Journal of Personality Assessment
ISSN: 0022-3891 (Print) 1532-7752 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/hjpa20
A Role-Play Rorschach Procedure Barry Bricklin To cite this article: Barry Bricklin (1975) A Role-Play Rorschach Procedure, Journal of Personality Assessment, 39:5, 453-461, DOI: 10.1207/s15327752jpa3905_2 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa3905_2
Published online: 10 Jun 2010.
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Date: 07 November 2015, At: 06:15
Journal of Personality Assessment, 1975,39, 5
A Role-Play Rorschach Procedure BARRY BRICKLIN Hahnemann Medical College of Philadelphia
Summary: Rorschach responses of three subjects were used to stimulate the type of role-
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playing popularized by Fritz Perls' Gestalt therapy. The standard Rorschachs were given first. Afterwards, each subject was presented with certain of his or her own images as a stimulus for the role-playing. The subjects consisted of a 19-year-old female with severe anxiety attacks, an 11-year-old lad diagnosed as having minimal cerebral dysfunction, and a 46-year-old man who had undergone two years of successful psychotherapy. It is proposed that the resulting data are valuable in expanding and clarifying the psychological meaning of the Rorschach images. Further, the procedure can be utilized, if desired, as a spur to therapeutic involvement.
Fritz Perls' Gestalt therapy (Fagan & Shepherd, 1973a, 1973b; Perls, 1969; Perls, Hefferline, & Goodman, 1% 1; Polster & Polster, 1971; Pursglove, 1971) is the latest and currently most visible system to make use of the assumption that all actors and actions in a fantasy creation represent aspects of the creator's self. An element in a dream, e.g., a snarling Neanderthal, may represent the dreamer's ~ e r c e ~ t i oof n someone else, but for sure repksents the dreamer's own "Neanderthal" tendencies. Suppose the dreamer's spouse, child, father, mother, and uncle appear in one of his dreams. The Perls' assumption is that regardless of how accurately each dream figure happens to reflect his or her real life behavior (as perceived by the dreamer), the basic function of each is to represent one or more of the dreamer's own action tendencies. This same assumption is made of non-human or even inanimate figures or objects appearing in a dream. The father may represent the dreamer's anger or fears or hopes or any number of other tendencies. Ditto the other figures. Gestalt therapists do not apparently assume a certain figure must always, even in the same dream, represent a constant aspect of the dreamer's personality, for example, his anger. Piotrowski (1950) made use of this same assumption to formulate interpretive rules about figures in T.A.T. stories. He assumed that every verb in a creation represents an action tendency of its creator. The more distant the figure to whom
the action is related in sex, age, race, or any other cha~racteristicfrom the: testee, the less acceptable the reflected action tendency is assumed to be. For example, if a young white male saw an old black lady kissing, the assumption would be that affectionate action tendencies were perceived as threatening. Jung (1959, pp. 363-379) saw the various aspects of a dream as creative endeavors of the self to express or come to grips with a current reality. Here was another man, then, who saw dream figures as representing the dreamer's own action tendencies. Perk (1973, pp. 165-199) combined the every-element-in-a-fantasy-reflects-anaspect-of-the-self assumption with another, the merits of role-playing, to fashon a clinical procedure of considerable power. Perls asks his patients or subjects to verbalize spontaneously (role-play) the possible thoughts, feelings, and/or actions of selected elements from their dreams. An individual may be required to roleplay inanimate as well as animate objects. Other fantasy creations (e.g., stories concocted on the spot; various parts of the subjects own body, etc.) can be approached similarly (Stevens, 1971). The subject may find himself speaking fantasied verbalizations for a tree, a castle, a fish, his own leg, or a rusty old tin can at the bottom of a lake. In all instances he is assumed to be revealing various of his own dispositions. Role-playing stands on the same theoretical foundations as other projective
A Role-Play Rorschach Procedure
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454
techniques, but additionally capitalizes The following instructions were used on the fact that the responses are made to elicit the R.P.R. protocols (where instantly public. This "it must be blurted necessary, they were repeated or slightly out at once" aspect of the procedure altered until the subject understood what makes it possible for role-playing to was being requested): circumvent the internal "censor" with Sometimes movie directors get even greater facility than is the case with actors and actresses to understand a other projective techniques, where private lot more about acting by having them contemplation often precedes the verbaliclosely identify with other people or even inanimate objects. For example, zation of the response. the actor might be asked to imagine Additionally, role-p]aying can be used himself to be George Washington or to facilitate therapeutic involvement, beNapoleon. He is asked to what cause one can more readily identify with it would be like to live, think and feel action tendencies stated in the first perlike George Washington or Napoleon. son than those attributed to people or He could also be asked to talk as objects seen on test cards. though he were a tree, or a lamp, or a wall. The whole trick is to imagine what it would be like if you were a tree or a Procedure lamp or a wall, and you could speak. I'm going to suggest that you feel The following records demonstrate what happens when the fantasy materials yourself to be certain things, and I'd like you to imagine, quickly and %o'nused to launch role-playing fragments are taneously, that you are these different taken from a subject's own Rorschach things. Talk without thinking. The responses. more quickly you talk, the better. Tell The Rorschachs were administered in a what you feel like, being this thing. standard manner. The Role-Playhe less thinking you do the better.^ Rorschach (R.P.R.) records were obWe'll do it now with some of the things you saw on the ink blots. tained afterwards.
Results Case 1: 19-Year-Old Female With Anxiety Attacks The anxiety attacks were especially severe at her place of employment, where she was an executive secretary. She harbored the conviction that her co-workers did not like her and talked about her behind her back. I - 10 seconds WS I34 ad D M h
I1 - 12 seconds S m o P D F a P D M h D
M
h
I11 - 18 seconds W M h P F ad D
A wolfs face Hands here, and there are wings. Person flying.
Not mean. It looks like a person, reaching UP.
Looks like a top. Butterfly. Two people, clapping their hands. Two people fighting.
Spinning. (Sex?) Can't tell. Probably
Two people bowling. An ant. Head.
Women. (Q.) No expression.
men. Men.
455
BARRY BRICKLIN D D D
F F M
a a hd
P
Seahorses. Butterfly A person.
Th.e shape. Shape. Pointing. (Q.) Saying: "Look over there."
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A gorilla head. IV - 3 seconds D FM a d M h D M hd D M hd
It looks like a dead bird. A person getting tubes. Two legs. Together. An outline of Nixon's face.
Tikd to a tree post. Like in a hospital. Walking through a storm. He looks surprised.
V - 4 seconds W F M a P
A bat.
Flying.
A person's zipper. An outline of a man's face. A person. A face. There are so many of them.
"'Flies." Talking. Yelling. Smiling.
VII - 9 seconds W M h P S F o d M h
Two ladies. A lamp. A person.
Dancing. Shape. Smiling.
VIII D D d
A bull. A mountain. A person.
The shape. Has; trees on it. ('Q.) Shape. Pwying.
A person. Surprised. Somebody yelling. Somebody playing a piano.
(Q.1 Looks happy.
Bugs. People dancing. Face of a horse. Face of a dog. Crab.
Shape.
VI - 18 seconds D F o D M hd d M h M hd d
- 8 seconds
F F M
ad ntr h
IX - 19 seconds D M hd D M hd D M hd
X D D D D D
-
3 seconds F a M h F ad F ad F a
Man. (Q) Can't tell (the sex)
Just the shape.
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A Role-Play Rorschach Pvocedure
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In presenting t h s R.P.R., no claim is made that is necessary for diagnosis, or to indicate how disturbed the young lady happens to be. Her tremendous obsessionality and suspiciousness are quite obvious in the formal scores (M: Sum C = 19:O). Further, the possibihty of a mild schizophrenia must definitely be entertained. Aside from confirming the diagnostic suspicions raised in the Rorschach, what the R.P.R. does do is bring alive the subject's inner life experiences in a most telling way.
Case 1: R.P.R. (Wolf) I'm prowling. But people are following my tracks. People hunt me for game. I'm scared. I have to go deeper and deeper into the woods to avoid them. And they're trying to poison what I eat. I might just die and never come back. (Person flying) I have wings. But they're getting dirty, and I'm flying lower and lower. I want to get down there and I think I am. (Reaching up) I'm reaching up to someone taller than me. I want to hold their hand. (Spinning top) Going faster . . . faster. Dizzy. I'll fall down, but it will go on and on anyhow. (Butterfly) I'm all different colors. I'm little, but many colors. I'm flying and eating flowers. Everything is fine except it's winter and I'm cold. (Clapping hands) The music's real good. I want to get the beat. (Fighting) They started it. They called me something. I do not want to fight, but everyone is watching. They expect it. (Bowling) I like it. I'm having fun. (Ant) I'm real ugly. Nobody likes bugs. I want to be a human so I can step on ants. (Seahorse) Everyone buys my friends and they put them in their ownwater where they die. They would use me for a few days and then I would die. (Pointing) At a star. I really want to see it. I hope it doesn't go out before I can show it. (Gorilla) People laugh at me and put me in cages. Why don't they let me live with other gorillas and not laugh at me. (Bird) I cannot find my friends. I'm out over the ocean. I need a friend to reassure me that I won't fall in. (Dead bird tied to a post) I just felt like staying here. I don't care if anyone laughs. It's where I want to be. (I'm getting tubes put in me) I'm real sick. I want to get better. I don't care what they have to do. I want to get better. (Walking through storm) Lucky I have my umbrella. I hope it doesn't stop because I feel like doing this. (Richard Nixon, surprised) I'm so surprised that everyone is being so mean. I know I should resign but why do they have to be so mean? The country couldn't be any worse than it already is anyhow. (Flies) I keep getting zipped and unzipped. This kid won't stop going to the bathroom. I really feel tired. (Yelling) Cause I just feel like it. People just won't listen. Even when they do they just laugh. (Dancing) I'm enjoying myself. (Lamp) I'm giving off light, but I'm going to go out soon. (Bull) Somebody with a red cape wants me to run like a stupid animal, but 1'11 run into that field. I can see flowers beyond it. (Mountain) Rain falls on me. I'm getting smaller and smaller. I hope I can turn into a volcano and get built up again. (Praying) Something different happens to me. Life turns into something better . . . for everybody. (Playing piano) People like me. They're watching me play. But I think they're
457
BARRY BRICKLIN
getting bored now. Maybe they don't like me. (Crab) They're cooking me in a pot because somebody ordered me. Somebody's going to eat a poisoned friend and get sick, but I can't say anything because I'm just a crab.
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The R.P.R. material dramatically underscores her fear of people (Wolf; Fighting; Seahorses; Gorilla; Nixon; Yelling; Bull; Piano; Crab), her fear of losing control (Spinning top; Nies) and her fear she cannot contact others in a meaningful way (Bird; Yelling). At the same time, the theme of holding on to her angers (Mountain; Ant) and masochism (Dead bird) are vividly manifested. Finally, many healthy trends show up (Clapping hands; Bowling; Tubes; Dancing; Praying).
Case 2: 11- Year-Old-Boywith Minimal Cerebral Dysfunction Although the Rorschach was completed in the standard manner, the R.P.R. responses are noted right after the Rorschach images to which they refer. This affords a more dramatic look at how the R.P.R. rounds out and brings to life the Rorschach material. (Only part of each record is presented, since the responses were eventually repetitive.) Gzse 2: Standard Rorschach and R. P. R.
I - 4 seconds WS F a D F a W F o
P
An eagle. An insect. Piece of metal.
It has white spots. Wings there. Maybe from an oil druim.
R.P.R. (Eagle) I'm dead. There's blood all over me. Somebody shot me. (Metal) I was left in an old house. I rusted. I'm bent and twisted. I1 - 2 seconds WS l?M ad D F hd
It looks like the face of a dog. I see a body there. There are two legs.
Sad expression.
R.P.R. (A sad dog) I'm sad. Somebody took my bone. (The body of something with two legs) My head came off. Maybe I was hit by a car. Vultures got me. Or maybe I was hurt. I n - 3 seconds WS M hd D F a P D F ntr
A person grinning. A butterfly. A tree.
The head. The shape. The way it looks.
R.P.R. (A person grinning) I'm grinning. But I'm gonna eat that butterfly. (Why?) I'm mad. (Butterfly) Sometimes I can fly. (Tree) I'm rotten. I'm a rotten tree.
45 8
A Role-Play Rorschach Procedure
IV - 4 seconds W F at W F ntr d F arch D F a D F o
The bone of a fish. A tree. Statue of Liberty. An eagle. Fish hooks.
The whole thing. Shape. Just there. Might have bait on it.
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(Bone of a fish) Just a bone. The fish died because it couldn't breathe. (Tree) I'm drooping. There was no rain. I died. (Statue of Liberty) My arm got knocked off. (Eagle) I was wounded. (Fish hooks) I'm going to catch a fish.
V - 3 seconds W F a P W F a P W F ntr
Butterfly. Abat. Piece of wood.
Shape. It looks like me. Just a piece of wood.
R.P.R. (Butterfly) I'm a butterfly. Some kid catches me. (Bat) I fly around and go to a cave. It scares me. (Piece of wood) I'm breaking. There's too much weight on me. The rest of the R.P.R. was similar. Images of impotence and defect prevailed. In one instance a wish emerged. He saw a "book" on plate VIII of the regular Rorschach. On R.P.R. he said, "I'm a book but I wish 1 was an encyclopedia." Case 3: 46- Year-Old-Lawyer This individual had already had two years of apparently successful psychotherapy. Originally seen because of anxiety and panic states so severe that he frequently could not work or even, on many occasions, leave his home, he was now symptom free. He claimed to feel "happy and alive." People who have had successful therapy typically give wide-open, readily apparent, productive Rorschach protocols. This man is no exception. In fact, the very openness of his record in turn led to a rather sparse inquiry. The scar tissue of his psychopathology as well as currently active conflicts - albeit in reduced form compared to his pre-therapy status - can readily be seen in his Rorschach (compensated notions of strength, intense oral-phallic striving, etc.), but so also can his strengths (good Whole responses, assertive Human Movement reactions, etc.). Because they are highly representative, only the first three cards, and the R.P.R. sequences referring to them, are presented. Case 3: Standard Rorschach 1 - 4 seconds W FM a W M h
P
That looks like a bat. That looks like two powerful figures lifting up a third who is somehow managing to
Shape. Flying. Men.
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BARRY BRICKLIN
M
mask
FM
a
F
0
M
hd
M
hd
10 seconds l?M ad P
I11 W D D
M
h
F
hd
M
h
M
h
-
10 seconds M h P F a P Rkla
D
M
h
D
M
h
conduct an orchestra as he is being lifted up into the air. The whole thing looks like a mask with a sort of devilish expression on it. There is a hint of a smile with it, of a person who enjoys his evil. A powerful looking elephant. Some kind of Japanese fountain. The whole thing. Abraham Lincoln. It looks like he's singing. There are musical notes over his head. A caricature of Richard Nixon. Looking thoughtful.
Pushing his way through jungle. Sculptured piece.
Two dogs looking at each other, again with thoughtful expressions. Two men dancing a very spirited dance, banging their hands together, perspiring. A lot of animation. An Indian face carved into the side of a mountain. With the card this way, it again looks like two men dancing. They are large and powerful and it is an extremely spirited dance. Man reaching up toward heaven, as though he were praying. He has very long and powerful arms. Two waiters lifting up a table. A butterfly. (Q.) Just the shape. Two dogs running. Running very rapidly. Two natives in a very spirited dance. Kicking their feet up in the air. A very sad or dejected or thoughtful man with one leg. No, the way it looks he must be sitting down. He is deep in thought. Very deep in thought, he looks old, but strong.
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A Role-Play Rorschach Procedure
Case 3: R.P.R. (Bat) I fly at night. I'm black, I'm powerful and I scare people. (Person lifting someone conducting an orchestra) We're going to fly real high and have an exhilarating look at the earth. (I'm conducting an orchestra, being lifted up into the air) I'll continue to conduct from up there. I'll conduct some vast earth symphony. (Man with devilish expression) There's really a hint of a smile on my face. I secretly enjoy my evil. And I like having people a little afraid of me. (Elephant) I enjoy the jungle and my mate. I enjoy talking with the other animals. And I enjoy my own strength. (Fountain) I squirt up in the air, and get a thrill from the breath-taking views. (Abraham Lincoln singing) I enjoy singing. I have a husky voice, and like to get together with other people. (Nixon) Boy, do I have worries. (Dog) I want to run and romp. (Men dancing) It feels too good to bounce around the floor, work up a sweat, and lose yourself in the dance. (Indian face) I've suffered a lot, but can remain stoic and committed to life. Discussion No hard-line claims are made for the R.P.R. with this clinical demonstration. At first, the intention existed to design an a priori scoring system, apply it to a series of Rorschach records and its R9.R. counterpart, following which it could (hopefully) be demonstrated that the R.P.R. records elicited clinically useful information not to be had from the standard Rorschachs alone. While this is still thought to be a feasible expectation, it was felt that at this point the acceptance of the procedure will in reality depend not on a series of scores but on the impact the actual R.P.R. protocols have on other clinicians. The material's greatest usefulness may be the extent to which it brings alive the subject's inner world. Further, to assert that the R.P.R. might, in some instances, do what the standard Rorschach by itself can't do, immediately brings up a series of complexities not yet resolved about the Rorschach itself. For example, if it is claimed that an R.P.R. picked up a theme not readily seen in a regular Rorschach, the question comes up as to whether a "more experienced" Rorschacher with a different interpretive scheme, implicit or explicit, might indeed have identified this theme. Further, how much useful information comes out of a Rorschach is
highly dependent on the skills of the clinician, particularly in how deftly and thoroughly he conducts the inquiry. Further, we lack a theory to specify what the relationships should or might be between the regular Rorschach and the R.P.R. Hence it would be quite difficult to evaluate differences between them in any event. Although no published figures could be located, experience would indicate that 80% of people can utilize a roleplaying procedure very productively, and 10% fairly productively. The other 10% would include people ranging from "moderate successes" to "too frightened to try ." In summary, when Rorschach images are used to launch a series of role-play procedures, it is proposed that the resulting material is clinically useful in elucidating and expanding the meaning of various Rorschach responses and can encourage productive therapeutic involvement on the testee's part. References Fagan, J., & Shepherd, I. L. (Eds.), Life techniques in Gestalt therapy. N.Y.: Harper, 1973.(a) . . Fagan, J., & Shepherd, I. L. (Eds.), What is Gestalt therapy? N.Y.: Harper, 1973.(b) Jung, C. G. On the nature of dreams. In V. S. DeLazlo (Ed.), The basic writings of C. G. Jung. N.Y.: Random House, 1959.
BARRY BRICKLIN
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Perls, F. S. Ego, hunger and aggression. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1947. Perls, F. S. In and out of the garbage pail. Moab, Utah: Real People Press, 1969. Perls, F. S. Dream seminars. In J. Fagan & I. L. Shepherd (Eds.), Life techniques in Gestalt therapy. N.Y.: Harper, 1973. Perls, F. S., Hefferline, R. F., & Goodman, P. (Eds.), Gestalt therapy. N.Y.: Dell, 1951. Piotrowski, 2. A. A new evaluation of the Thematic Apperception Test. Psychoanalytic Review, 19'50,37, 101-127. Polster, E., & Polster, M. Gestalt therapy integrated. .N.Y.: Harpers, 1971.
Pursglove, P. D. (Ed.), Recognitions in Gestalt therapy. N.Y .: Harpers, 1971. Stevens, J. 0.Awareness: exploring, experimenting, experiencing. Moab, Utah: Real People Press, 1971.
Barry Bricklin, PhD 470 General Washington Road Wayne, Pennsylvania 19087 Received: April 5,1974 Revised: July 1, 1974
ISSN: 0022-3891 (Print) 1532-7752 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/hjpa20
A Role-Play Rorschach Procedure Barry Bricklin To cite this article: Barry Bricklin (1975) A Role-Play Rorschach Procedure, Journal of Personality Assessment, 39:5, 453-461, DOI: 10.1207/s15327752jpa3905_2 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa3905_2
Published online: 10 Jun 2010.
Submit your article to this journal
Article views: 8
View related articles
Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=hjpa20 Download by: [Central Michigan University]
Date: 07 November 2015, At: 06:15
Journal of Personality Assessment, 1975,39, 5
A Role-Play Rorschach Procedure BARRY BRICKLIN Hahnemann Medical College of Philadelphia
Summary: Rorschach responses of three subjects were used to stimulate the type of role-
Downloaded by [Central Michigan University] at 06:15 07 November 2015
playing popularized by Fritz Perls' Gestalt therapy. The standard Rorschachs were given first. Afterwards, each subject was presented with certain of his or her own images as a stimulus for the role-playing. The subjects consisted of a 19-year-old female with severe anxiety attacks, an 11-year-old lad diagnosed as having minimal cerebral dysfunction, and a 46-year-old man who had undergone two years of successful psychotherapy. It is proposed that the resulting data are valuable in expanding and clarifying the psychological meaning of the Rorschach images. Further, the procedure can be utilized, if desired, as a spur to therapeutic involvement.
Fritz Perls' Gestalt therapy (Fagan & Shepherd, 1973a, 1973b; Perls, 1969; Perls, Hefferline, & Goodman, 1% 1; Polster & Polster, 1971; Pursglove, 1971) is the latest and currently most visible system to make use of the assumption that all actors and actions in a fantasy creation represent aspects of the creator's self. An element in a dream, e.g., a snarling Neanderthal, may represent the dreamer's ~ e r c e ~ t i oof n someone else, but for sure repksents the dreamer's own "Neanderthal" tendencies. Suppose the dreamer's spouse, child, father, mother, and uncle appear in one of his dreams. The Perls' assumption is that regardless of how accurately each dream figure happens to reflect his or her real life behavior (as perceived by the dreamer), the basic function of each is to represent one or more of the dreamer's own action tendencies. This same assumption is made of non-human or even inanimate figures or objects appearing in a dream. The father may represent the dreamer's anger or fears or hopes or any number of other tendencies. Ditto the other figures. Gestalt therapists do not apparently assume a certain figure must always, even in the same dream, represent a constant aspect of the dreamer's personality, for example, his anger. Piotrowski (1950) made use of this same assumption to formulate interpretive rules about figures in T.A.T. stories. He assumed that every verb in a creation represents an action tendency of its creator. The more distant the figure to whom
the action is related in sex, age, race, or any other cha~racteristicfrom the: testee, the less acceptable the reflected action tendency is assumed to be. For example, if a young white male saw an old black lady kissing, the assumption would be that affectionate action tendencies were perceived as threatening. Jung (1959, pp. 363-379) saw the various aspects of a dream as creative endeavors of the self to express or come to grips with a current reality. Here was another man, then, who saw dream figures as representing the dreamer's own action tendencies. Perk (1973, pp. 165-199) combined the every-element-in-a-fantasy-reflects-anaspect-of-the-self assumption with another, the merits of role-playing, to fashon a clinical procedure of considerable power. Perls asks his patients or subjects to verbalize spontaneously (role-play) the possible thoughts, feelings, and/or actions of selected elements from their dreams. An individual may be required to roleplay inanimate as well as animate objects. Other fantasy creations (e.g., stories concocted on the spot; various parts of the subjects own body, etc.) can be approached similarly (Stevens, 1971). The subject may find himself speaking fantasied verbalizations for a tree, a castle, a fish, his own leg, or a rusty old tin can at the bottom of a lake. In all instances he is assumed to be revealing various of his own dispositions. Role-playing stands on the same theoretical foundations as other projective
A Role-Play Rorschach Procedure
Downloaded by [Central Michigan University] at 06:15 07 November 2015
454
techniques, but additionally capitalizes The following instructions were used on the fact that the responses are made to elicit the R.P.R. protocols (where instantly public. This "it must be blurted necessary, they were repeated or slightly out at once" aspect of the procedure altered until the subject understood what makes it possible for role-playing to was being requested): circumvent the internal "censor" with Sometimes movie directors get even greater facility than is the case with actors and actresses to understand a other projective techniques, where private lot more about acting by having them contemplation often precedes the verbaliclosely identify with other people or even inanimate objects. For example, zation of the response. the actor might be asked to imagine Additionally, role-p]aying can be used himself to be George Washington or to facilitate therapeutic involvement, beNapoleon. He is asked to what cause one can more readily identify with it would be like to live, think and feel action tendencies stated in the first perlike George Washington or Napoleon. son than those attributed to people or He could also be asked to talk as objects seen on test cards. though he were a tree, or a lamp, or a wall. The whole trick is to imagine what it would be like if you were a tree or a Procedure lamp or a wall, and you could speak. I'm going to suggest that you feel The following records demonstrate what happens when the fantasy materials yourself to be certain things, and I'd like you to imagine, quickly and %o'nused to launch role-playing fragments are taneously, that you are these different taken from a subject's own Rorschach things. Talk without thinking. The responses. more quickly you talk, the better. Tell The Rorschachs were administered in a what you feel like, being this thing. standard manner. The Role-Playhe less thinking you do the better.^ Rorschach (R.P.R.) records were obWe'll do it now with some of the things you saw on the ink blots. tained afterwards.
Results Case 1: 19-Year-Old Female With Anxiety Attacks The anxiety attacks were especially severe at her place of employment, where she was an executive secretary. She harbored the conviction that her co-workers did not like her and talked about her behind her back. I - 10 seconds WS I34 ad D M h
I1 - 12 seconds S m o P D F a P D M h D
M
h
I11 - 18 seconds W M h P F ad D
A wolfs face Hands here, and there are wings. Person flying.
Not mean. It looks like a person, reaching UP.
Looks like a top. Butterfly. Two people, clapping their hands. Two people fighting.
Spinning. (Sex?) Can't tell. Probably
Two people bowling. An ant. Head.
Women. (Q.) No expression.
men. Men.
455
BARRY BRICKLIN D D D
F F M
a a hd
P
Seahorses. Butterfly A person.
Th.e shape. Shape. Pointing. (Q.) Saying: "Look over there."
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A gorilla head. IV - 3 seconds D FM a d M h D M hd D M hd
It looks like a dead bird. A person getting tubes. Two legs. Together. An outline of Nixon's face.
Tikd to a tree post. Like in a hospital. Walking through a storm. He looks surprised.
V - 4 seconds W F M a P
A bat.
Flying.
A person's zipper. An outline of a man's face. A person. A face. There are so many of them.
"'Flies." Talking. Yelling. Smiling.
VII - 9 seconds W M h P S F o d M h
Two ladies. A lamp. A person.
Dancing. Shape. Smiling.
VIII D D d
A bull. A mountain. A person.
The shape. Has; trees on it. ('Q.) Shape. Pwying.
A person. Surprised. Somebody yelling. Somebody playing a piano.
(Q.1 Looks happy.
Bugs. People dancing. Face of a horse. Face of a dog. Crab.
Shape.
VI - 18 seconds D F o D M hd d M h M hd d
- 8 seconds
F F M
ad ntr h
IX - 19 seconds D M hd D M hd D M hd
X D D D D D
-
3 seconds F a M h F ad F ad F a
Man. (Q) Can't tell (the sex)
Just the shape.
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A Role-Play Rorschach Pvocedure
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In presenting t h s R.P.R., no claim is made that is necessary for diagnosis, or to indicate how disturbed the young lady happens to be. Her tremendous obsessionality and suspiciousness are quite obvious in the formal scores (M: Sum C = 19:O). Further, the possibihty of a mild schizophrenia must definitely be entertained. Aside from confirming the diagnostic suspicions raised in the Rorschach, what the R.P.R. does do is bring alive the subject's inner life experiences in a most telling way.
Case 1: R.P.R. (Wolf) I'm prowling. But people are following my tracks. People hunt me for game. I'm scared. I have to go deeper and deeper into the woods to avoid them. And they're trying to poison what I eat. I might just die and never come back. (Person flying) I have wings. But they're getting dirty, and I'm flying lower and lower. I want to get down there and I think I am. (Reaching up) I'm reaching up to someone taller than me. I want to hold their hand. (Spinning top) Going faster . . . faster. Dizzy. I'll fall down, but it will go on and on anyhow. (Butterfly) I'm all different colors. I'm little, but many colors. I'm flying and eating flowers. Everything is fine except it's winter and I'm cold. (Clapping hands) The music's real good. I want to get the beat. (Fighting) They started it. They called me something. I do not want to fight, but everyone is watching. They expect it. (Bowling) I like it. I'm having fun. (Ant) I'm real ugly. Nobody likes bugs. I want to be a human so I can step on ants. (Seahorse) Everyone buys my friends and they put them in their ownwater where they die. They would use me for a few days and then I would die. (Pointing) At a star. I really want to see it. I hope it doesn't go out before I can show it. (Gorilla) People laugh at me and put me in cages. Why don't they let me live with other gorillas and not laugh at me. (Bird) I cannot find my friends. I'm out over the ocean. I need a friend to reassure me that I won't fall in. (Dead bird tied to a post) I just felt like staying here. I don't care if anyone laughs. It's where I want to be. (I'm getting tubes put in me) I'm real sick. I want to get better. I don't care what they have to do. I want to get better. (Walking through storm) Lucky I have my umbrella. I hope it doesn't stop because I feel like doing this. (Richard Nixon, surprised) I'm so surprised that everyone is being so mean. I know I should resign but why do they have to be so mean? The country couldn't be any worse than it already is anyhow. (Flies) I keep getting zipped and unzipped. This kid won't stop going to the bathroom. I really feel tired. (Yelling) Cause I just feel like it. People just won't listen. Even when they do they just laugh. (Dancing) I'm enjoying myself. (Lamp) I'm giving off light, but I'm going to go out soon. (Bull) Somebody with a red cape wants me to run like a stupid animal, but 1'11 run into that field. I can see flowers beyond it. (Mountain) Rain falls on me. I'm getting smaller and smaller. I hope I can turn into a volcano and get built up again. (Praying) Something different happens to me. Life turns into something better . . . for everybody. (Playing piano) People like me. They're watching me play. But I think they're
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getting bored now. Maybe they don't like me. (Crab) They're cooking me in a pot because somebody ordered me. Somebody's going to eat a poisoned friend and get sick, but I can't say anything because I'm just a crab.
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The R.P.R. material dramatically underscores her fear of people (Wolf; Fighting; Seahorses; Gorilla; Nixon; Yelling; Bull; Piano; Crab), her fear of losing control (Spinning top; Nies) and her fear she cannot contact others in a meaningful way (Bird; Yelling). At the same time, the theme of holding on to her angers (Mountain; Ant) and masochism (Dead bird) are vividly manifested. Finally, many healthy trends show up (Clapping hands; Bowling; Tubes; Dancing; Praying).
Case 2: 11- Year-Old-Boywith Minimal Cerebral Dysfunction Although the Rorschach was completed in the standard manner, the R.P.R. responses are noted right after the Rorschach images to which they refer. This affords a more dramatic look at how the R.P.R. rounds out and brings to life the Rorschach material. (Only part of each record is presented, since the responses were eventually repetitive.) Gzse 2: Standard Rorschach and R. P. R.
I - 4 seconds WS F a D F a W F o
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An eagle. An insect. Piece of metal.
It has white spots. Wings there. Maybe from an oil druim.
R.P.R. (Eagle) I'm dead. There's blood all over me. Somebody shot me. (Metal) I was left in an old house. I rusted. I'm bent and twisted. I1 - 2 seconds WS l?M ad D F hd
It looks like the face of a dog. I see a body there. There are two legs.
Sad expression.
R.P.R. (A sad dog) I'm sad. Somebody took my bone. (The body of something with two legs) My head came off. Maybe I was hit by a car. Vultures got me. Or maybe I was hurt. I n - 3 seconds WS M hd D F a P D F ntr
A person grinning. A butterfly. A tree.
The head. The shape. The way it looks.
R.P.R. (A person grinning) I'm grinning. But I'm gonna eat that butterfly. (Why?) I'm mad. (Butterfly) Sometimes I can fly. (Tree) I'm rotten. I'm a rotten tree.
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A Role-Play Rorschach Procedure
IV - 4 seconds W F at W F ntr d F arch D F a D F o
The bone of a fish. A tree. Statue of Liberty. An eagle. Fish hooks.
The whole thing. Shape. Just there. Might have bait on it.
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(Bone of a fish) Just a bone. The fish died because it couldn't breathe. (Tree) I'm drooping. There was no rain. I died. (Statue of Liberty) My arm got knocked off. (Eagle) I was wounded. (Fish hooks) I'm going to catch a fish.
V - 3 seconds W F a P W F a P W F ntr
Butterfly. Abat. Piece of wood.
Shape. It looks like me. Just a piece of wood.
R.P.R. (Butterfly) I'm a butterfly. Some kid catches me. (Bat) I fly around and go to a cave. It scares me. (Piece of wood) I'm breaking. There's too much weight on me. The rest of the R.P.R. was similar. Images of impotence and defect prevailed. In one instance a wish emerged. He saw a "book" on plate VIII of the regular Rorschach. On R.P.R. he said, "I'm a book but I wish 1 was an encyclopedia." Case 3: 46- Year-Old-Lawyer This individual had already had two years of apparently successful psychotherapy. Originally seen because of anxiety and panic states so severe that he frequently could not work or even, on many occasions, leave his home, he was now symptom free. He claimed to feel "happy and alive." People who have had successful therapy typically give wide-open, readily apparent, productive Rorschach protocols. This man is no exception. In fact, the very openness of his record in turn led to a rather sparse inquiry. The scar tissue of his psychopathology as well as currently active conflicts - albeit in reduced form compared to his pre-therapy status - can readily be seen in his Rorschach (compensated notions of strength, intense oral-phallic striving, etc.), but so also can his strengths (good Whole responses, assertive Human Movement reactions, etc.). Because they are highly representative, only the first three cards, and the R.P.R. sequences referring to them, are presented. Case 3: Standard Rorschach 1 - 4 seconds W FM a W M h
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That looks like a bat. That looks like two powerful figures lifting up a third who is somehow managing to
Shape. Flying. Men.
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BARRY BRICKLIN
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conduct an orchestra as he is being lifted up into the air. The whole thing looks like a mask with a sort of devilish expression on it. There is a hint of a smile with it, of a person who enjoys his evil. A powerful looking elephant. Some kind of Japanese fountain. The whole thing. Abraham Lincoln. It looks like he's singing. There are musical notes over his head. A caricature of Richard Nixon. Looking thoughtful.
Pushing his way through jungle. Sculptured piece.
Two dogs looking at each other, again with thoughtful expressions. Two men dancing a very spirited dance, banging their hands together, perspiring. A lot of animation. An Indian face carved into the side of a mountain. With the card this way, it again looks like two men dancing. They are large and powerful and it is an extremely spirited dance. Man reaching up toward heaven, as though he were praying. He has very long and powerful arms. Two waiters lifting up a table. A butterfly. (Q.) Just the shape. Two dogs running. Running very rapidly. Two natives in a very spirited dance. Kicking their feet up in the air. A very sad or dejected or thoughtful man with one leg. No, the way it looks he must be sitting down. He is deep in thought. Very deep in thought, he looks old, but strong.
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Case 3: R.P.R. (Bat) I fly at night. I'm black, I'm powerful and I scare people. (Person lifting someone conducting an orchestra) We're going to fly real high and have an exhilarating look at the earth. (I'm conducting an orchestra, being lifted up into the air) I'll continue to conduct from up there. I'll conduct some vast earth symphony. (Man with devilish expression) There's really a hint of a smile on my face. I secretly enjoy my evil. And I like having people a little afraid of me. (Elephant) I enjoy the jungle and my mate. I enjoy talking with the other animals. And I enjoy my own strength. (Fountain) I squirt up in the air, and get a thrill from the breath-taking views. (Abraham Lincoln singing) I enjoy singing. I have a husky voice, and like to get together with other people. (Nixon) Boy, do I have worries. (Dog) I want to run and romp. (Men dancing) It feels too good to bounce around the floor, work up a sweat, and lose yourself in the dance. (Indian face) I've suffered a lot, but can remain stoic and committed to life. Discussion No hard-line claims are made for the R.P.R. with this clinical demonstration. At first, the intention existed to design an a priori scoring system, apply it to a series of Rorschach records and its R9.R. counterpart, following which it could (hopefully) be demonstrated that the R.P.R. records elicited clinically useful information not to be had from the standard Rorschachs alone. While this is still thought to be a feasible expectation, it was felt that at this point the acceptance of the procedure will in reality depend not on a series of scores but on the impact the actual R.P.R. protocols have on other clinicians. The material's greatest usefulness may be the extent to which it brings alive the subject's inner world. Further, to assert that the R.P.R. might, in some instances, do what the standard Rorschach by itself can't do, immediately brings up a series of complexities not yet resolved about the Rorschach itself. For example, if it is claimed that an R.P.R. picked up a theme not readily seen in a regular Rorschach, the question comes up as to whether a "more experienced" Rorschacher with a different interpretive scheme, implicit or explicit, might indeed have identified this theme. Further, how much useful information comes out of a Rorschach is
highly dependent on the skills of the clinician, particularly in how deftly and thoroughly he conducts the inquiry. Further, we lack a theory to specify what the relationships should or might be between the regular Rorschach and the R.P.R. Hence it would be quite difficult to evaluate differences between them in any event. Although no published figures could be located, experience would indicate that 80% of people can utilize a roleplaying procedure very productively, and 10% fairly productively. The other 10% would include people ranging from "moderate successes" to "too frightened to try ." In summary, when Rorschach images are used to launch a series of role-play procedures, it is proposed that the resulting material is clinically useful in elucidating and expanding the meaning of various Rorschach responses and can encourage productive therapeutic involvement on the testee's part. References Fagan, J., & Shepherd, I. L. (Eds.), Life techniques in Gestalt therapy. N.Y.: Harper, 1973.(a) . . Fagan, J., & Shepherd, I. L. (Eds.), What is Gestalt therapy? N.Y.: Harper, 1973.(b) Jung, C. G. On the nature of dreams. In V. S. DeLazlo (Ed.), The basic writings of C. G. Jung. N.Y.: Random House, 1959.
BARRY BRICKLIN
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Perls, F. S. Ego, hunger and aggression. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1947. Perls, F. S. In and out of the garbage pail. Moab, Utah: Real People Press, 1969. Perls, F. S. Dream seminars. In J. Fagan & I. L. Shepherd (Eds.), Life techniques in Gestalt therapy. N.Y.: Harper, 1973. Perls, F. S., Hefferline, R. F., & Goodman, P. (Eds.), Gestalt therapy. N.Y.: Dell, 1951. Piotrowski, 2. A. A new evaluation of the Thematic Apperception Test. Psychoanalytic Review, 19'50,37, 101-127. Polster, E., & Polster, M. Gestalt therapy integrated. .N.Y.: Harpers, 1971.
Pursglove, P. D. (Ed.), Recognitions in Gestalt therapy. N.Y .: Harpers, 1971. Stevens, J. 0.Awareness: exploring, experimenting, experiencing. Moab, Utah: Real People Press, 1971.
Barry Bricklin, PhD 470 General Washington Road Wayne, Pennsylvania 19087 Received: April 5,1974 Revised: July 1, 1974
