Personality Assessment in Depth

Book excerpt: Comprised of five unique and extended case studies, Personality Assessment in Depth examines contemporary clinical problems that are familiar to clinicians, but have not been explored extensively in the personality assessment field. Each case study demonstrates the test protocols of the Rorschach test, Thematic Apperception Test, MMPI or MCMI, and Human Figure Drawings. Important clinical questions and areas of theoretical concern are examined, including differential diagnosis of disorders of affect and personality in light of contemporary viewpoints about these disturbances, personality and adaptation accompanying neuropsychological deficit, and stages of development, including differentiating these from personality characteristics viewed longitudinally, the latter demonstrated by a noteworthy comparison of two evaluations of the same patient, first as a 15-year-old adolescent and then as a 25-year-old adult. A battery of performance and self report personality instruments are applied to the cases, allowing the author to integrate findings across multiple tests and thereby expose clinical psychology students to personality assessment in a broad perspective. Cases are discussed comprehensively, relying on a thorough consideration of thematic content examined alongside formal test scores. Further, the Rorschach findings are examined using both the Exner Comprehensive System and the recently-introduced Rorschach Performance Assessment System approaches. The cases are considered using a broad psychodynamic framework for interpretation, employing classical ego psychology, object relations, and self psychological theoretical perspectives. This is an essential casebook for professionals and students, demonstrating the depth and richness of personality considered alongside the empirical foundations of personality assessment.