Subverting Psychological Assessment: The Use of Drawings-Stories Procedure in a Stuttering Patient

Abstract

Despite being in close contact with one another, the Clinical area and the Psychological Evaluation one are not always harmoniously related. The knowledge produced by both of them is often contradictory. The present paper deals with one of these situations which refers to the diagnosis of a patient who speaks with a stutter. Although the Psychological Evaluation claims that the use of oral techniques with such patients is inadequate, the Clinical one has revealed the harm caused to them when they are prevented from speaking. The evaluation of a patient who is not fluent is presented – it has been carried out through an interview and a Drawings-Stories Procedure. The data have been analyzed under a psychoanalytical reference which has been added to studies that refer to the subjective dimension of the stutter. The evaluation has revealed contents related to the patient’s psychic condition such as suffering and pathological benefits. There has been a debate over the limitations and potentialities of the Drawings-Stories Procedure in the understanding of the subjectivity of the person who is not fluent, as well as the therapeutic benefits with which it has provided the patient.