Introduction

Draw Me a Picture. The meaning of children's drawings and play from the perspective of analytical psychology

by Theresa Foks-Appelman

The symbolic meaning of children's drawings
Analytical theory
How to find the meaning in children's drawings
A book for parents and teachers


The symbolic meaning of children's drawings

An important source in understanding the symbolic meaning of children's drawings is the literature of Erich Neumann ,an analytical psychologist, child therapist and author of many publications on art and images at different periods and in different cultures. In his books Neumann investigated the similarity between developmental child psychology and the history of the development of art. According to Neumann, a child repeats the history of its ancestors' development of consciousness, expressed in such art forms as painting, sculpture, music, storytelling, and dance. Even the stages of development in children's drawing compare with the stages in Neumann's developmental theory. That could explain the universal nature of children's expressions in playing and drawing. In this book I show that children's drawings express the process of becoming conscious and embody feelings ranging from boundlessness to individuation. The growth of the Self and the ego from childhood into adolescence is a universal process expressed in a universal way. I explain relations with the analytical theory of Winnicot and Mahler as well as with the attachment theory of Bowlby In the drawings of children we recognize the development of a child who, according to Neumann, lives in the mythological stage. We follow its development to a contemporary modern individual. This process of growth, acceptance and self-awareness is expressed - as it always was by our ancestors - in the artistic forms of art, music, dance, drama and poetry. Every healthy child is able to express this process spontaneously in play and creativity.

There is a trend to accept a more profound explanation of the source of human life. There is also more interest in the psychological history of humankind and the way our ancestors expressed themselves in art, religion, mythology and fairytales. In this book I show the connection between the history of our ancestors and our modern times.

Analytical psychology

Studies show that children draw lines, forms and subjects in the same way all over the world. In my book I give an explanation of the meaning of such lines, forms and subjects.
It is very interesting to find the psychological and historical source of the meaning of the house and the drawing of the human figure. My research into this meaning is based on Jungian analytical theory, with its emphasis on the collective unconsciousness expressed in archetypes or primordial images.

In my book I refer to Jungian analytical theory and the symbolic meaning of play and art, of which drawing is a part. According to Jungian theory a child repeats not only the biological history of its ancestors, but also the history of the development of the psyche.
Readers of this book are given practical guidance in interpreting children's drawings and children's play. To gain a more profound understanding of children's drawings, I have investigated literature worldwide about the roots of drawing, from prehistoric rock-paintings, pictures on tombstones, sculptures, art in the Middle Ages and modern art, which show similarities in method and meaning. I explain various theories which can aid the study of children's drawings, such as Jungian typology, the Creative Process theory and Iconology.

The language of images, pictures and symbols is a universal language. For ages, children in England, Spain, America and Africa have drawn, painted and played in the same way. We can all see that now on the Internet when children from schools all over the world send drawings to a particular website . It is so interesting to see and to recognize specific drawings and to know what they mean and why children draw that way. I have discovered that even sceptical readers accept the way I describe the meaning of children's drawings and play from the perspective of analytical (Jungian) theory. After they read my book, they look differently at children's drawings.

This book is not a therapeutic manual. However, social workers, child therapists, art therapists, play therapists, school teachers and, of course, parents all find support in the topics covered in this book. I not only describe the normal psychological development of a child that plays and draws, but also help the reader to recognize special signals and symbols in drawings and playing that may indicate certain kinds of problems. Most books about children's drawings refer to the phenomenology of the drawing or the cognitive aspects. I my book I show the deeper meaning of drawings. Why do children all over the world like to draw and why do they stop drawing? I give answers to these questions. I show the reader how to investigate the symbolic meaning of a drawing.

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