House-Tree-Person Projective Technique: A Validation of its Use in Occupational Therapy

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if the House-Tree-Person Projective Technique (H-T-P) was a valid and efficient method for identifying a problem list for occupational therapy (OT) treatment. In order to do this, a comparative study using blinded procedures was carried out. Forty acute psychiatric clients were administered the H-T-P by a trained research officer who knew nothing about the clients. They were also given an OT assessment by their therapist and a nursing evaluation by their assigned nurse. In each case, a problem list was generated. These were compared for percentage agreement between problems, percentage of problems accounted for and the length of time required to generate the various lists. The percentage agreement between H-T-P and Nursing and between H-T-P and OT generated problem lists was 32.88 and 47.18, respectively. Percentage of problems accounted for was 66.42 and 75.19, respectively. The differences were discussed. The time required to administer the H-T-P was considerably less than administration time for the traditional occupational therapy assessment. In conclusion, the H-T-P was found to be a valuable screening tool.

Art as Therapy within Occupational Therapy in Mental Health Settings: A Review of the Literature

“…The research articles covered a diverse range of topics from test instruments to promoting options and choices for clients. The House-Tree-Person (H-T-P) test, which is an instrument with a well-standardised system of administration, has been examined with an acute psychiatric inpatient popUlation (Polatajko and Kaiserman 1986). The purpose of this study was to determine if the H-T•P test was a valid and efficient method for identifying a problem list for occupational therapy.…”

“…The H-T•P data were used to develop an occupational therapy problem list and to select occupational therapy strategies. Polatajko and Kaiserman (1986) suggested that the H-T-P was a valuable screening tool for use in an acute care psychiatric setting where the occupational therapist is required to come to an early decision regarding client inteNention. In addition, they found that therapists reported gaining greater insight into their clients' problems.…”

“…In addition, they found that therapists reported gaining greater insight into their clients' problems. Polatajko and Kaiserman (1986) concluded that the H-T-P was a more efficient method of evaluation than the occupational therapy assessment which consisted of three parts, that is, inteNiew, concrete task (tile trivet) and abstract task (collage). Castilla and Klyczek (1993) examined the Kinetic Person Drawing (KPD) task of the Bay Area Functional Performance Evaluation (BAFPE) in an adult psychiatric day treatment programme.…”

Pro-Motion: A Positive Way Forward for Clients with Severe and Enduring Mental Health Problems Living in the Community, Part 2

“…Although it was decided to have a less structured approach, the decision was taken to make further use of projective techniques because client feedback had shown these to be very useful. The usefulness of projective techniques in therapy has been cited previously (Liebermann 1986, Polatajko andKaiserman 1986). The decision was made to keep the staffing the same as in the previous group to provide continuity.…”

“…Individual relationships and family dynamics were areas identified for further work. Projective techniques have again been employed (Polatajko and Kaiserman 1986), together with sociodrama exercises Phillips 1977, 1982). As the occupational therapist had done some postgraduate training in the use of a wide range of therapeutic techniques, she was able to employ these skills in taking the group further.…”