Two Drawing Tasks to Illuminate Self-Agency Representations of Children With Disruptive Behavior Problems

Abstract

This article discusses the clinical benefit of comparing and integrating responses to 2 drawing tasks based on a small study that explored self-agency representations in children with disruptive behavior problems. Qualitative analysis of the children’s free drawing and a Person Picking an Apple from a Tree (PPAT) task, as well as comparison of their verbal stories about both drawings, revealed differences in self-agency representation that could enrich clinical thinking. Because the study’s free drawings contained figures with self-agency to a greater degree than was found in the PPAT, along with more frequent self-references in the corresponding verbal narratives, future research with larger samples and greater rigor is recommended to further explore these and other findings.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Michal Bat Or

Michal Bat Or is affiliated with the Graduate School of Creative Arts Therapies at the University of Haifa, Israel.

Elias Kourkoutas

Elias Kourkoutas is a Professor and Chair of the Post Graduate Program in Special Education and Director of the Psychology and Special Education Laboratory at the University of Crete.

Maria Smyrnaki

Maria Smyrnaki is the Director of the Ariadni Counseling Center for Substance Abuse and with the University of Crete.

Hamutal Potchebutzky

Hamutal Potchebutzky is an art therapist in Israel.