Sunday, December 17, 2023

Life is a Rorschach

You've probably heard of the Rorschach Test, where people are asked to interpret the meaning of inkblot shapes, demonstrating how we interpret ambiguous circumstances. 

Dr. Michael Yapko uses the Rorschach as a metaphor for how we project our assumptions onto our life experiences:
"... like an inkblot – an 'experiential Rorschach,' so to speak – Life doesn't have an objective or assigned meaning. We give it meaning by our individual values, beliefs, relationships, careers, hobbies, and other life experiences" (introduction to Breaking the Patterns of Depression).
There's not much value in getting caught up with "what I might have done to bring on these circumstances." What works is to identify your patterns of behavior, focus on solutions and on the future, and build the skills that help you cope better with all that life brings. 

These suggestions are based on exercises from Yapko's book:
  • What are some recent situations where your behavior did not reflect your feelings... how might you express your true feelings more directly? 
  • To make your illness less amorphous, create a symbolic image of your experience of it, using paints, or crayons, or whatever else you have at hand. 
  • If your disease had a color, what would it be? Size or shape? Texture? How strong is it – how might it be eliminated as an adversary?
  • We learn our values as children, and not all of them work in our favor. Make a list of your values, their source, and how you express them in your life. (For example, did you learn to value emotional expressiveness or emotional containment? Taking risks or being safe?)  
  • Do you reject parts of yourself? List your "negative" characteristics, then write out at least three examples of situations where these aspects of yourself can have positive value.

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