Herman

I've been working on scoring assessments for my dissertation (incredibly time consuming and boring - let me know if any of you would like to come over and spend some time double-checking my addition!!) and thinking about school starting up again in a couple of months. I always try to be a little bit creative when teaching and here's something I do sometimes - show pictures! Often, students are interested, surprised and intrigued by famous psychologists and psychiatrists. Their "looks," personality, other life interests and accomplishments often don't mesh with the picture students have in their mind! This guy is Herman Rorschach, the Swiss Psychiatrist who developed the Rorschach ("inkblot") Test. This test is greatly misunderstood; in reality there are no "correct" answers - all is based on emergent themes in a persons descriptions of the inkblots. There is also much to say about the opinions and experience of the person administering and interpreting the responses! This isn't a test I am fond of, have used, or believe I will use. Even so, it's important to keep in mind how very little was available at the time Rorschach developed it - at the time, it was revolutionary and much needed. In his time, there were no psychotropic medications and often the mentally ill were just locked away like prisoners. This was a man that was trying to make a difference and was able to improve the quality of life for many mentally ill. The first picture is Herman when he was young (my students often note a resemblance to Brad Pitt - they never imagine a psychologist or psychiatrist might be attractive!). The second picture is of Dr. Rorschach as a mature adult. Unfortunately, the world lost a brilliant scientist, as Rorschach died at the age of 37 from peritonitis (untreated infected appendix). If you'd like to read more about this fascinating man, a link:
http://www.whonamedit.com/doctor.cfm/1232.html