Abstract
Psychodiagnosis has given more to than it has received from psychotherapy. Some psychological tests may benefit from the wisdom accrued and embodied in the psychoanalytic situation. Using the well known projective instrument, the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), guided by the intent to make the use of the test more consistent with the psychoanalytic situation and contemporary projective theory, it is suggested that the basic TAT instruction be modified and that greater attention be paid to an explicit theoretical rationale by which the cards are selected and presented. Inviting the patient to collaborate in a self-interpretation of the TAT can serve as an assessment of the patient's capacity for introspection and the development of the working alliance. It is further suggested that psychoanalytic developmental theory can function as an epigenetic organizer of the patient's TAT protocol.
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This research was supported by the Veterans Administration. The author is grateful for the inspirational and thoughtful comments of Drs. Marvin Acklin, Murray Tieger, and Edwin Wagner.
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Peterson, C.A. Administration of the thematic apperception test: Contributions of psychoanalytic psychotherapy. J Contemp Psychother 20, 191–200 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00946055
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00946055