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Clinical Interview

Clinical interview is central to psychological assessment. It is different from our ordinary day-to-day conversations as it involves an interpersonal interaction in the context of professional relationship between clients and a psychologist to achieve a mutually accepted purpose. In conducting a clinical interview for assessment, psychologists are expected to:

  • Demonstrate understanding of the different purposes of clinical interviews and the kind of information gathering processes that need to be undertaken

  • Evaluate the purpose of the interview and apply appropriate interviewing style (e.g. unstructured, semi-structured & structured)

  • Choose and use appropriate clinical interview tools, if needed

  • Facilitate the development of good client rapport with the use of active listening and observation of clients’ needs.

  • Understand the impact of what clinical interview brings to the clients

  • Be empathetic, sensitive, non-judgmental and professional in conducting clinical interview

Here are some ideas and resources to spark your learning and thinking: 

 

interview methods

Sattler (2014) – Chapters 5-7 on Interview Methods

These chapters provide comprehensive information about clinical assessment interview with children, family and stakeholders. The chapters cover topics on:

•How to conduct an clinical interview

•How a clinical interview differs from a conversation

•Different interview styles

•Rapport building

•Dealing with difficult situations in interviews

•Use of different techniques in interviewing children, parents, teachers, families

Sattler, J. M. (2014). Foundations of Behavioral, Social, and Clinical Assessment of Children Sixth Edition. San Diego: Jerome M. Sattler, Publisher, Inc. 

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STRUCTURED, UNSTRUCTURED AND THERAPEUTIC INTERVIEWS

Sharp, Williams, Rhyner & Ilardi (2013) – Chapter 7 The Clinical Interview

The chapter explains the three main categories of clinical interviews in both psychiatry and clinical psychology, i.e., structured interviews, unstructured interviews and therapeutic interviews. It also highlights the relationship between clinical interview and therapeutic intervention.

Sharp, K. L., Williams, A. J., Rhyner, K. T., & Ilardi, S. S. (2013). The clinical interview. In Geisinger, Kurt F. (Ed); Bracken, Bruce A. (Ed); Carlson, Janet F. (Ed); Hansen, Jo-Ida C. (Ed); Kuncel, Nathan R. (Ed); Reise, Steven P. (Ed); Rodriguez, Michael C. (Ed), (2013). APA handbook of testing and assessment in psychology, Vol. 2: Testing and assessment in clinical and counseling psychology. (pp. 103-117). Washington, DC, US: American Psychological Association. 

See more here.

THE UNSTRUCTURED CLINICAL INTERVIEW

Jones (2010) – The Unstructured Clinical Interview

The article gives information about using the unstructured clinical interview to make a DSM-IV-TR diagnosis for adult clients with Axis I and Axis II disorders.

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Intake, Assessment & Therapeutic Alliance

This short video introduces basic and complex interviewing skills for psychologists to conduct intake interview and mental status examination:

For the full video go to: http://www.psychotherapy.net/video/clinical-interview-intake-assessment-training How do you do an assessment, collect historical data, develop a treatment plan and create a warm working alliance with clients all in the first session? Learn from experts John and Rita Sommers-Flanagan how to quickly create the foundation for a successful therapy and engage clients collaboratively in the treatment process.

Clinical Interviewing Skills

This is a video produced by a student Wong Ging Ging. It covers definition of clinical interview, overview of the process, types of clinical interview, and basic interview skills etc.:

Uploaded by g wong on 2015-10-16.