychoanalytic art therapist.
Judith Rubin
This art therapy assessment was created by Ronald E. Haws & Sherry J. Lyons.
It was created in order to serve as a projective assessment that provides insight into a person's functioning, perception of their environment as a stable place, and perception of movement or stagnancy.
Bridge Drawing
While Viktor Lowenfeld's work inspired this assessment, Linda Gantt and Carmello Tabone adapted it in order to make it more researchable and accurate
Person Picking an Apple from a Tree (PPAT)
This type of art therapy assessment identifies indicators of development.
(Examples: CATA, Face Stimulus Assessment, HTP, LECATA, PPAT, SDT)
Cognitive/Neuropsychological and Developmental Evaluation
If the artist often uses somber or dark colors, lack of color overall, lack of detail, evident low energy, obstacles, or showcases suicidal themes or signs of death, it may be indicative of this
Depression
Placing a strong emphasis on sublimation through art, this art therapist wrote, "We must distinguish sublimation from catharsis, from simple displacement, and from highly sexualized and/or aggressively charged imagery that we encounter in the artwork of psychotics"
Edith Kramer
Heavily influenced by Jung, Michael J. Hanes created this assessment to provide insights into a person's sense of direction, goals, and overall life journey.
Road Drawing
This art therapy assessment, created by Donna H. Kaiser & Sarah Deaver, helps the art therapist assess attachment security and home life of a client.
Bird's Nest Drawing (BND)
This type of art therapy assessment evaluates dynamics for couples, families, and groups.
(Examples: BND, and Kinetic Family Drawings)
Assessment of Relationship Dynamics
When the artwork lacks organization and balance, showcases themes of splitting, emptiness, intense emotions, negative self-image, or a prominence of black & red, it may be indicative of this personality disorder
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)
Janie Rhyne
This assessment, created by Myra Levick, measures cognitive functioning and emotional functioning through evaluating the participant's cognitive, artistic, psychosexual, and defense mechanisms.
Levick Emotional and Cognitive Evaluation and Assessment Method (LECATA)
This art therapy assessment (and scale) was created by Linda Gantt in order to improve the researchability and diagnostic elements of art therapy assessment.
Formal Elements Art Therapy Scale (FEATS)
This type of art therapy assessment collects information to use for treatment planning and developing therapeutic goals.
(Examples: Bridge Drawing, BATA, MARI, Road Drawing)
Tools that Address Various Realms of Treatment
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
This theorist saw releasing the repressed material through imagery as curative, in a cathartic & communicative sense. She called her work "dynamically oriented art therapy", and felt the only valid meaning of anyone's art came from the person
Inspired by the work of Jean Piaget, Rawley Silver created this assessment in order to bypass verbal language and to create a leave playing field for all participants. It assess sequential, spatial, and association concepts.
Silver Drawing Test (SDT)
Mandala Assessment Research Instrument (MARI)