Rorschach Trauma Assessment of Survivors of Torture and State Violence

Relationship of Pretreatment Rorschach Factors to Symptoms, Quality of Life, and Real-Life Functioning in a 3-Year Follow-Up of Traumatized Refugee Patients

“…One explanation of the weak predictive capacity of the Trauma Response component could be the varying clinical presentations of traumatized individuals, fluctuating between flooded and constricted responses when exposed to traumatic reminders (e.g., Ephraim, 2002;Kaser-Boyd & Evans, 2008 Table 5 and visualized in Figure 1, are shown in italics.…”

“…Studies of traumatized individuals have identified RIM indications of a biphasic response to trauma (van der Kolk, 1994;van der Kolk & Ducey, 1989), in which traumatic intrusions, hyperarousal, and emotional flooding alternate with emotional and cognitive avoidance, numbing, and constriction. Ephraim (2002) and Evans (2008) found indications of flooding or constriction shifting from one RIM response to the next, whereas Opaas and Hartmann's (2013) study found that either flooded or constricted characteristics tended to dominate the RIM protocols of the participants at the time of assessment. Viglione, Towns, and Lindshield (2012) observed how RIM responses reveal the struggle between loss of control and overcontrol, which they considered crucial to posttraumatic reactions.…”

“…Several authors have pointed to the value of the RIM as a tool for investigating how traumatization might affect a range of psychological functions (e.g., Ephraim, 2002;Kaser-Boyd & Evans, 2008). Further, brief protocols (R < 14) have been found to be characteristic of patients with PTSD (e.g., Arnon, Maoz, Gazit, & Klein, 2011), and to still be "interpretatively robust," meaning that they do not possess the high Lambda (indicating a tendency to simplify complex stimuli fields) and low Blends (indicating little richness and flexibility in thinking) that are often found in brief records.…”

A Comparative Analysis of MMPI and Rorschach Findings Assessing Combat-Related PTSD in Vietnam Veterans—Analysis of MMPI and Rorschach Findings Assessing PTSD

“…They are often less direct and intrusive than objective tests, which helps circumvent the guardedness of trauma survivors. Re-experiencing the traumatic events through recollections, nightmares, or flashbacks can severely interfere with the cognitive processes set in motion by the Rorschach, and particularly with the capacity to perceive events objectively and to think logically (Ephraim, 2002). Studies using the Exner scoring system have found the Rorschach useful in the assessment of civilians with PTSD and in identifying PTSD in nonveteran groups of adults (Sloan, Arsenault, & Hilsenroth, 2002).…”

“…For example, the veteran's cognitive disturbances associated to intrusive symptoms and the trauma-related nature of their symptoms should be directly acknowledged by the scoring system and interpreted accordingly. Current interpretive strategies fail to adequately assess the veteran's struggle by reducing symptomatology to a personality style or an ego-syntonic character trait (Ephraim, 2002).…”