CLINICAL INTERVIEWING: • Clinical interview is the most widely employed assessment tool in clinical psychology. It is simply an interview is a conversation. • Often an interview is the only method a psychologist uses when evaluating a client • But when even an assessment also includes testing, observation, or the data collection methods the interview almost always plays a central role difference DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A CLINICAL INTERVIEW FROM OUR SOCIAL CONVERSATION • Different social roles of 2 participants. • Settings in which they occur. • Clinical interview is one-sided while social conversation is not. • Clinical interview also has an objective or a purpose. TYPES OF CLINICAL INTERVIEWS: 1) INTAKE: The first meeting between a psychologist and client is usually to conduct an intake interview. The primary purpose of the interview is to determine the nature of the clients problem. It is also important to obtain a clients informed consent before commencing psychotherapy according to the ethical codes. 2) CASE HISTORY: The case history is a detailed description of the clients background. The history provides information that may be necessary to formulate a complete diagnosis. Typical information gathered in a case history interview might include i. Chief Complaints ii. Onset iii. Duration iv. Course v. Precipitating factors vi. Negative history vii. Treatment history viii. Past Psychiatric and Medical history ix. Personal history x. Premorbid personality 3) DIAGNOSIS: The purpose of Diagnostic interview is to elicit the information necessary to arrive at the Diagnostic formulation this usually follows a medical model. The diagnostician asks a series of questions about the presence or absence of symptoms and based upon the information gathered determines a diagnosis. 4) MENTAL STATUS EXAMINATION: The following topics are typically covered in the mental status exam section of a report : i. General Appearance ii. Psychomotor Activity iii. Speech iv. Thought v. Perception vi. Consciousness