When you finally decide to go to the psychologist, what you least expect is that they ask you to draw a picture. You are not a girl, you will think, and also this type of test will sound like those tests that you do on your social networks when you are bored that tell you what type of personality you have or even guess who is in love with you. Forget about these frivolities, because the Koch Tree Test is a very useful complementary therapeutic tool in Psychology that helps measure your emotional stability. You want to know more?
What is the Koch Tree Test?
The Koch Tree Test is a graphical projection psychological test. It simply consists of making a drawing of a tree and from there the therapist will be able to know some important aspects of your personality. We associate this type of test with children, but it also works with adults.
In fact, the Koch Tree Test has proven so effective that it has been used since the 1950s. Through drawing, it is possible to know how a person interprets and perceives their world, but it also reflects much of their inner life, of their emotions. And we warn you: it is a complementary tool, not a therapy in itself.
What is the Koch Tree Test used for?
- We have already advanced a bit what the Koch Tree Test is for. When they ask you to draw a tree, you are faced with a blank sheet of paper with some tools as revealing as colored pencils. You already know the importance of colors in psychology. But here everything counts, the size of the tree, the place where it is placed, the thickness of the line and all the details that you add or not to the drawing.
- Everything is carefully analyzed by the therapist to get a clearer idea of your personality, to measure your emotional stability, to detect the presence of conflicts and also to delve into the content of your unconscious. Some studies affirm that this test is also very useful for detecting cognitive disabilities. In short, it is a very simple test that provides a large amount of information and is suitable for both children and adults.
How the Koch Tree Test is done?
And how is this test performed? Contrary to what its name suggests, you will not be asked to choose the correct answer. There are no questions here. Here is a very simple request: draw a tree, however you want, however you like. They give you a blank page and no further instructions. What are you doing now?
You can make a tree full of details, with its roots, its trunk, the moss that grows on its trunk, the branches some thicker and others less, the leaves or even the fruits, if applicable. But you can also draw a schematic tree in which the details are not appreciated. The completion time varies depending on the therapist but it is usually requested that it be done slowly. Do you feel like drawing a tree? Let’s do a test.
How the Koch Tree Test is interpreted?
- Because now we are going to give you an approximate idea of what the tree you have drawn means. You got it? We cannot give you any further instructions, just draw the tree that you can or want. You can take 10 minutes or half an hour, whatever you prefer. And be nervous, this is not an exam and we are not going to give you a grade.
- Look at the bottom of your drawing. Have you drawn the ground line? If you haven’t, it indicates instability and uprooting. If you have drawn it, perhaps you have tended upwards, which indicates difficulty adapting, or downwards, which speaks of a lack of firmness or difficulty making decisions.
- The roots are important. If they are well proportioned, they speak of family stability and rootedness, while if they are too large or do not appear in the drawing, they may indicate important affective deficiencies.
- Let’s go with the trunk of the tree. The long trunk denotes ambition and a sociable character, while a small trunk may be speaking of introversion or little spirit of improvement. Is the trunk of the tree very thin? It is interpreted as insecurity or lack of initiative. On the other hand, if the trunk is too thick, you have to be attentive to a certain narcissistic or selfish nuance. When you widen the trunk towards the middle, it speaks of loss of control, but if you make it wider at the top, it indicates your idealistic character.
- How is the top of your tree? A large cup speaks of a sociable and creative character, while a small cup reflects shyness and sometimes insecurity. Be careful if the cup is crushed because it is characteristic of depressive states and the feeling of helplessness.
- The branches of the tree can be ascending or descending, which makes the difference between optimism and pessimism. You also have to pay attention to whether they are thin, which reflect simplicity, or thick, which speak of a person with very clear ideas. Some cut branches may be talking about low self-esteem and some loose branches that come out of the trunk invite you to explore new paths in life.
- Do the branches have leaves? The lack of leaves can mean difficulty in focusing or concentrating, while their presence denotes a certain mental clarity and a taste for details. Unless the leaves are excessive, which may be indicating the need to flee to fantasy worlds.
- Not all trees have fruits, but if they appear in your drawing it is because you have some objectives or goals in life. If the tree has many fruits, it can indicate your more generous aspect, but be careful if you have drawn the fallen fruits on the ground, because it indicates disappointment and lack of motivation.
- Now we can look at the space that the tree occupies on the page. The upper part reflects the spiritual, while the lower part deals with the instinctual. The area in the center on the left side points to the past, while what is on the right side talks about the future and your relationship with the world.
- You also have to pay attention to the size of the drawing. Is the tree too small? You may have an inferiority complex or insecurity is getting the better of you. On the contrary, pride and vanity are reflected in a very large drawing.
- Remember that this article is not part of the therapy, so the results are not a substitute for the interpretation of a professional. A therapist will attend to the details of the background and the shape, as well as the colors and the presence or absence of other elements in the drawing that are foreign to the tree. If there is a landscape, if you have drawn a house or the horizon line, the sky, with the sun or the clouds or you may even have drawn birds on the tree itself and other types of animals around it. Everything counts when interpreting the drawing of the Koch tree to understand your emotional world and that can only be done by your psychologist.