Is the Rorschach test still relevant for psychiatrists and psychologists 100 years on?
Yes! In many fields of study. For example, in the clinical and the forensic fields.
Today clinical psychologists benefit from the mounting research evidence from studies in attachment, neurobiology, psychopathology, and psychotherapy regarding a few key concepts:
(a) attachment failures and early trauma are related to many forms of psychopathology
(b) one of the major sequelae of developmental trauma is disorganization of the right hemisphere
(c) psychological interventions that promote emotional experience, awareness, and expression are more effective than those that rely solely on cognitive restructuring.
The Rorschach, tapping right-hemisphere and subcortical brain functioning, provides detailed information about the client’s psychological functioning that no other test offers, much of which clients cannot or do not directly report. The Rorschach is particularly good at capturing information about a person as an individual while at the same time making comparisons against a normative sample. This is because while the test materials are standardised, their intentionally ambiguous nature means that each person’s responses to them are unique, and rich in descriptive data. The vivid imagery and emotionally charged responses that many clients give provide a very illuminating window onto the particular experience of each client.
As such, the findings from the Rorschach have great potential for providing clients with an occasion to reflect more deeply on themselves and on their struggles, particularly within a Collaborative/Therapeutic Assessment framework.
See Finn (2012) for a fuller discussion of these issues.
In the forensic arena, the test offers a different “take” on the examinee from self-report measures and it can round out the comprehensive picture that the psychologist builds up in order to address legal issues. Psychologists should always consider the possibility that the examinee may not be truthful in any report for the Court. A multi-method approach is essential. Psychometric data complements the interview and a thorough review of documentation pertaining to the legal issues at stake and to the person’s medical history. Psychologists should integrate information across several different measures, including performance-based tests, such as the Rorschach. When using the Rorschach in Court, research findings provide the foundation for reaching reliable and valid inferences.