Principles of Rorschach Interpretation

by Weiner, Irving B.

• ISBN13: 9780805842326
• ISBN10: 0805842322
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-06-01
• Publisher: Lawrence Erlbau

Summary

This second edition of Irving Weiner's classic comprehensive, clinician-friendly guide to utilizing the Rorschach for personality description has been revised to reflect both recent modifications in the Rorschach Comprehensive System and new evidence concerning the soundness and utility of Rorschach assessment. It integrates the basic ingredients of structural, thematic, behavioral, and sequence analysis strategies into systematic guidelines for describing personality functioning. It is divided into three parts. Part I concerns basic considerations in Rorschach testing and deals with conceptual and empirical foundations of the inkblot method and with critical issues in formulating and justifying Rorschach inferences. Part II is concerned with elements of interpretation that contribute to thorough utilization of data in a Rorschach protocol: the Comprehensive System search strategy; the complementary roles of projection and card pull in determining response characteristics; and the interpretive significance of structural variables, content themes, test behaviors, and the sequence in which various response characteristics occur. Each of the chapters presents and illustrates detailed guidelines for translating Rorschach findings into descriptions of structural and dynamic aspects of personality functioning. The discussion throughout emphasizes the implications of Rorschach data for personality assets and liabilities, with specific respect to adaptive and maladaptive features of the manner in which people attend to their experience, use ideation, modulate affect, manage stress, view themselves, and relate to others. Part III presents 10 case illustrations of how the interpretive principles delineated in Part II can be used to identify assets and liabilities in personality functioning and apply this information in clinical practice. These cases represent persons from diverse demographic backgrounds and demonstrate a broad range of personality styles and clinical issues. Discussion of these cases touches on numerous critical concerns in arriving at different diagnoses, formulating treatment plans, and elucidating structural and dynamic determinants of behavior.

Author Biography

Irving B. Weiner is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine at the University of South Florida.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
I BASIC CONSIDERATIONS IN RORSCHACH TESTING
1 The Nature of the Rorschach	3	(29)
Objective and Subjective Aspects of Rorschach Assessment	4	(7)
Rorschach Measurement of Perception and Association	11	(8)
Rorschach Assessment of Personality Structure and Personality Dynamics	19	(2)
Rorschach Testing as an Assessment Method	21	(2)
Psychometric Foundations of Rorschach Assessment	23	(9)
2 Approaches to Rorschach Interpretation	32	(27)
Justifying Interpretations: The Ouija Board, Authoritative, Empirical, and Conceptual Approaches	32	(5)
Formulating Interpretations: Structural, Thematic, Behavioral, and Sequence Analysis Strategies	37	(7)
Age, Gender, and Cross-Cultural Considerations in Interpretation	44	(15)
II ELEMENTS OF RORSCHACH INTERPRETATION
3 The Comprehensive System Search Strategy	59	(25)
Grouping Variables Into Clusters	61	(11)
Employing a Sequential Search Strategy	72	(12)
4 Projection and Card Pull in Rorschach Responses	84	(26)
Monitoring the Impact of Projection	87	(4)
Identifying the Influence of Card Pull	91	(10)
Common Meanings of the 10 Inkblots	101	(9)
5 Interpreting Structural Variables	110	(73)
Attending to Experience	112	(14)
Using Ideation	126	(7)
Modulating Affect	133	(13)
Managing Stress	146	(13)
Viewing Oneself	159	(11)
Relating to Others	170	(13)
6 Interpreting Content Themes	183	(30)
Identifying Responses Rich in Thematic Imagery	184	(2)
Generating Associations and Formulating Interpretive Hypotheses	186	(10)
Determining the Plausibility of Thematic Interpretations	196	(7)
Assigning Meaning to Specific Content Themes	203	(10)
7 Interpreting Test Behaviors	213	(25)
Card Turning and Handling	214	(9)
Comments and Personals	223	(7)
Expressive and Interpersonal Style	230	(8)
8 Conducting a Sequence Analysis	238	(11)
Implementing a Sequence Analysis	239	(1)
A Model for Sequential Interpretation	240	(4)
Monitoring Response Quality	244	(5)
III IDENTIFYING ADAPTIVE STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES: CASE ILLUSTRATIONS
9 Introduction to Case Illustrations	249	(5)
10 Attending to Experience	254	(26)
Case 1: Guardedness in a Woman Being Evaluated for Administrative Purposes	255	(11)
Case 2: Multiple Adjustment Problems in a Substance-Abusing Man With Difficulty Limiting His Focus of Attention	266	(14)
11 Using Ideation	280	(32)
Case 3: Emotional Breakdown in a Paranoid Schizophrenic Man	281	(17)
Case 4: Obsessive-Compulsive Features in an Adolescent Girl With Anorexia Nervosa	298	(14)
12 Modulating Affect	312	(35)
Case 5: Unsuspected Depression in a Woman Leading Two Lives	313	(18)
Case 6: Suicidal and Homicidal Tendencies in a Severely Depressed Woman With Probable Bipolar Disorder	331	(16)
13 Managing Stress	347	(33)
Case 7: A Teenage Gang Member Charged With Being an Accessory to Murder	349	(13)
Case 8: Concentration Difficulty in an Academically Dysfunctional Dental Student	362	(18)
14 Viewing Oneself and Relating to Others	380	(33)
Case 9: Violence Potential in a Man Who Had to Have His Own Way	381	(16)
Case 10: Intemperate Outbursts Jeopardizing the Career of a Successful But Self-Centered Businesswoman	397	(16)
References	413	(10)
Author Index	423	(4)
Subject Index	427