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Abstract
The article in an investigation of spontaneous drawings from 15 psychotic children in schoolage during long-term individual psychotherapy. The results are considered in the context of especially Mahler's phases of development
SUMMARY
Emotional attitudes, reflected in human figure drawings and concerning child psychotic contact disorders are described. Descriptions are based on a collection of spontaneous drawings from 15 psychotic children. Drawings were performed during long-term individual psychotherapy under residential treatment.
Seemingly specific graphic emotional indicators are called: 1. withdrawal, 2. containment, 3. persecution, 4. body-part contact. These graphic phenomena are related to psychodynamic conceptions and theories of childhood psychoses and of normal development. They may be of diagnostic value as a supplement in a broad diagnostic system, since there is no evidence of more mature attitudes in the material. “Persecution” seems to be a predominant attitude, possibly due to the fact that drawings were performed during psychotherapy. As for treatment the need of differentiated contact-attitudes is stressed in consideration of the described regressive levels.