A comprehensive handbook on family related issues, based on children's drawings analysis

Understanding the reasons for the behavior of every family member can be an exhausting task. Professionals and parents are constantly challenged by various family issues, which often have typical characteristics, but in some cases are unique to the family members involved, with their diverse personalities and life experiences.

Children's drawings help us analyze both the individual's personality and his family environment. Using family members' drawings you will be able to map the relationships among them, reveal every member's unique characteristics, resolve disputes, empower each member and generally improve the family's quality of life.

Our Family Matters Handbook is a combination of three e-books that covers the most important aspects of common family related issues based on our analysis of real-life children's drawings.

E-book # 1 – Family relationships

The essence of improving family atmosphere lies in the quality of relationships among family members. Hence, you should first observe and understand these relationships and then look for the reasons behind them.

Children's drawings provide an "insider viewpoint" into the child's perception of his family members and the relationships among them. Collecting all the siblings' drawings provides a complete picture of family relationships, as well as suggesting ways of enhancing them in specific cases.

The e-book discusses the following subjects: family coalitions, temper tantrums, stubbornness and power struggles, childish behavior, discipline and boundaries and various family structures such as large families, same-sex families and single-parent families.

As part of the discussion, which is accompanied by colorful drawings made by real children, you will receive answers to questions such as: Do children feel part of their families? Why do children develop negative behavior patterns? What is the reason for behavioral regression? Do children to non-heterosexual parents draw differently?

E-book # 2 – Sibling relationships 

An important aspect of every family's atmosphere is the quality of relationships among the siblings. This plays a major role in the family's balance and even affects the parents' self-perception about their overall functioning. 

Using the power of children's drawings, it is possible to reveal the hidden and unspoken feelings siblings have towards each other and understand how best to bridge the gaps that sometimes exist between them. 

This e-book discusses the following topics: Birth order, its meaning and effect on the parents' and children's daily behavior; the impact of a birth of a new sibling on the older child; twins and their unique characteristics; and sibling rivalry.

The e-book offer answers to questions such as: How can we reveal the true birth order characteristics of the child? How does the older sibling truly feel towards his younger sibling? What is unique in twins' drawings and which dilemmas do their parents face? What are the reasons for recurring disputes between brothers and sisters? 

E-book # 3 – The effects of divorce

Divorce is a unique case in family related issues which requires special attention because of two main reasons: (1) it has a significant and long-term effect on the child and (2) the percentage of divorces nowadays is relatively high.

The purpose of this e-book is to show how children's drawings can contribute to the understanding of the child's feelings during this complex event and as a result, provide the right solutions which best suite the child's needs, according to his mental age and personality.

The e-book discusses the following subjects: The emotional and social status of children during divorce; identifying the typical stage of the post-divorce crisis the child is in; particular post-divorce difficulties; and the communication and solutions children require.