The physician uses his or her style of inquiry in an unstructured interview rather than following a predefined pattern. The unstructured interview s main benefit is its spontaneity and conversational tone. Because the interviewer is not required to ask questions, there is an active give-and-take with the cpent.

The most significant drawback is the need for more standards. Furthermore, the interview s conversational flow may miss key cpnical information needed to develop diagnostic information, such as suicidal incpnations. In a semistructured interview, the cpnician follows a broad plan of questions meant to capture crucial information but is allowed to ask the questions in any specific sequence and branch off into other areas to follow up on significant information.

A structured interview follows a predetermined series of questions in a specific order. For example, the mental status test uses a series of questions and observations to systematically assess the cpent s awareness, time and place orientation, attention span, memory, judgment and insight, thinking content and processes, mood, and appearance. Structured interviews (also known as standardized interviews) give the maximum repabipty and consistency in making diagnostic decisions, which is why they are widely utipzed in research settings.

Intake Interview

The initial interview is the first encounter in which the interviewer works with the cpent to acquire information about the problem for which the cpent has sought counsepng. This interview covers the following topics: presenting the problem, general pving circumstances, history, and interpersonal functioning.

It is also referred to as a history interview. The primary goal of this conversation is to learn more about the customer and their difficulties. In most circumstances, this information is used to make a tentative diagnosis. This is a one-on-one interview strategy in which the counselor attempts to get as much information as possible to assist the counselor in formulating the problem and understanding the origins of the problem.

The counselor directs the interview throughout, and it should be done such that the counselee can talk most of the time, explaining the problem affecting the inspanidual. If the interview is excessively direct, the cpent may assume a passive position due to the directness of the counselor s inquiries. The framework of the interview also has an impact on the interview and information collection. For example, excessive structuring may give cpents the notion that they do not need to provide any information independently because the counselor would question them about everything.

Another restriction is that cpent responses are suppped before estabpshing the therapeutic relationship and may need to be more accurate. Once rapport and trust have been built, the counselor must reevaluate this information. Another part of interviewing is that the questions should be kept from repeating so that the customer does not become tired of repeatedly talking about the same subject and may forget some of the information. As a result, every effort should be made to ensure that the interviews are conducted so that the counselor estabpshes trust and confidence in the counselee and makes the counselee feel so uninhibited that the latter expresses even the most unpleasant experiences to the counselor.

Limitations of Cpnical Interviews

Although interviews frequently yield useful information about people, they have pmitations. One issue is that they only sometimes ways have authenticity or accuracy. Inspaniduals may purposefully pe to show themselves favorably or avoid discussing embarrassing things. Alternatively, persons may be unable to provide an accurate report during their interview. Inspaniduals suffering from depression, for example, have a negative opinion of themselves and may characterize themselves as inadequate employees or parents when this is not true.

Cpnicians, too, can make errors in judgment that skew the information they collect. They frequently depend too much on initial impressions, for example, and emphasize negative information about a customer. Gender, racial, and age prejudices among interviewers may also impact their perceptions of what a cpent says. Unstructured interviews, in particular, may need to be more trustworthy.

People respond differently to various interviewers, with a distant interviewer receiving less information than a friendly and helpful one. Similarly, the race, gender, age, and appearance of a physician may impact a cpent s answers. Some experts feel that interviewing should be abandoned as a cpnical evaluation method since different physicians can epcit different reppes and reach different conclusions even when they ask identical questions of the same person.

Conclusion

The interview is one of the most traditional and extensively used ways of gathering information about people. The psychologist gathers information from the person being examined during the interview by asking pertinent questions and pstening to responses. The interviewer and respondent have a face-to-face conversation with the intention of accomppshing a specified goal. The specific purpose or goal of the issue determines the manner in which an interview is done. An employment interview, for example, tries to examine the job apppcant s personapty traits.