What is Tree Reading?
From the Garden of Eden to the Kabalistic Tree of Life, a tree has been a symbol or metaphor that represents an individual’s nature. Tree drawing interpretation is an easy-to-learn skill that can start a conversation, or just make a stranger into a friend.
If you can smile at someone, introduce yourself and say “Would you please draw a tree for me?” this method will work for you. The tree does all the work.
No artistic ability is necessary for the tree drawing to contain interesting insights about the person who drew the tree. This technique provides insights into people’s personalities without being restricted by language, culture, or gender barriers. Remember every individual is unique and special. There is no right, wrong, good, or bad way to draw a tree. When using this technique, there should be no judgment made about the person who is drawing the tree.
Your confidence and communication skills will soar when you are able to consistently gather interesting insights about the other person so quickly. The best part is you don’t need to memorize anything, Dr. Crain’s Tree Reading Kit for beginners contains all of that information in an easy to access format. Tree interpretations are not meant to take the place of professional mental health counseling but are a very useful tool to start a conversation and develop rapport.
The History that led to the Tree Reading Technique that I Teach Today
In the early part of the 20th century, psychologists began to understand the tree as a powerful metaphor to assess an individual’s personality. The two systems of tree analysis used in the fields of psychology and psychiatry were created by John Buck and Charles Koch.
Dr. Phillip Greenway, a senior lecturer at Monash University in Australia, wrote an article in 2009 entitled, Tree Drawing as a Method of Assessing Personality. He describes trees as an ancient symbol for cultures since the beginning of time and as a reflection of humans interacting with their environment.
Father Karoly Abel, a Hungarian priest of the Piarist was a diplomat, psychologist, and an educator. In the 1930’s, he developed a tree reading technique that was the framework for the method that I teach today. Unfortunately, he was incarcerated and never published his work. It was brought to the west by one of his students.
In 1977, Karen Bolander published a book entitled Assessing Personality through Tree Drawing for her dissertation with its main features based on Father Abel’s research. Dr Bolander developed a comprehensive method to interpret trees and their symbolic meaning from a psychological perspective.
Moving from a psychological assessment to a fun way to describe people’s personalities, I enrolled in a tree reading class with Serena Lumiere. She named her tree reading technique dendrographology. Similar in concept to handwriting analysis, dendographology is the interpretation of tree drawing to identify personality traits. Ms. Lumiere’s work was based on Ethel Johnson’s book called Telltale Trees: What The Tree You Draw Reveals About You. She said, “Every drawing of a tree is filled with clues that tell you about the person who drew it.”
After interpreting thousands of tree drawings, taking online classes, watching DVDs, and reading many books and information on the subject, I am presenting the technique I have adapted to help people easily start a conversation, increase communication, and develop rapport and trust.
