Art Therapy Evaluation Tools
There are a variety of art-based assessments that are used clinically and in research. Some of these assessments are listed below. Please be aware that these assessments should be administered only by art therapists or professionals who have received specific education in how to administer them. For information on training in each assessment, please refer to the contact name provided.
The Research Committee is seeking information about published and unpublished studies (Paper Presentations, Masters' theses, Doctoral Dissertations) on all the instruments currently in use or being developed. Please contact Donna Betts if you have information you would like to contribute.
Please click here to view The Arrington Visual Preference Test (AVPT)
BELIEF ART THERAPY ASSESSMENT (BATA)
Horovitz, E.G. (2002). Rochester, NY: Julia Production, 6-minute film: Designed by Dr. Ellen Horovitz, allows the viewer to glean an understanding of how to conduct the BATA both as an administrant and clinician. The videos take the guesswork out of what materials to use and how to work with thus projective assessment battery. Approximately 6 minutes in length. Available in CD-ROM or VHS - $35 (US)
To order: send check or money order made out to Dr. Ellen Horovitz. Please add $3.00 for shipping and handling. New York State residents add 8% sales tax. Allow two weeks for delivery.
Mail to: Dr. Ellen G. Horovitz, ATR-BC, c/o Julia Productions, 28 Laureldale Drive, Pittsford, NY USA 14534
COGNITIVE ART THERAPY ASSESSMENT (CATA)
Horovitz, E.G. (2002). Rochester, NY: Julia Production, 6-minute film: Designed by Dr. Ellen Horovitz, allows the viewer to glean an understanding of how to conduct the CATA both as an administrant and clinician. The videos take the guesswork out of what materials to use and how to work with thus projective assessment battery. Approximately 6 minutes in length. Available in CD-ROM or VHS - $35 (US)
To order: send check or money order made out to Dr. Ellen Horovitz. Please add $3.00 for shipping and handling. New York State residents add 8% sales tax. Allow two weeks for delivery.
Mail to: Dr. Ellen G. Horovitz, ATR-BC, c/o Julia Productions, 28 Laureldale Drive, Pittsford, NY USA 14534
THE DIAGNOSTIC DRAWING SERIES (DDS)
For information regarding the DDS and requests for training, contact: Barry M. Cohen, ATR-BC
Clinician/Researcher's 's Packet : $20. Includes: Handbook, Drawing Inquiry, Rating Guide, Resource List, Style Guide, How to write up an evaluation, researcher number, Master List, sample release form, and Drawing Analysis Form. Basic DDS instructions in Dutch, French, German, Japanese, or Spanish available upon request; other language translations sought.
Please send packet orders to: DDS Network, P.O. Box 9853, Alexandria, Virginia, USA 22304. US residents, please allow six weeks to receive your order. Please make cheques payable to: Barry M. Cohen. Sorry, our banking system makes it prohibitive to accept any currency other than US dollars. If you live overseas and are ordering items that are not free, please send a money order in US dollars or the equivalent in international postal orders. Thank you! Your order helps defray costs, including the DDS Research Award and the DDS Archive.
The DDS Archives is housed in the metropolitan Washington, DC area, and is available by appointment to students and professionals seeking to do research and/or publish papers involving the DDS. The DDS Research Award ($300) is made annually, pending qualified submissions. DDS supervision, in person or online, is also available. For further information, contact Barry M. Cohen.
THE SILVER DRAWING TEST AND DRAW A STORY (SDT and DAS)
For information regarding the SDT and DAS, contact Rawley Silver, Ed.D., ATR-BC, HLM. rawled@aol.com or www.rawleysilver.com.
A new book, Identifying Risks for Aggression and Depression Through Metaphors, published in 2010, proposes that responses to the Drawing from Imagination task in the DAS and SDT assessments tend to be metaphors that can serve as a first step in identifying children, adolescents, and adults at risk for harming others or themselves. Respondents tend to perceive the same stimulus-drawings differently. They also tend to represent the subjects they choose as metaphors for themselves and others. Responses are assessed for their emotional content and self-images, and if they suggest humorous intent, their use of humor, using rating scales that range from strongly negative, such as suicidal or homicidal fantasies, scored 1 point; to strongly positive, such as caring relationships or playful humor (5 points). This book also reviews previous studies of reliability and validity, procedures, and findings. It includes scored examples of metaphorical responses, as well as rating scales and a sample test booklet. $25.00
ISBN: 0-9633740-28 Purple Finch Press 109 Warwick Rd, Dewitt, NY. 13214 Phone (315) 445 8087
or email nbenson@twcny.rr.com
The Silver Drawing Test and Draw a Story, Assessing Depression, Aggression, and Cognitive Skills, published in 2007 by Routledge, N.Y.and Taylor & Francis, U.K.is the 5th edition of the SDT, and the 4th edition of DAS. These evaluation tools use stimulus drawings to elicit responses that provide access to thoughts, feelings, and fantasies. They are also used as pre- and post-tests to assess changes in emotional states and cognitive skills. This book includes quantitative and qualitative findings including reliability and validity, normative data, developmental techniques, outcome studies, responses by children, adolescents, and adults in clinical and non-clinical settings, and the use of these assessments by practitioners in the USA, as well as Russia, Thailand, Brazil, Australia, and Turkey.The Appendices include testing materials and scoring forms for personal use.
The SDT uses Predictive Drawing and Drawing from Observation to assess concepts of space and sequential order, as well as Drawing from Imagination to assess concepts of class inclusion, the three concepts said to be fundamental in mathematics, reading, and everyday life (Piaget). DAS includes techniques to screen for masked depression and reactive or predatory aggression that may lead to violence in schools and suicide among students.
THE FACE STIMULUS ASSESSMENT (FSA)
For information regarding the FSA and current research, contact: Donna J. Betts, PhD, ATR-BC or visit www.art-therapy.us/FSA.htm.
The FSA was developed from 1998-2000 and was presented at the 31st Annual AATA conference in Albuquerque, NM, November 2001, as a paper entitled: "Projective Drawing Research: Assessing the Abilities of Children and Adolescents with Multiple Disabilities."
The FSA needs to be tested for reliability and validity, and a rating scale has yet to be developed, so art therapists are encouraged to conduct research on this assessment tool.
Although the tool was originally designed for use with clients who have communication disorders and are non-verbal, it is also applicable for use with clients of all age groups and cultural backgrounds.
Clinician's Packet: $20. Includes: Assessment Templates (Adobe PDF file), FSA Administration & Rating Guidelines, Reference List.
Researcher's Packet: $20. Includes: Assessment Templates (Adobe PDF file), FSA Administration & Rating Guidelines, Reference List, researcher number, sample informed consent form.
Please send orders to: Donna Betts, 728 Beard Street, Tallahassee, FL 32303. The packet is sent via email.
Reference: Betts, D. J. (2003). Developing a projective drawing test: Experiences with the Face Stimulus Assessment (FSA). Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, 20(2), 77-82.
THE LEVICK EMOTIONAL AND COGNITIVE ART THERAPY ASSESSMENT (LECATA)
For information regarding the LECATA and current research, contact: Myra F. Levick, PhD, ATR-BC, HLM, 21675 Cypress Rd. 15G, Boca Raton, FL 33433, (561) 482-0114, Web site: http://www.childrenatrisk.biz
The LECATA was developed in 1986 at the request of Janet Bush, then Director of the Miami-Dade Clinical Art Therapy Program for Exceptional Children. It is based on the original work described in Myra Levick's text, They could not talk and so they drew: Children's styles of coping and thinking and was copyrighted in 1989.
The LECATA has been revised twice, most recently in 2000.
In 1998, Dr. Levick's research proposal to norm the test was accepted in the School District of Palm Beach County and to date 331 typical children, grades k-6th grade have been tested and approximately 200 scored. Carmen Drew is testing a pre-k population in Texas and it is hoped that this data analysis will be completed by 2002.
Collaboration with others collecting drawings from typical children is welcome.
THE PERSON PICKING AN APPLE FROM A TREE (PPAT) ASSESSMENT
For information regarding the PPAT, contact: Linda Gantt, PhD, ATR-BC
PPAT Rating Manual: The Formal Elements Art Therapy Scale (FEATS) copyright 1997by Linda Gantt, PhD, ATR-BC, & Carmello Tabone, MA, ATR
The FEATS scales rate on 14 different pictorial elements of the PPAT.
Also available: teaching cards, trauma treatment manual, video. contact Gargoyle Press
THE ULMAN PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT PROCEDURE (UPAP)
For information regarding the UPAP and requests for training, contact: Dr. Gladys Agell, ATR-BC
ART THERAPY ASSESSMENT RATING MANUALS
This is a list of literature (published and unpublished) on the research that has been conducted (reliability & validity studies, normative studies, etc.) to further validate/study art therapy assessment rating manuals.
The Formal Elements Art Therapy Scale (FEATS)
Original sources:
Gantt, L. (1990). A validity study of the Formal Elements Art Therapy Scale (FEATS) for diagnostic information in patients' drawings. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.
Gantt, L. (1993). Correlation of psychiatric diagnosis and formal elements in art work (chapter 16). In F. Bejjani (Ed.), Current research in arts medicine. Pennington, NJ: A Cappella Books.
Gantt, L., & Tabone, C. (1998). The Formal Elements Art Therapy Scale: The Rating Manual. Morgantown, WV: Gargoyle Press


