Abstract. This article presents a Therapeutic Assessment (TA; Finn, 2007 ) case study of a teenage girl assessed because of a complex set of symptoms: history of suicidal statements, sensory sensitivity, questions about gender identity, depression, anxiety/OCD, and possible subclinical psychotic symptoms. Logan’s parents, Joe and Susan, participated in the assessment, with Susan attending every appointment and Joe attending only the first and last. Ten instruments were administered, with each providing information about different aspects of Logan. The Thurston Cradock Test of Shame (TCTS; Thurston & Cradock O’Leary, 2009 ) scores and analysis encompassed all of the other test findings, clarified details not fully explained by tests such as the Rorschach and MMPI-A, and brought the core adolescent and family issue of shame to the foreground. When the assessors explained shame to Logan’s mother, she was better able to understand her daughter’s shame and connect with her own feelings of shame. When Logan’s father arrived for the final feedback session, he was quite tense, argumentative, and threatened to cancel the appointment. The TCTS allowed the assessors to understand Joe’s aggressive behavior as signs of TCTS defenses of deflation, aggression, and inflation/contempt, appreciate his underlying feelings of shame, and to delicately restore the “interpersonal bridge” ( Kaufman, 1996 ), which is key to reducing shame. As a result, Joe’s defensiveness decreased, and he was open to continuing the feedback session. In the end, Joe was able to identify with his daughter in a new way and even admit his own sense of shame in the session. This provided an opportunity for healing in the whole family.

Abstract. This article presents a Therapeutic Assessment case study of a 48-year-old Catholic nun who was evaluated for concerns related to recurrent depression, difficulty relating to others, trouble following through on tasks, and lack of self-care. Maria was given the Rorschach, MMPI-2-RF, Wartegg Drawing Completion Test, and Thurston Cradock Test of Shame (TCTS). Testing results suggested depression, problems regulating emotion, incongruence between external presentation and internal state, and impaired functional intelligence when negative emotions are triggered. Maria’s TCTS protocol indicated a tendency to deflate in the presence of shame or criticism. She used tentative language around emotion, did not access support, and struggled to resolve emotionally charged situations. The TCTS results appeared to access and explain Maria’s core difficulties. TCTS Cards 6 and 8 were selected for an assessment intervention session (AIS) designed to help Maria understand what she does with negative feelings. Maria was asked to tell a story focusing on the main character. Through half-steps and affective scaffolding, Maria identified how she “swallows” her negative feelings and “isolates” when emotions are strong. The authors discuss how the AIS helped Maria access her split-off affect, and understand its relation to her symptoms, poor self-care, impaired follow-through, and relational difficulties.