ABSTRACT
Clinicians who work with children and adolescents, in particular, often use drawings during their assessment questions. This chapter explores the common drawing directives, as well as instructions from clinical practice that seem to add exponentially to an intake interview or testing session. Although there remains controversy for the clinical uses of drawing as a projective tool, there is growing evidence to support their introduction as a tool to facilitate communication. In everyday clinical practice, drawings and other nonverbal procedures have been shown to gain a special place of importance in this information-gathering process. A less complicated procedure to address the family's structure and values is to request the drawing of a family shield. The introduction of drawing directives into the clinical assessment and psychological testing certainly usurps any preconceived tension that clients may produce through their resistance.
