Customer Reviews

Essentials of Rorschach Assessment (Essentials of Psychological Assessment)

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In my experience, all of the "Essentials" series books are useful to a greater or lesser degree. I routinely write psychological testing reports, and have a stack of reference books nearby for quick perusal. This is NOT a book that should be used by students or professionals to comprehensively score and interpret a Rorschach; the Exner workbook is needed for that. However, this book has an excellently compiled index that allows the evaluator to quickly look up research and normative data on specific variables that stand out in a record.

I bought this book to assist me in learning the Rorshach in a projective assessment class. The book is easy to read, and it certainly provides the reader with eye catching information boxes that help to make sense out of complicated material. However, there are some problems. First, the book is out of date: it does not refer to current research or Exner's newest comprehensive edition. An update of this book might take care of this problem. Second, at times material that could be more comprehensively laid out for the reader is neglected. This concern would require the authors to re-write sections that are overly simplified.

I have read and used a number of Rorschach scoring and interpretive guides and I feel that the pedagogical value of this book is on par with it's monetary value. As other reviewers have commented, this text is out of date. I also noticed that the case example towards the end is wrought with scoring errors. I purchased this as a brief guide for students in clinical placements, but I am now sure it is better that I summarize the contents of the Exner series for them. I don't recommend this text for anyone who actually uses the test.

This book was published as the CS was being updated so do yourself a favor and buy a different book...this one still deals with outdated scores, for example the SCZI, known now as the PTI. Also scores such as GHR, PHR, WDA% and XA% are nowhere to be found. Until Wiley updates this into a 2nd edition, stay away!

Steve

The main disadvantage of the book is that it does not do what it actually "promises". In order to learn the technique of scoring and interpretation you are constantly referred to Exner's books. Without any of his books on the comprehensive system the book is useless ;-( So it may be a better idea to get the "real thing" (i.e. Exner's handbooks or the workbook).
A bit disappointing.

Essentials of Rorschach Assessment, a text and reference in the Essentials of Psychological Assessment, is a welcome addition to my library and an asset to students as well as to neophyte and experienced clinical and school psychologists.