Projective Drawings

I know that most school psychologists these days have been told that projective tests have poor validity and reliability, but I still believe that they can be part of a battery of tests, observations, and interviews, to help understand children and adolescents (e.g., their attitudes, relationships, desires, conflicts, etc.).  I like the Kinetic Drawing System because it examines the student's perceptions about him/herself in relation to the world, both at home with family, and at school with his/her teacher and peers.  Just make sure you don't take any one sign as a definite indicator of something.  It is best to cross-reference an indicator with similar ones across different methods of assessment (e.g., other drawings, interviews, observations, self-reports, etc.).  The idea is to look for consistent response patterns across different measures.  Drawings are also a great way for children to start an assessment because they are often natural and fun.  They can give you clues to explore through interviewing, observations, and other instruments.  Of course, the bottom line is trying to understand a student so that you can devise an effective intervention to overcome referred problems.  You can purchase the Kinetic Drawing System and supporting forms at the following URL: Kinetic Drawing System