Empathic insights from the Rorschach: Paul Lerner's legacy
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Using Visual and Narrative Methods to Achieve Fair Process in Clinical Care
Published on: February 16, 2011
1Department of Psychology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996-0900, USA. bhhandler@aol.com
Abstract:
In this article, I review the contributions of Paul Lerner concerning his "humanistic-clinical attitude" in using the Rorschach (Exner, 2003) with patients. To illustrate Paul's empathic attitude, I present a case in which the patient's percepts reflected his relationship problems and his experience of me and others as a threat to his emotional integrity. Asking the patient to give voice to his Rorschach percepts, thereby amplifying his experience of me and his world, helped me become empathically tuned to him, as described by Paul in his writings and in his approach to patients.
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