Rorschach Human Movement and Psychotherapy: Relationship with the Therapist’s Emotional Responses

Abstract

The emotional responses of psychotherapists to their patients, known as countertransference, can yield valuable insights into the patient’s psychological functioning. Albeit from a different perspective, the Rorschach test also provides information about the patient’s psychological processes. In particular, the Rorschach human movement response (M) has been shown to be a useful measure of higher-level psychological functioning. In an attempt to bridge these two largely different perspectives, the aim of this study was to explore the association between M responses in the Rorschach protocols of psychotherapy patients and emotional responses exhibited by their therapists. To this end, a convenience sample of 149 outpatients were administered the Rorschach according to the Comprehensive System, and their therapists completed the Therapist Response Questionnaire. Through a series of regression models, controlling for response style, response complexity, and degree of psychopathology, M demonstrated a significant association with the therapists’ emotional responses. A lower number of M responses was associated with the therapists’ feelings of disengagement, and a higher number of M responses was associated with the therapists’ feelings of being more involved with the patient. Taken together, these results suggest a potential relationship between the number of M responses the respondent gives in the Rorschach and the subsequent development of the therapeutic alliance between the respondent and their therapist.

Disclosure statement

The authors have no known conflict of interest to disclose.

Notes

1 Effect sizes are reported in Mihura et al.’s (2013) meta-analysis and summarized in Table 3 of their paper.

2 In accordance with local guidelines, the Rorschach protocols were scored by independent assessors who were kept unaware of the results of other tests administered to the same patient, the diagnosis formulated for the patient, and the TRQ scores. However, Rorschach coding was always discussed in regular treatment staff meetings, which may or may not have been attended by the independent coders.