The Projective Technique «Space of Trees and Light» as a Navigator of Childhood Experience of Family Relationships in Adults

Aim. Empirical validation of the projective technique of K. Adams «Space of Trees and Light». Method. The study involved 298 people, including 245 women and 53 men aged 18 to 65 years (average age 33.89+12.7). There were used the following methods: Questionnaire «Family Emotional Communications» by A.B. Kholmogorova, S.V. Volikova, M.G. Sorokova; Questionnaire «Experience in Close Relationships» by K.A. Chistopolskaya and co-authors; projective technique «Space of Trees and Light» by K.Adams. Results and conclusions. The results given by the projective technique «Space of Trees and Light» are in correlations with the characteristics of family dysfunctions and displays of emotional attachment of adults in close relationships. Statistical analysis of the data showed that the groups of respondents who chose a picture symbolizing one or another version of the child’s spiritual world are characterized by specific profiles of family emotional communications and the experience in close relationships. Answers to additional questions to the technique help to clarify these features. The choice of a picture that symbolizes one or another social situation of development in the parental family acts as a kind of heuristic that allows one to build hypotheses about the features of family emotional communications and about the experience in building close relationships. The technique «Space of Trees and Light» can deepen empirical research and replenish the arsenal of techniques and methods in the practical activities of psychologists.

1. Burlakova N.S., Oleshkevich V.I. Proektivnye metody: teoriya, praktika primeneniya k issledovaniyu lichnosti rebenka [Projective techniques: theory, practice of application for studying child’s personality]. Moscow: Publ. Institut obshchegumanitarnykh issledovanii, 2001. 352 p.
2. Burlakova N.S., Oleshkevich V.I. Liniya metodologicheskikh i prikladnykh razrabotok rossiiskoi kul’turno-istoricheskoi klinicheskoi psikhologii, orientirovannoi na rabotu s individual’nym sluchaem [Russian Cultural-Historical Clinical Psychology And Its Methodological And Applied Inventions Aimed At Analysis Of Individual Case]. Konsul’tativnaya psikhologiya i psikhoterapiya = Counseling Psychology and Psychotherapy, 2021, vol. 29, no.4, pp. 144—163. DOI:10.17759/cpp.2021290409
3. Golubeva E.V., Istratova O.N. Opyt otnoshenii v roditel’skoi sem’e kak prediktor psikhologicheskogo blagopoluchiya molodykh lyudei [Experience of Relations in the Parental Family as a Predictor of Psychological Well-Being in Young People]. Azimuth of Scientific Research: Pedagogy and Psychology, 2018, vol. 7, no. 2(23), pp. 358—362.
4. Dodonov B.I. Emotsiya kak tsennost’ [Emotions as a Value]. Moscow: Publ. Politizdat, 1978. 272 p.
5. Istratova O.N. Osobennosti opyta otnoshenii v roditel’skoi sem’e u molodykh lyudei (na primere polnykh i nepolnykh semei) [Features of the experience of relations in the parental family of young people (on the example of two-parent and single-parent families)]. Psikhologiya. Istoriko-kriticheskie obzory i sovremennye issledovaniya [Psychology. Historical-critical Reviews and Current Researches], 2018, vol. 7, no. 5A, pp. 62—67.
6. Karabanova O.A. Rol’ sem’i i shkoly v obespechenii psikhologicheskogo blagopoluchiya mladshikh shkol’nikov [The Role of Family and School in Securing Psychological Well-Being of Primary School Children]. Psikhologicheskaya nauka i obrazovanie = Psychological Science and Education, 2019, vol. 24, no. 5, pp. 16—26. DOI:10.17759/pse.2019240502
7. Lubovskii D.V. Vnutrennyaya pozitsiya obuchayushchikhsya magistratury psikhologo-pedagogicheskogo napravleniya [The Internal Position of The Master’s Degree Students of the Psychological and Pedagogical Direction]. Mir psikhologii [Psychology World], 2021, no. 3(106), pp. 94—103. DOI:10.51944/2073-8528_2021_3_94
8. Nosulenko V.N. Voprosy integratsii kachestvennykh i kolichestvennykh metodov v psikhologicheskom issledovanii [Integration Issues of Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Psychological Research]. Eksperimental’naya psikhologiya = Experimental Psychology (Russia), 2021, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 4—16. DOI:10.17759/exppsy.2021140301
9. Odintsova M.A., Vachkov I.V. Skazkoterapevticheskie tekhnologii v psikhologicheskom treninge [Fairy tale therapy technologies in psychological training]. Moscow: Publ. Yurait, 2021. 309 p.
10. Petrova E.A. Disfunktsional’nye sem’i kak faktor psikhotravmatizatsii v detskom vozraste [Disfunctional Families as a Factor of Psychotraumatism in Childhood]. Vestnik Novgorodskogo universiteta [Bulletin of the Novgorod University], 2017, no. 4(102), pp. 97—100
11. Tolstaya T.N. Na zolotom kryl’tse sideli... [Sitting on a golden porch] / Poslesl. A. Mikhailova. Moscow: Publ. Mol. Gvardiya, 1987. 191 p.
12. Kholmogorova A.B., Volikova S.V., Sorokova M.G. Standartizatsiya oprosnika «Semeinye emotsional’nye kommunikatsii» [Standardization of the Test «Family Emotional Communication»]. Konsul’tativnaya psikhologiya i psikhoterapiya = Counseling Psychology and Psychotherapy, 2016, vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 97—125. DOI:10.17759/cpp.2016240405
13. Chistopol’skaya K.A. et al. Adaptatsiya kratkoi versii «pererabotannogo oprosnika — opyt blizkkh otnoshenii (ECR-R) na russkoyazychnoi vyborke [Adaptation on a russian sample of the short version of experience in close relationships-revised questionnaire]. Psikhologicheskii zhurnal [Psychology Journal], 2018, vol. 39, no. 5, pp. 87—98. DOI:10.31857/S020595920000838-7
14. Adams К. Navigating the spaces of children’s spiritual experiences: influences of tradition(s), multidisciplinarity and perceptions. International Journal of Children’s Spirituality. 2019, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 29—43. DOI:10.1080/1364436X.2019.1619531
15. Frewen P., Zhu J., Lanius R. Lifetime traumatic stressors and adverse childhood experiences uniquely predict concurrent PTSD, complex PTSD, and dissociative subtype of PTSD symptoms whereas recent adult non-traumatic stressors do not: results from an online survey study. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 2019, vol. 10(1). 1606625. DOI:10.1080/20008198.2019.1606625.
16. Gregory Z. The page as place: how we enter into images as place. International Journal of Art Therapy, 2021. DOI:10.1080/17454832.2021.1995453
17. Karatzias T. et al. Adverse and benevolent childhood experiences in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Complex PTSD (CPTSD): implications for trauma-focused therapies. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 2020, vol. 11(1). 1793599. DOI:10.1080/20008198.2020.1793599
18. Kuhar M., Zager Kocjan G. Associations of adverse and positive childhood experiences with adult physical and mental health and risk behaviours in Slovenia. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 2021, vol. 12(1). 1924953. DOI:10.1080/20008198.2021.1924953
19. Küffer A.L., Thoma M.V., Maercker  A. Transgenerational aspects of former Swiss child laborers: do second generations suffer from their parents’ adverse early-life experiences? European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 2016, vol. 7(1). DOI:10.3402/ejpt.v7.30804
20. Moroni C.M. et al. Spiritual health, family functioning and symptoms of depression and anxiety among adults from a sample of northeastern Mexico. Cogent Psychology, 2021, vol. 8(1). 1980259. DOI:10.1080/23311908.2021.1980259
21. Shaw L., Hansen H., St Clair-Thompson H. Mental toughness is a mediator of the relationship between positive childhood experiences and wellbeing. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 2022. DOI:10.1080/17405629.2022.2058485
22. Shaw R.L. et al. From Mixing methods to the logic(s) of inquiry: taking a fresh look at developing mixed design studies. Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine, 2018, vol. 6(1), pp. 226—244. DOI:10.1080/21642850.2018.1515016
23. Stafford M., Kuh D.L., Gale C.R., Mishra G., & Richards M. Parent-child relationships and offspring’s positive mental wellbeing from adolescence to early older age. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 2016, vol. 11(3), pp. 326—337. DOI:10.1080/17439760.2015.1081971
24. van der Velden P.G. et al. Chronic mental health problems and use of mental health services among adults with and without adverse childhood experiences: a 6-year longitudinal population-based study. Journal of Mental Health, 2021. DOI:10.1080/09638237.2021.1922633
25. Zarse E.M. et al. The adverse childhood experiences questionnaire: Two decades of research on childhood trauma as a primary cause of adult mental illness, addiction, and medical diseases. Cogent Medicine, 2019, vol. 6(1). DOI:10.1080/2331205X.2019.1581447