ABSTRACT
The three children in were chosen because of the rich meanings conveyed in their drawings, but it is interesting to note how differently their parents reacted to the interview and to the child's participation. The three children’s were Georgia, Harriet and Leon. Georgia was intensely disturbed by this experience, but what eventually brought her to a child psychiatrist was the fact that for the ensuing two months she kept waking up at night, screaming and crying inconsolably, referring to ghastly nightmares that she was unable to remember. Harriet's mother, Harriet, struggled with enormously complex problems of her own, and we never managed to offer effective long-term help to either of them. Harriet was offered regular counselling or therapy, which she turned down. Leon was the youngest of several children and, from a very young age, was cast in the role of helper and caretaker of her ageing mother.
