Clinical Interview – Psychology

The Clinical Interview

The clinical interview always has therapeutic intervention as its final objective. The client or patient will exhibit a behavior that you want to get rid of. Thus, a detailed analysis of his behavioral history should always be carried out under the focus of an intervention aimed at his well-being.

Thus, the interview aims to establish a special interaction, where the therapist has a privileged place of listening, and in this way, it can contribute to alleviate the problems of a particular person.

Interview x Direct observation.

Both the interview and direct observation have their limitations. Hayes proposes the division of human behavior into three categories:

1) Motor responses: Direct observation

2) Cognitive – verbal responses: Verbal reports: Interview

3) Physical-emotional responses: Physiological measurements and verbal reports

1.2- The initial clinical interview

This is extremely important with regard to forming the client’s and therapist’s first impressions. It is crucial in the sense that it is also through it that we elaborate our first diagnostic hypotheses.

They can be of two types:

Screening: Check whether or not the client should undergo psychotherapy.

Therapy: The professional will immediately continue the treatment. The first objective is interactional, that is, through it the therapist will seek to establish a relationship of trust with the client. It is also extremely important that the therapist try to motivate the client to start treatment through it. The second concerns data collection. It is worth mentioning that this objective should not interfere in any way with the interaction already established in a preliminary way.

Read Also: The frontiers of contact in Gestalt-Therapy

Interview template or structure

Haynes (1978) proposes that, until all possible problem areas are surveyed, the interview should be open, the same should occur whenever a new subject is introduced. Initially, it may be necessary to use some technique to lower the client’s anxiety. For Balau (1980) – ECI has four stages: “main stage”, “free complaint”, “directed complaint” and “closure”. For KEEFE (1980) one should start looking for general information, then the data are operationalized.

The initial interview can be better analyzed if subdivided into three stages:

1) Introduction: Rapport.

2) Development:

When should the customer’s problem or problems be known through data that allow a general and preliminary analysis of them. It is therefore advisable to have a sequence in which matters can be dealt with, as the client should never be induced to respond or asked for details. It just prevents the client from deviating from the reason for seeking treatment. In a second moment, when the client has already broadly exposed his problem, the therapist will use more directive strategies to obtain more specific and accurate data.

3) Closing: You can close an ECI through the following steps:

Cueing the customer of time is running out;

Avoid introducing new subjects and/or those that generate emotional disturbance;

Verify that the client does not have important doubts;

Make it very clear to the customer what your referral will be from then on.

Interviewing skillsSome strategies are needed to obtain data of interest and develop the interview within its framework. These may vary depending on the characteristics of the therapist and the patient. Techniques refer to the skills and behaviors used by the therapist. Some of these skills are:EMPATHY

Positive attitudes or set of feelings that the therapist presents to the client.
Authenticity, sincerity, genuineness, honesty, etc…
Show feelings through verbal and non-verbal behaviors.
Be empathetic: be reinforcing.
Accept the other without prejudice.
Empathy: covert behaviors