Abstract
In assessment of the emotional adjustment of children the psychodynamic relations with the parents, siblings and other significant persons in the environment requires careful attention and often provides the right cue for understanding psychosomatic disorders or the child's reaction to physical illnesses. A very simple test for assessment of family dynamics was developed by the author a few years ago and given intensive trial during the last year. The examiner draws schematically all the members of the child's family and then asks the child to place them in two identical houses, also drawn by the examiner. The child's selection of the family members for “his” house or rejection to the “other” house, the order of such selections, the time necessary for a decision and the child's comments are observed. In the next stage of testing the child is asked to transfer the individuals from the “other” house to “his” and vice versa. The order of selection is again observed. Further modifications of this test were also tried.
In many cases it has been found that this comparatively simple procedure enables family dynamics to be revealed through extensive social history and which were otherwise available only through lengthy testing with other projected techniques. The findings on our “two houses test” were also of value in planning for dynamic psychotherapy, play therapy, and otehr treatment procedures.