Therapeutic Change on the Thematic Apperception Test

Abstract

Change over the course of long-term intensive treatment was also assessed from stories told to the cards of the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT). Cramer (1987, 1991) developed a method for systematically scoring different types of defenses on the TAT—denial, projection, and identification. This chapter examines the hypothesis that constructive change over the course of long-term treatment will be expressed both in the overall diminution of total defenses apparent in the TAT stories and by a shift in the TAT narratives to higher-level, developmentally more mature defenses over the course of treatment—from denial, to projection, to identification.