Teaching the Rorschach Comprehensive System

The administration process of the Rorschach test is of utmost importance as it influences both the coding and the interpretative procedures. Performing it appropriately requires complex skills, knowledge, and solid training. The aim of the study is to describe students’ interests in and difficulties with administering the Rorschach (Comprehensive System) for the first time. A two-phase methodology, including an analysis of questionnaire responses followed by a study of students’ written narratives, using Iramuteq textual analysis software, was implemented with two different samples of third-year undergraduates (including 63 and 253 participants, respectively), recruited from a French psychology school. Our results show that students have a strong interest in understanding the test and wish to use it in their future practice. When administering the Rorschach for the first time, students find it difficult to cope with the complexity of the procedures at a technical, emotional, and relational level.

Validity of Space Responses

Divorcing couples who require the intervention of the court system to resolve their child custody disputes usually exhibit intense anger and experience strong resentment. The Rorschach Inkblot Method (RIM) is one of the most commonly used tests in child custody evaluations, in which one crucial issue is affectivity and its regulation, and, specifically, negative emotions such as anger and resentment. White Space (S) is one of the Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS) variables usually taken into account to assess anger and resentment, but to date the construct validity of S responses for this purpose is far from established. Our study addresses this issue by exploring the association between S responses (coded on the basis of the following classifications: the CS, the Rorschach Performance Assessment System, and Rosso, Chiorri, and Denevi, 2015 ) and the motor, emotional, and cognitive components of aggression reported by clinicians in a sample of divorcing couples engaged in child custody litigation ( n = 85). Our findings support the hypothesis that Space fusion responses may be a marker of separation and emptiness anxiety, whereas no support is provided by this study for the hypothesis that Space reversal and Space integration responses are indicative of anger.

A Normative Study in England With the Rorschach Comprehensive System

This study provides Rorschach data for 88 adults aged 18–65 years from the general population in England. The sample was matched as closely as possible with census data on the variables of gender, age, marital status, ethnicity, geographical location, occupation, and level of education. The Rorschach was administered according to the Comprehensive System by five experienced psychologists. Participants also completed a measure of psychological distress called the CORE. Interscorer reliability was found to be excellent for all variables apart from the six cognitive special scores, for which it was fair. Rorschach data are presented for Comprehensive System variables and compared with Exner’s (2007) sample of 450 nonpatient adults in the United States and with the international reference sample ( Meyer, Erdberg, & Shaffer, 2007 ).

The Italian Translation of Exner’s FQ Tables

The article takes into consideration the four Italian translations (2003, 2007, 2016, 2017) of the Rorschach Comprehensive System Form Quality Tables ( Exner, 2001 ), with reference to the original English version, highlighting the urgency to verify a number of possible errors that – if proven – would be necessary to rectify. In light of these considerations, we underline the need for an Italian critical edition, as a step toward a shared standard for a scientific instrument that must insure uniformity of results among Comprehensive System users.

An Interpersonal Approach to Rorschach Interpretation

In response to Kleiger’s (this issue) unique invitation to interpret a Rorschach case study from multiple psychoanalytic perspectives, I was asked to present a Rorschach interpretation from Sullivan’s interpersonal psychodynamic theory (IPT) perspective. In reviewing the literature, I found no theoretical papers specifically addressing IPT Rorschach interpretation. As such this article will be an initial attempt to integrate the Rorschach with IPT. I will present a brief overview of some of Sullivan’s most relevant IPT concepts, suggest where to find them on the Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS), and apply IPT Rorschach variables to the case of Ms. B. Special attention will be given to how the IPT model aids in the dynamic understanding of the Ms. B.’s internal experience and personality functioning; what formal features of the Rorschach lend themselves to key constructs in the model; and how the IPT model addresses the referral questions and adds to an understanding of treatment issues, including likely transference/countertransference themes.