Psychodiagnosis through Rorschach, a dreamcatcher of bimodality
An approach to the study of Rorschach responses
based on the theories of Ignacio Matte-Blanco
based on the theories of Ignacio Matte-Blanco
Margarita
Artusi
·
Matte-Blanco:
“…sound scientific research aims at creating
frames of reference which are, so to speak, directly suggested by our
intellectual contact with reality and which are modified as fresh contacts
suggest changes in the frame which is being used.”
(Matte-Blanco, 1975, p. 7)
Changing the frame of reference affects us deeply, shakes our ideas, and
allows us to look at things from a different point of view. The contact with
novel theories places us in a state of amazement as we are confronted with
things never imagined, and fills us with the joy of finding a clear expression
for what we had long intuitively known but could not fully grasp.
If despite the effort and anxiety involved, we succeed in connecting deeply with what an original author communicates, the process of expanding and reordering the network of knowledge required to incorporate and articulate his concepts, will favor the development of useful analysis modalities and the elaboration of interesting thoughts, but, above all, it will modify radically the way in which we carry out our work by promoting a different encounter with our patients.
If despite the effort and anxiety involved, we succeed in connecting deeply with what an original author communicates, the process of expanding and reordering the network of knowledge required to incorporate and articulate his concepts, will favor the development of useful analysis modalities and the elaboration of interesting thoughts, but, above all, it will modify radically the way in which we carry out our work by promoting a different encounter with our patients.
The entrance into Matte-Blanco's world not only provides access to new
conceptualizations and technical procedures, but also opens the door to an
innovative re-reading of psychoanalytic texts, analytic sessions and any other
kind of clinical material.
Based on Matte-Blanco’s framework, the Freudian work is reborn fresh and
revitalized, generously offering numerous starting points for promising
inquiries.
In addition, the
revaluation of the unconscious and its characteristics as the most genial and fruitful
contribution of Freud's legacy, and its reinstallation at the heart of the
analytic task, invites us to re-explore the mysterious and inexhaustible sources
of psychoanalysis, and, from there on, with the help of several simple
logical-mathematical tools, to approach our object of study in a new way.
·
Clinical
case:
(Matte-Blanco,
1988, p. 163)
Rosa (a single and clidless woman) began a new psychoanalytic tratment at 63. She felt depressed and was taking psychiatric medication (antidepressant and anxiolytic). She found it very difficult to move forward after she had retired.
She established an ambivalent transferential link at first, but then developed a positive transference to her analyst, and actively engaged in analytical work. Her improvement was slow, but as time passed she stopped needing medication, she consolidated a stable and satisfactory relationship with a man, and began to realize some projects she longed for.
Rosa’s progress was confirmed through both the change in her habitual mood, corroborated by her own reports and clinical observation, and inferences made from analysis of three Rorschach tests (A, B and C) administered over four years of analysis.
As an example of the qualitative evolution of her production, we show
below one of the responses that was repeated
in the three protocols:
| A: VIII,
D, R 50
As if it were a paraglider, but in the middle, it is
torn. The shape.
|
B: VIII,
D, R 61
Paraglider. This part, with color. It is flying in the air.
|
C: VIII,
Ddr, R 56
Paraglider. Here, this would be the paraglider and here would be the person. It
is in the position of flying, prepared for...
|
Psychogram changes and various quantitative data, such as the increase
in formal quality percentages (F+ext%: A = 86%, B = 87% and C = 95%), point in
the same direction.
The aim of this paper is to show how favorable psychic change in
patients inferred through the Rorschach test under traditional criteria can be
detected and understood using concepts of Matte-Blanco’s psychoanalytical
approach.
·
Bi-modality:
(Matte-Blanco,
1988, p. 228)
According to Matte-Blanco there is a fundamental antinomy that results
from the co-existence of two modes of being in human mind: the heterogeneous mode and the indivisible mode. The presence of both
modes determines that we always treat the same reality as if it were
heterogeneous, that is, divisible into parts, and simultaneously, as if it were
an indivisible whole.
The heterogeneous mode leads us to find more and more differences in
anything that attracts our attention, whereas the indivisible mode, instead, is
eternally there, calling us and pushing us to see everything as a single thing,
to contemplate our existence, just to be...
·
Bi-Logic:
“…the unconscious… that mysterious world where
everything is so different from what we see in conscious life…”
(Matte-Blanco, 1975, p. 9)
Usually we think according to formal classical logic. We usediscrete and well-discriminated elements, respect temporal sequences and three-dimensional space, and try to avoid any kind of contradiction by reasoning with triads (made up of two components and their relationship), whose linguistic expression, propositions, are necessarily true or false. By proceeding in this way, we settle comfortably in the confines of an orderly and predictable world, but if we start exploring psychic phenomena, we son realice that its laws are not the only ones that rule them.
As we know, Aristotelian logic is not enough to explain the manifestations of the unconscious. Matte-Blanco believes that the peculiar features of this system, discovered by Freud in his study of dreams, do not reflect a situation of chaos but are the expression of a different kind of logic that can be formulated using two principles: the principle of generalization and the principle of symmetry. The former, by which all analogous individuals are treated as elements of a set, which is in turn a subset of a larger set and so on, is in accordance with ordinary logic; the latter, by which asymmetric relations are treated as symmetrical ones, and the elements of a class are considered identical with each other and with the whole class, disrupts all the mechanisms of traditional logic, and, taken to extreme, precludes thinking and psychic life in general.
As a consequence of the application of the principle of symmetry, notions of time and space disappear, the principle of contradiction expires, displacements and condensations easily occur, and the boundaries between internal reality and external reality vanish.
The five strata that Matte-Blanco conventionally establishes in this structure are usually kept separate (although the lower levels always somehow participate in the higher levels), but it may happen that in certain altered states the barriers between them collapse. In these cases, often visible in clinical practice, symmetrization corresponding to the deeper strata invade consciousness by merging (neither alternating nor coexisting in parallel, as in normality) with the asymmetric aspects of mental functioning.
It is important to clarify that, just as the unconscious is not a form of pathology, bi-logical productions do not necessarily involve psychic disturbances, and we can find them in all fields of human activity, such as politics, science, art (especially in poetry), and psychoanalytic interpretations. In fact, Matte-Blanco suggests classifying them in each case simply as vital or non-vital bi-logical structures, without considering the amounts of symmetry operating in them.
It is important to clarify that, just as the unconscious is not a form of pathology, bi-logical productions do not necessarily involve psychic disturbances, and we can find them in all fields of human activity, such as politics, science, art (especially in poetry), and psychoanalytic interpretations. In fact, Matte-Blanco suggests classifying them in each case simply as vital or non-vital bi-logical structures, without considering the amounts of symmetry operating in them.
“…when an individual looks at the
Rorschach blots he sees something of himself.”
(Mate-Blanco,
1988, p. 196)
To begin, we will detail how the characteristics of the unconscious can be
observed in a response which we consider a clear example of what
happens when modes of functioning corresponding to the third stratum
(characterized by high doses of symmetry and intensities radiating and tending
to infinity) break into superficial levels:
|
B: III ↓, WS, R 28
Son of a bitch
(in Spanish, “hijo de su madre,” son of his mother) conductor, with mice coming out of his eyes. A skull-head. It
would be everything. A skull head, the arms in a gesture of
"attention". The shape of the skull, mice (because of the rounded
shape) coming out of the holes. Black
suit and white shirt, bowtie in the belly, it should be higher. Red bowtie, it is not flat, it is so
(gesture of volume).
|
In this response, we find a conductor with a
skull where he should have the head, that is, a man who is alive (body) and
dead (skull) at the same time. We can clearly see that the principle of
contradiction is not respected, since the set that arises from the intersection
of the set of the dead and the set of the living, instead of being empty as it
should, contains an element inconceivable from a logical point of view: a living-dead being.
Besides, two moments that should respect a successive order: first being alive, then being dead, overlap. If both coexist, linear time disappears and we face timelessness or another conception of temporality, that of compatible time, capable of containing events that could never occur simultaneously.
On the other hand, this response condenses, that is, it locates at the same time and in the same place the living and the dead. Considerations of figurability, given by the appearance of a mixed composition conformed by the body of a living man and the skull of a dead man, demonstrates an attempt to represent in a way acceptable for consciousness the co-occupation of a space of more than three dimensions by two bodies corresponding to different moments and states of being.
We can infer that the patient has displaced or projected onto the subject of the responce her feeling of being alive and dead at the same time. Having conducted an orchestra, she belongs to the defined by the propositional function "conductors", which in turn belongs to the class conformed by the living people, which, together with the class of dead people, constitutes the most general class composed of all persons, living or dead.
We might think that the mice are also the target of a projective displacement[2], presumably of the intense oral and anal drives. In terms of Matte-Blanco, this displacement is simply the effect of the inclusión of the pacient and the mice into a set of symmetrically related elements.
Besides, two moments that should respect a successive order: first being alive, then being dead, overlap. If both coexist, linear time disappears and we face timelessness or another conception of temporality, that of compatible time, capable of containing events that could never occur simultaneously.
On the other hand, this response condenses, that is, it locates at the same time and in the same place the living and the dead. Considerations of figurability, given by the appearance of a mixed composition conformed by the body of a living man and the skull of a dead man, demonstrates an attempt to represent in a way acceptable for consciousness the co-occupation of a space of more than three dimensions by two bodies corresponding to different moments and states of being.
We can infer that the patient has displaced or projected onto the subject of the responce her feeling of being alive and dead at the same time. Having conducted an orchestra, she belongs to the defined by the propositional function "conductors", which in turn belongs to the class conformed by the living people, which, together with the class of dead people, constitutes the most general class composed of all persons, living or dead.
We might think that the mice are also the target of a projective displacement[2], presumably of the intense oral and anal drives. In terms of Matte-Blanco, this displacement is simply the effect of the inclusión of the pacient and the mice into a set of symmetrically related elements.
Finally, psychic reality partially replaces external reality. Rosa is perfectly aware of being alive, but if we accet the corollary of the principle of symmetry which states that the part is equal to the whole, then, for her unconcious, she has died completly when leaving work, and so say her emotions, with an intensity that tends to infinity.
A year later, in the following Rorschach, this response clearly departs from bi-logic after having been divided into two separate responses:
A year later, in the following Rorschach, this response clearly departs from bi-logic after having been divided into two separate responses:
| C: III ↓, Ddr, R 23
Conductor. This (points). Head, arms in a "levare,"
he is about to start, asking for
attention. Head, torso and red bowtie.
|
|
C: III ↓, D, Ad. 3
Ah, and these were the mice that come out of the
eyes... but put it as another response, mice that come out of a skull, from the holes.
|
A notorious
progress regarding logical thinking, determined by a process of increasing
asymmetry, took place after the elaboration of traumatic events and the exit of
the depression in which Rosa was submerged at the beginning of her treatment,
factors which resulted in a certain ordering of the stratified structure of her
psychic apparatus. Both
responses belong now to the first stratum, in which experience is characterized
by the conscious awareness of separate and well-defined things.
We will now examine the same response in the first Rorschach, administered at the beginning of the analysis:
We will now examine the same response in the first Rorschach, administered at the beginning of the analysis:
|
A: III ↓, Ddr, R 16
Here there is
another conductor. Poor man... with weird eyes. In this part
(points). With a low bowtie, a gesture of "attention" and weird
eyes, as if they were coming out,
dripping (gesture), poor man...
|
In this responce, the internal mental contents seem to enter the outer space prolonging the psychic reality in the objective reality through eyes that are coming out and dripping. The indiscrimination between self and non-self brings out the interference of disturbing symmetrizations which reveal the seriousness of the pathological state.
The responses of A and B are not only useful from a diagnostic point of
view, but also represent a valuable contribution to clinical work. Analyzing
them as if they were a fantasy or a dream, it is possible to take advantage of
them for interpretive purposes.
We will now present the first version of another response that Rosa gave
in the second Rorschach:| B: II ↓, D, Ad. 2
A mannequin. It has movement to one side, like
doing so (gesture), and volume through
the shadows. A mannequin like my mom's[3].
|
This is a relatively common response, which we might also locate in the
first stratum. The special event of occult
movement suggests the presence, in the background, of a living body behind
the mannequin, accounting for the exploration of relations between similar
objects, characteristic of the second level of the first layer.
Let's see how this response is
modified in the third Rorschach:
|
C: II ↓, D, R 10
These are the
torsos of the statues that I love. Of women. They are gray,
like made of metal or stone. They are
like Venus de Milo, they
are very feminine,
they have a thin waist... Posing sideways, like dancing,
a graceful gesture, if they had arms they would have them raised.
|
This response would belong to the second stratum, in which feelings, highly satured with indivisibility, can work together and harmoniously with reasoning, the purest exponent of the heterogeneous mode. At this level, it is sometimes possible to arrive at a balanced synthesis between the two ways of being proposed by Matte-Blanco, since, in this satrtum, emotionality has the possibility of unfolding freely, sheltered by asymmetric continents good enough to sustain thought, even when one experiences intense emotions by feeling that the qualities of somethin reach their point of maximun degree[4].
Let's go back to Rosa. Clearly there has been an increase in her symbolic capacity, in parallel with a noticeable change in her position as a woman. Both factors allowed her to construct in the last Rorschach a perfectly asymmetrical response, in which a lively bi-modal fragrance is still perceived. Using a cultural object, in this case a famous work of art, she managed to evoke the indivisible mode through the emotion it provokes. The sculpture of Venus de Milo refers to the Greek goddess of love, beauy and fecundity, and it becomes a metaphor of great effectiveness to convey the highest qualities of the feminine. Venus is a goddess, but she is also a woman and all women at the same time. Each and every woman is virtually present in a symbol that throughout centuries has invited those who look at it to connect with the essence of femininity.
·
Conclusion
“…a high
human achievement, the expression of a noble blending of both modes…”
(Matte-Blanco, 1988, p. 157)
Abstract:
The aim of this paper is to show how favorable psychic change in
patients inferred through the Rorschach test under traditional criteria can be
detected and understood using several fundamental concepts of Matte-Blanco’s
psychoanalytical approach, which is characterized, among other elements, by the
utilization of logical and mathematical tools to study the unconscious.
Following his frame of reference, all psychic products, including responses to the Rorschach, can be considered as a manifestation of bi-modality (the interaction between two modes of being: the indivisible or symmetrical mode and the heterogeneous or asymmetrical mode), expressed through logical or bi-logical structures, as may be the case, which may be vital or non-vital.
Responses to the Rorschach test can be studied according to their classification into one of the strata of the mind proposed by Matte-Blanco. Furthermore, in these responses the type of psychic functioning can be identified by the quality of adequate translation processes they reveal, or by the amount of disruptive symmetrical aspects they present.
In order to illustrate this type of analysis of Rorschach responses, the paper includes examples taken from three protocols obtained along four years of psychoanalytical treatment of a patient.
Following his frame of reference, all psychic products, including responses to the Rorschach, can be considered as a manifestation of bi-modality (the interaction between two modes of being: the indivisible or symmetrical mode and the heterogeneous or asymmetrical mode), expressed through logical or bi-logical structures, as may be the case, which may be vital or non-vital.
Responses to the Rorschach test can be studied according to their classification into one of the strata of the mind proposed by Matte-Blanco. Furthermore, in these responses the type of psychic functioning can be identified by the quality of adequate translation processes they reveal, or by the amount of disruptive symmetrical aspects they present.
In order to illustrate this type of analysis of Rorschach responses, the paper includes examples taken from three protocols obtained along four years of psychoanalytical treatment of a patient.
Bibliography:
Matte-Blanco, I. (1959). El concepto de enfermedad en patología mental. Revista chilena de psicoanálisis, Vol. 12, N° 2, 1995, Santiago, Asociación Psicoanalítica Chilena.
-
(1968).
Sull´interpretazione. Rivista di
Psicoanalisi, Anno XIV, N° 3, Sett. - Dicembre 1968, Roma, Societa
Psicoanalitica italiana.
-
(1975). The unconscious as infinite sets, London, Karnak Books, 1998.
-
(1988). Thinking, feeling and
being, London, Routledge, 2005.
-
(1996). “El espíritu de la geometría”
de René Magritte. Revista Chilena de
Psicoanálisis, Vol. 13, N° 2, diciembre 1996, Santiago de Chile, Asociación
Psicoanalítica Chilena.
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(2005). Aportes sobre
la creación artística. Gradiva: Revista
de la sociedad chilena de Psicoanálisis, Vol. 6, N° 2, 2005, Santiago de
Chile, Sociedad Chilena de Psicoanálisis.
[1] For Matte-Blanco, the Rorschach, and in general all projective
tests, relies on the fact that the unconscious identifies self and non-self.
The subject would not see himself or his conflicts in the plates if he could
not see them as if they were himself. Usually we speak of projection, but
according to Matte-Blanco it would be equally appropriate or inappropriate to
speak of introjection, since the distinction between internal and external does
not exist in the deeper region of the mind, which he calls the basic matrix. Matte-Blanco thinks that someone
selects an aspect of the inkblot because it is somehow isomorphic with
something that belongs to him, and that isomorphism becomes identity at lower
levels.
[2] From this logical point of view, the displacemente doesn't have to be explaines through cathexes or energy charges that go from one representacion to anorher.
[2] From this logical point of view, the displacemente doesn't have to be explaines through cathexes or energy charges that go from one representacion to anorher.
[3] The allusion to the
mother, already seen in version B of the answer previously analyzed, is
striking. The disappearance of the references to her in the C versions of both
responses could indicate that the degree of subjection to a terrifying maternal
imago has diminished.
[4] By virtue of what Matte-Blanco calls the Law of either infinite positive or negative infinite sets, the unconscious cannot conceive a given quality in a small degree because it attributes to an object the maximum potentialities that are implicit in the propositional function of the class to which it belongs.
[4] By virtue of what Matte-Blanco calls the Law of either infinite positive or negative infinite sets, the unconscious cannot conceive a given quality in a small degree because it attributes to an object the maximum potentialities that are implicit in the propositional function of the class to which it belongs.
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