Japanese Society for the Rorschach and Projective Methods

Ⅰ. Presidential Greeting

Further development of psychological assessment for practicing clinical psychology

I am pleased to welcome you to the website of the Japanese Society for the Rorschach and Projective Methods, as the ninth president after succeeding Professor Ogawa. I appreciate your kind cooperation.
Approximately two year ago, on April 7th, 2020, the Japanese government declared the first state of emergency due to COVID-19, which started an unprecedented battle against this pandemic. As a result, it was not easy to hold typical academic conferences, meetings, or seminars in 2020, and we had to postpone, suspend, or hold them online. COVID-19 significantly affected our clinical practice, and undergraduate and graduate schools’ practical training programs of the psychological assessment.
On the other hand, now we have more opportunities to think about mental health and adapt to the new era. Face-to-face interviews and psychological testing that were the previous norm have become difficult, and we have attempted to manage by considering ethical issues. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy and education are immeasurable, and as a result, clients and patients complaining about their physical and mental disorders have increased.

Generally, clinical psychologists tended to place a higher priority on psychotherapy and interviews in education and training than psychological assessment. However, the psychological assessments offer psychological diagnoses that are essential for different approaches to psychotherapy. Psychological diagnosis is the compass for identifying the orientation of psychological support and defining its goal. The Rorschach technique is the pillar of psychological testing in psychological assessment. It is indispensable not only to master this technique, develop and introduce test batteries and give feedback by responding to practical needs, but also to learn them continuously.
The topic of the 23rd Annual Meeting of JSRPM, where I served as chairman, was “psychological assessment over generations and fields.” It is critical to understand desirable interpersonal relationships, including interactions between different generations in contemporary society, which are dramatically changing every day and every second, from the perspective of clinical psychology, and examine the typical problems of each generation. Moreover, the activities of clinical psychologists should cover a wide range of fields, such as education, medical care, welfare, judicial correction, and industry, among others. The psychological assessment used in these fields should continue to develop and meet the needs of the times. The academic research and information we diffuse have the mission of further developing practical clinical psychology activities.
I have been educated and trained by several professors and clinical psychologists who played leading roles in the dawn of psychological assessment using the Rorschach technique and practiced clinical psychology. This education helped me cultivate a “clinical psychology mind,” essential for conducting practical activities related to this subject. Now is the time to pass the baton to the next generation. I hope to do my best for the further development of our Society with the cooperation of other members, including executive directors, directors, and clinical psychologists.

President
Takahashi Yasue

Ⅱ. History

The JSRPM was founded on November 29, 1997. A brief history of the establishment of the society is presented below.

Prior to 1997, there were regional groups of researchers that deliberated the Rorschach method all over the country, and even today each group continues to be actively engaged in research. Although moves to form an institute dedicated to the Rorschach and other projective methods had been considered on several occasions in the past, it did not materialize for various reasons. In meetings after the 31st issue of the Rorschachiana Japonica, however, the editorial staff reflected on interactions between Rorschach practitioners. As a result, the promotion of Rorschach research was considered to be crucial. Furthermore, an extensive editorial board meeting of the journal was held, along with “the Rorschach symposium ’95,” hosted by the Nagoya research group in Japan, which deliberated the establishment of “The Rorschach Association” (a tentative name) and the direction of international and nationwide interactions. The topics that were discussed were as follows:

1. The regional research groups need a place for exchanging information
2. The International Society of the Rorschach and Projective Method, an international organization, host international conferences once every three years. Researchers from other countries attending these conferences have shown an interest in Rorschach research conducted in Japan. However, there was no nationwide institute to organize and serve this purpose.
3. Building the foundation for edition and issuing the Journal of the Japanese Society for the Rorschach and Projective Methods, was deliberated so that the journal would be sustained in the future, to serve as a national communication forum.
4. There were no public organizations, or agencies to ethically monitor the circulation and the sale of Rorschach pictures, or misuses of the test.
5. There was no group of professionals that could provide expert advises about the education and clinical standards for the Rorschach.
   The rigorous discussions in the extensive editorial board meeting resulted in the formation of a working group to work on the details for establishing the society. The members of the working group were nominated from regional research groups. Furthermore, a preparatory committee was formed consisting of the current and previous editorial staff of the Rorschachiana Japonica, who were the original proposers. On February 4, 1996, the eight nominees of the working group held a meeting at Chukyo University, and they discussed the rules, the membership fees, and aspects of the bulletin. Later in that February, they provided the draft to the editorial board, and the board soon suggested the draft to other editors, and at the same time, they were requested to recommend the founders. Along with their valuable opinions, a total of 74 founders were nominated. A preparatory committee developed rules based on the opinions that were collected, and the founding prospectus was created. Then, a nationwide call for membership began on September 1st in 1996. Please see the founding prospectus (separate section).

The preparatory committee meeting was held on February 11, 1997, to establish the structure of the society. The committee selected delegates and auditors from the nominated founders in accordance with the custom of other institutes. A total of 22 delegates and auditors were selected, and all of them accepted the offer. A vote was held by mail sent on April 10th, 1997, and the ballots were collected with the end of the April being the closing date. The president and four executive directors were elected from among the 20 selected delegates, by this vote.

The foundation of the JSRPM and the first general meeting were held simultaneously in Kanazawa, Japan, in place of “the Rorschach symposium ‘97” that was hosted by the research group in Kanazawa.

(Editor Toshiki Ogawa)

Ⅲ. Founding Prospectus

We are announcing the establishment of the “Japanese Society for the Rorschach and Projective Methods” for the further development of the Rorschach. We hereby explain our mission and call for members.

Ever since the Rorschach method was first introduced in Japan by Yuzaburo Uchida in 1930 in the journal Kyouikushinrigaku-Kenkyu (Educational Psychology), the Rorschach has been widely utilized in clinical psychology as an assessment technique. Even now, it is a popular assessment tool used by Japanese clinical psychologists. Rorschachiana Japonica was first published in 1958 through 1975, by the Rorschach research group in Tokyo, presided by Yasushi Kataguchi. The journal served 37 issues for developing and spreading research on the Rorschach.

The idea of founding the Japanese Society for the Rorschach and Projective Method had been planned for a number of years. We discussed this idea in an extensive editorial board meeting of the Journal of the Japanese Society for the Rorschach and Projective Method, which was held at the same time as the Rorschach symposium ‘95 in Nagoya in 1995. In the board meeting, the foundation of the JSRPM was approved. We intended to learn various Rorschach techniques and to contribute to spreading the Rorschach, promote research, and apply the Rorschach technique to various problems in the clinic. We also hoped that our members would actively participate in the International Congress of the Rorschach and Projective Methods. Researchers from other countries participate in international meetings together as a society. However, Japanese researchers participate at meetings only as individuals, which highlight a relative delay related to conference participation among Japanese researches.

The inaugural meeting for the establishment of the JSRPM was held in Kanazawa in 1997, which was followed by its first general meeting that was held in place of the Rorschach symposium ‘97. The activities of the JSRPM include the publication of the Journal of the Japanese Society for the Rorschach and Projective Methods, as well as holding workshops and meetings, such as the Congress of the Japanese Society for the Rorschach and Projective Methods and the Annual General Meetings of the Japanese Society for the Rorschach and Projective Methods. We welcome scholars that have been involved in Rorschach and other projective methods, as well as those that plan to be engaged in such methods in the future, in relation to clinical psychology. We sincerely appreciate your interest and hope that you will become a member of the Japanese Society for the Rorschach and Projective Methods.

September 1st, 1996
The founders of the Japanese Society for the Rorschach and Projective Methods

Ⅳ. The Constitution of the Japanese Society for the Rorschach and Projective Methods

Last amended: April 21, 2024