
Full Answer
What is a patient interview?
The patient interview is a complex process that requires the interviewer to have a high degree of skill. By improving interviewing skills, nurses can become more adept at obtaining valid information from patients.
What types of interviews are necessary for comprehensive patient treatment?
There are four types of interviews necessary for comprehensive patient treatment: information getting, information giving, persuasive, and counseling.
What is the purpose of clinical interviewing?
As a process, the clinical interview functions as an assessment (e.g., neuropsychological or forensic examinations) or signals the initiation of counseling or psychotherapy. Either way, clinical interviewing involves formal or informal assessment.
How does the clinician feel during the interview?
It may become evident that the interviewer feels negatively about the patient, disapproves of his or her behavior, or has been distracted by personal thoughts. After the problem is recognized and hypotheses generated about its etiology, the clinician tries out solutions as the interview progresses.

What is a patient interview in medical terms?
A comprehensive patient interview includes inquiring about the patient's medical, medication, social, personal, and family history, as well as a thorough review of systems and possibly a physical examination.
What is clinical interviewing?
The clinical interview is a distinct form of interviewing that involves a face-to-face verbal and nonverbal exchange between a clinician and client designed to gather data that is needed for diagnosis and treatment of the client.
What are the three types of clinical interviews?
There are three types of clinical interview, reflecting the degree to which the content and questions are scripted: structured, semi-structured, and unstructured.
What are types of clinical interview?
There are three types of clinical interviews: structured, unstructured, and semistructured.
What is treatment interview?
It is the interview which prescribe a social problem. While treatment interview is that which gives treatment to the problem and tries for its solution and remedies.
What is a diagnostic interview?
an interview in which a health or mental health professional explores a patient's presenting problem, current situation, and background, with the aim of formulating a diagnosis and prognosis as well as developing a treatment program.
What are the 5 stages of a clinical interview?
All clinical interviews follow a common process or outline. Shea ( 1998) offered a generic or atheoretical model, including five stages: (1) introduction, (2) opening, (3) body, (4) closing, and (5) termination. Each stage includes specific relational and technical tasks.
How are clinical interviews conducted in clinical psychology?
When conducting a clinical interview, whether it is structured or unstructured, you should try to pick up on as many nonverbal clues as possible. For example, notice whether the client looks you in the eyes or avoids eye contact, and whether he appears calm, anxious or hostile.
What is a clinical assessment?
Clinical assessment refers to an array of methods and instruments (measures) used by mental health practitioners – chiefly psychologists – to evaluate an individual's functioning in multiple areas and to inform and facilitate decisions or recommendations intended to improve functioning in one or more areas.
What is a psychological interview?
n. a directed conversation in which a researcher, therapist, clinician, employer, or the like (the interviewer) intends to elicit specific information from an individual (the interviewee) for purposes of research, diagnosis, treatment, or employment.
What can I expect from a clinical interview?
During the interview, the hiring manager will ask you questions to gauge your abilities, qualifications, traits, and knowledge related to the job and clinical setting. Understand the standard questions asked during this type of interview and prepare some answers in advance to convey your confidence and aptitude.
What makes a good clinical interview?
Important elements of a clinical interview include an environment conducive to sharing, open-ended questions and attention to both verbal and non-verbal messages.
Is a clinical interview an assessment?
The clinical interview often involves more assessment and less intervention. Interviewing assessment protocols or procedures may not be limited to initial interviews; they can be woven into longer term assessment or therapy encounters.
How do I prepare for a clinical interview?
How to Prepare for a Clinical Social Work Job InterviewOrganize your resume with intention. ... Set the precedent for professionalism. ... Conduct comprehensive research. ... Prepare for tough questions. ... Ask smart questions. ... End on the right note.
How does motivational interviewing work?
Motivational interviewing principles can be a powerful tool used to strengthen motivation in someone who is ambivalent and build a plan for change. 2. Therapists who use this technique help their clients by prompting them in an empathetic, non-confrontational manner to think about the negative consequences of their behaviors and to consider ...
When motivational interviewing doesn't help?
When Motivational Interviewing Doesn’t Help. Motivational interviewing is a journey where patients become motivated to change out of self-discovery. Patients arrive at the conclusion that sobriety is necessary in their lives. 3. Motivational interviewing can be a powerful therapeutic model.
How to help someone who is suffering from addiction?
Recognize that they are suffering due to addiction. See that there are coping mechanisms they can use in place of drugs and alcohol. View a sober lifestyle as something positive. Understand they have the power to break the cycle of addiction.
What is the first step in recovery?
In other words, the individual is acknowledging that they have a substance use problem— this is the first step in recovery. 1. This first step, or the concept of admitting defeat and facing the fact that a real problem exists, is critical.
Is motivational interviewing effective?
3. Motivational Interviewing can be an effective therapy choice for those patients who need to find personal motivation to change.
What is a patient interview?
The patient interview: Learn to communicate. As dental hygienists, interviews are a vital part of our responsibilities. As dental hygienists, interviews are a vital part of our responsibilities. Initial data about patients is usually collected through a questionnaire and followed by an interview. Through questions and answers we can learn about our ...
What is the structure of an interview?
All interviews follow a basic structure. This establishes good communication where active listening by both the interviewer and interviewee is required and substantive matters are discussed. Understanding where you are throughout an interview allows you to modify your communication appropriately.
Why do you have an initial discussion with a dental hygienist?
An initial discussion allows the hygienist to assess past medical and dental experiences and educate the patient about the links between systemic disease and oral health.
What is interview structure?
All interviews follow a basic structure. This establishes good communication where active listening by both the interviewer and interviewee is required and substantive matters are discussed. Understanding where you are throughout an interview allows you to modify your communication appropriately.
What are the disadvantages of a distributed interview?
Disadvantages of this style are that it may cause the hygienist to miss relevant information and may prove frustrating to the patient. A more balanced approach, called a distributed interview, divides power equally between participants.
What is the closing stage of a hygienist interview?
The hygienist may ask the patient to take the lead by asking questions or volunteering ideas that relate to the data. The closing stage of the interview is brief. The hygienist summarizes what has been discussed and what will happen next, either at the present time or in the future.
What is the purpose of the opening stage of an interview?
The opening stage of an interview is brief. Its purpose is to establish a comfortable environment. After greetings and introductions, successful communicators will explain the purpose of the interview, outline the discussion, and explain how they plan to accomplish the purpose.
What is patient interview?
The patient interview is a complex process that requires the interviewer to have a high degree of skill. By improving interviewing skills, nurses can become more adept at obtaining valid information from patients. With the knowledge they obtain from successful interviews, nurses can continue to plan and implement the care each patient requires.
What is patient assessment?
Patient assessment. Conducting an effective interview. The patient interview is a complex process that requires the interviewer to have a high degree of skill. By improving interviewing skills, nurses can become more adept at obtaining valid information from patients.
What is a psychiatric interview?
The psychiatric interview of a patient in the general hospital is identical in principle to that performed in most other venues. Areas of inquiry are identified; a diagnosis is pursued; and contributing factors from other aspects of the patient's background, current circumstances, and personal characteristics are elicited. A longitudinal conceptualization of the problem is useful (Figure 54-1 ). Thorough description of the presenting problem should be followed by an appraisal of the patient's psychological baseline. The patient should be asked when she last felt like her “usual self” rather than when she last felt “normal” or “good,” since some patients do not view themselves in these terms. Descriptions of that time should be provided and detailed questions should be asked (e.g., “How did you spend your time then?” and “Would I notice a difference about you if I met you then?”). The patient should be invited to speculate on how her “usual self” might cope differently with her medical situation. If the answer is “the same,” this provides an opportunity to explore characterological vulnerabilities. If not, this becomes an opportunity to look at intervening psychopathology or at demoralization. Either way, most patients appreciate the psychiatrist's interest in matters other than their symptoms. After this baseline is obtained, triggers or harbinger symptoms of the presenting problem can be identified. Last, since most psychopathology is episodic, a history of similar problems in the past can be elicited. Many patients cannot be interviewed in such a fashion, but the history can still be organized this way after the interview.
What should an examiner see when interviewing a patient?
The examiner should be sure to see both verbally and nonverbally that this captured the patient's problem. If positive feedback did not occur, the examiner should attempt to see if there was a misinterpretation, or if the interviewer came across as judgmental or critical.
Why should speech be recorded in psychiatric interview?
The patient's speech is observed throughout the psychiatric interview and verbatim examples of speech should be recorded in order to illustrate the symptoms described below and in order to note the content of conversation which may reflect underlying psychopathology. Speech may be abnormal in quantity, rate, volume and/or tone.
What type of interview is used in every astronaut selection round?
Psychiatric interviews have been used in every astronaut selection round, with the addition of psychological interviews, which emphasize performance and soft skills, along with greater structure and standardization in more recent decades [9,11].
Should the interviewer acknowledge the issues raised in the interview?
In general, the interviewer should acknowledge that some of the issues and questions raised will be highly personal, and that if there are issues that the patient has real trouble with, he or she should let the examiner know. Confidentiality should be assured at the outset of the interview.
What is a clinical interview?
A clinical interview is a tool that helps physicians, psychologists, and researchers make an accurate diagnosis of a variety of mental illnesses, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). There are two common types: structured clinical interviews and clinical diagnostic interviews.
What are structured clinical interviews?
Structured clinical interviews have a variety of uses, including: 1 Assessing patients in order to make a diagnosis based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5) 2 Practice for students going into the mental health field to become better interviewers 3 Research to study certain groups of people who all have the same symptoms or clinical trials
Why is it important to conduct a diagnosis interview?
It is also very important to conduct these interviews to get a baseline as to how much the condition is interfering with your life.
Is one interview method better than the other?
You may be wondering if one interview method is better than the other. The short answer is no. In fact, a 2015 study showed that both interview methods are equally valid and useful. Which method a clinician uses will likely depend on the standard of their organization and/or personal preference. 1 .
Is it important to have a thorough mental health diagnosis?
It is extremely important that a thorough method of diagnosis is used, regardless of which interview method your therapist recommends to determine if you are coping with obsessive compulsive disorder or another mental health condition , Too often, a mental health diagnosis is made without the help of these tools.
What is clinical interview?
As a process, the clinical interview functions as an assessment (e.g., neuropsychological or forensic examinations) or signals the initiation of counseling or psychotherapy. Either way, clinical interviewing involves formal or informal assessment. Clinical interviewing is dynamic and flexible; every interview is a unique interpersonal interaction, ...
What is the purpose of an interview?
If the purpose is to collect information pertaining to psychiatric diagnosis, the body includes diagnostic-focused questions. In contrast, if the purpose is to initiate psychotherapy, the focus could quickly turn toward the history of the problem and what specific behaviors, people, and experiences (including previous therapy) clients have found more or less helpful.
What are the skills of a psychotherapist?
Psychotherapists across all theoretical orientations, professional disciplines, and treatment settings employ different interviewing skills, including, but not limited to, nondirective listening, questioning, confrontation, interpretation, immediacy, and psychoeducation. As a process, the clinical interview functions as an assessment (e.g., ...
What are the central issues and activities of a clinical interview?
Client expectations, role induction, first impressions, and initial rapport-building are central issues and activities. First impressions, whether developed through informed consent paperwork or initial greetings, can exert powerful influences on interview process and clinical outcomes.
When do clinicians need to continue gathering information about client symptoms?
Often, at the end of an initial session, clinicians will not have enough information to establish a diagnosis. When diagnostic uncertainty exists , clinicians may need to continue gathering information about client symptoms during a second or third session.
What is the termination stage in therapy?
Termination. Termination involves ending the session and parting ways. The termination stage requires excellent time management skills; it also requires intentional sensitivity and responsiveness to how clients might react to endings in general or leaving the therapy office in particular.
What is the introduction stage?
The introduction stage begins at first contact. An introduction can occur via telephone, online, or when prospective clients read information about their therapist (e.g., online descriptions, informed consents, etc.). Client expectations, role induction, first impressions, and initial rapport-building are central issues and activities.
What happens if a patient goes poorly in the first interview?
The first interview is a watershed moment for the patient; if all goes well, the patient can be engaged and treatment established; if it goes poorly, it can delay treatment and even set a course of noncompliance for years to come.
What is the first interview with a patient with psychosis?
The first interview is a watershed moment for the patient; if all goes well, the patient can be engaged and treatment established; if it goes poorly, it can delay treatment and even set a course of noncompliance for years to come.
How soon after a psychosis episode can you see a doctor?
There are a myriad of ways that a person experiencing a first episode of psychosis can come to our attention. Usually, the patient presents fairly soon after the first signs and symptoms appear. Some patients, however, wait years before seeing a clinician.
What is a good rule of thumb for a physician interview?
A good rule of thumb is to tell families not to provide confidential information that will place the physician-patient relationship in a bind. As in any good interview, the clinician should begin with open-ended questions and, if needed, progress to more structured and direct questions.
What is the best approach to a first episode interview?
There is no “best” approach to the first interview for a first-episode patient, and experienced clinicians employ a variety of techniques and styles. What all successful styles have in common is the understanding that the symptoms, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment can all be extremely frightening for patients and their families. The true extent of the problem may present overtly, or it may unfold over the course of the interview and subsequent treatment. For the practiced clinician, the presentation is one they have seen before; the patient and family, however, may have no experience with or reference for it. Interestingly, though, as mental illnesses are increasingly brought into the open through the media, the general population is gaining some knowledge of them, especially depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia. For example, one patient who presented for the first time with extreme paranoid delusions stated, “My husband thinks I may be like that Beautiful Mind guy.”
Is responsiveness to pharmacological treatments early in the illness course predictive of a more favorable long-term
In the first episode, control of symptoms can be quite robust , but traces of the illness remain , often in terms of more subtle negative symptoms.
Is a definitive diagnosis necessary for psychosis?
Although a definitive diagnosis is needed before optimal treatment can be determined, in the case of the first encounter with a patient with psychosis, immediate therapeutic intervention is necessary.
