Discussion: Interview Format

Despite what you may believe (or may have been told), there is no such thing as one “right” way to do an interview. In fact, there are numerous books written about the various ways of conducting the clinical interview. In actual clinical practice, you will find the format that “works” best for you and addresses your unique strengths and the needs of the client.

In this Discussion, you will practice finding the interview format that works for you and share those ideas with your colleagues for feedback.

Learning Objectives

To prepare for this Discussion:

• Review the Learning Resources.
• Develop an interview format you would use for an initial interview of a client.

Post:

• Attach the interview format document you would use for an initial interview of a client.
• Describe what interview format your preceptor uses for the initial interview of a client.
• Describe which element of your interview format is most helpful in your practice.

Resources

Sadock, B. J., Sadock, V. A., & Ruiz, P. (2014). Kaplan & Sadock’s synopsis of psychiatry: Behavioral sciences/clinical psychiatry (11th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer.

• Section 5.1, “Psychiatric Interview, Mental Status Examination” (pp. 192–211)
• Section 5.2, “The Psychiatric Report and Medical Record” (pp. 211–217)
• Section 5.3, “Psychiatric Rating Scales” (pp. 217–236)
• Section 5.5, “Personality Assessment: Adults and Children” (pp. 246–257)
• Section 5.7, “Medical Assessment and Laboratory Testing in Psychiatry” (pp. 266–275)
• Chapter 6, “Classification in Psychiatry” (pp. 290–308)