Implementation of the Rorschach in an Evidence-Based Setting: A Sisyphean Task?

Over the years, projective tests lost their power and became the target of criticism. The methods were old, not supported by any powerful evidence, and were ridiculed in cartoons, movies, and popular media. It is difficult for clinicians to deal with these criticisms. A difficulty often heard among clinicians who are proficient in personality assessment is how to cope with skepticism and preconceptions in the use of projective methods. Working in a forensic setting and a residential setting for people with severe personality disorders challenged us on how to implement the Rorschach in our daily work as assessors, teachers, and supervisors. In this article we describe our journey in trying to work collaboratively with our clients, management staff, colleagues, and students in the use of projective methods. Although research overall shows that multimethod assessment is the gold standard, daily practice shows differently. The use of semi-structured self-report methods seems to be more popular, and these are perceived as more evidence-based. We compare the implementation of the Rorschach in an evidence-based setting with the implementation of a new therapeutic model from a heuristic point of view (Hutsebaut et al., 2012).