This text emphasizes the importance of projective methods in clinical use. The projective methods are discussed in terms of its many aspects, particularly its contribution to the psychological evaluation of the child and the adolescent. Why and why not using the tests are some of the topics discussed in the text as well as the characteristics of the feedback sessions. The use of tests is also discussed in terms of its compatibility with the psychoanalytical approach. If an evaluation process emphasizes the "word", the "listening" in stead of the "diagnosis" and "observation" and takes into consideration the tranference/counter-tranference dynamics, this evaluation process is considered as psychoanaytically oriented. Hence it is not the nature of the tests but the position of the clinician which defines the psycoanalytical approach.