PSY 17A: CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY

Chapter 8: The Clinical Interview

Clinical interview - A common assessment

technique by clinical psychologists involving
a purposeful conversation with clients
characterized by questions and answers
Defining Validity, Reliability, and Clinical
Utility for Assessment Methods
1. Validity measure what it claims to
measure
a. Content validity has content
appropriate for what is being
measured.
b. Convergent validity
correlate with other techniques
that measure the same thing.
c. Discriminant validity does
not correlate with techniques
that measure something else.
2. Reliability yields consistent,
repeatable results.
a. Test-retest reliability yields
similar results across multiple
administrations at different
times.
b. Interrater reliability yields
similar results across different
administrators.
c. Internal reliability (e.g. splithalf reliability) - consists of
items that are consistent with
another.
3. Clinical utility- improves delivery of
services or client outcome

Specific Behaviors Listening can be

broken down into fundamental building
blocks of attending behaviors
Specific Behaviors

Quieting yourself does not simply

mean that the interviewer shouldnt
talk much during the interview. What
should be quieted is the interviewers
internal, self directed thinking pattern.
Being self-aware ability to know
how he/she tends to affect others

Eye contact
Body language general rules: face
the client, appear attentive, minimize
restlessness, display appropriate facial
expressions and so on.
Vocal qualities Use pitch, tone,
volume, and fluctuation to voices to
let clients know that their feeling and
words are being deeply appreciated.
Verbal tracking ensure clients that
they have been accurately heard.
- monitor the train of thought of client,
if able to shift topics smoothly rather
than abruptly.
Referring to the client by the
proper name misuse of names in
this way may be disrespectful and be
received as microaggression.

Components of the Interview

The Interviewer- the most pivotal

element of a clinical interview is the
person who conducts it.
General Skills

interpersonally and how other tend to

relate to him/her.
Developing
positive
working
relationships
Established
by
attentive
listening,
appropriate
empathy,
genuine
respect,
and
cultural sensitivity

Rapport positive, comfortable

relationship between interviewer and
client.
How? = Put the client at ease(small
talk), acknowledge the uniqueness of
the clinical interview, and matching
their language use to the clients.
Technique - What an interviewer
does with clients; including questions,
responses, and other specific actions.
Directive style - Get exactly
the info they need by asking
clients specifically for it; "yes"
or "no" questions.
(Closed-ended question)

 Nondirective style allows

the client to determine the
course of the interview. (Openended question)

Specific Interviewer Responses

Open-ended question and
Closed-ended question
Clarification - communicate to
the client that the interviewer is
actively
listening
and
processing what the client says.
Confrontation used when
notice a discrepancies or
inconsistencies in a clients
comments.
Paraphrasing used to ensure
clients that they are being
accurately
heard.
(echoes the clients words)
Reflection of feeling make
clients feel that their emotions
are recognized, even if their
comment did not explicitly
include labels of their feelings.
(echoes the clients emotions)
Summarizing tying together
various topics that have been
discussed,
connecting
statements that have been
made at different points, and
identifying themes that have
recurred during the interview.
Conclusions may consist of a
specific diagnosis made by the
interviewer or may involve
recommendations.

Pragmatics of the Interview

Note Taking
Audio and Video Recordings
Interview Room when choosing a
room[for interviews], it is useful to
strike a balance between professional
formality and casual comfort

Confidentiality

Types of Interviews
1. Intake interviews - Determines
whether client needs treatment, form
of treatment, and whether the current
facility can provide the treatment or if
the client should be referred out.
2. Diagnostic Interviews diagnose
the clients problem
a. Structured interview- is a
predetermined,
planned
sequence
of
questions.
Constructed
for
particular
purposes, usually diagnostic.
b. Unstructured
interview
determine their questions on
the spot, seeking information
that they decide is relevant
during the course of the
interview.
c. Semistructured interview
unstructured for first then
structured.
3. Mental Status Exam - Primary
purpose is to quickly assess how the
client is functioning at the time of
evaluation; employed most often in
medical settings.
Following main categories are
typically covered:
Appearance
Behavior/psychomotor activity
Attitude toward examiner
Affect and mood
Speech and thought
Perceptual disturbances
Orientation to person, place, and
time
Memory and intelligence
Reliability, judgment, and insight
4. Crisis Interviews - Designed to
assess a problem demanding urgent
attention and provide immediate,
effective intervention for that problem.