The First Interview: A Guide for Clinicians - Hardcover

Morrison MD, James; Morrison, James

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0898629926 ISBN 13: 9780898629927

Publisher: The Guilford Press, 1993

Synopsis

This accessible text demonstrates in step-by-step detail how to conduct a successful mental health diagnostic interview. Keyed to DSM criteria and covering the range of problems and personalities that interviewers typically encounter, it describes how best to elicit critical diagnostic details from even the most challenging patient. Readers will learn how to give free rein to the informative patient, guide the rambling one, encourage the silent patient, and mollify the hostile one. Based on recent research into effective interviewing techniques, The First Interview specifies what should be asked as well as the best methods for asking. Written in a conversational, jargon-free style, this book features numerous illustrative clinical vignettes that bring these effective techniques to life.
For each stage of any first interview, the author shows how to derive maximum information while establishing and maintaining trust and rapport. Sample beginnings model nondirective openings that immediately engage patients and elicit their chief complaints. For the body of the interview, techniques are suggested to draw out feelings and determine symptoms, family background, mental status, personal strengths, and vulnerabilities such as a history of violence or childhood abuse. Other chapters address the management of difficult patients and consultation with relatives and other informants. Throughout, clinicians are advised on how to communicate effectively, using both verbal and nonverbal techniques.
Final chapters focus on reporting the clinician's findings and recommendations to patients and their families in such a way as to provide information, security, and hope. Clearly stated principles will help trainees of all mental health professions evaluate the material they have obtained and communicate diagnosis and plans for management to other health care professionals. Practical appendices include a sample interview and written report, the latest DSM diagnoses in abbreviated form for easy reference, standards for scoring the initial interview, and a list of recommended readings.
Filled with case examples, The First Interview is an excellent introductory text for students in psychology, psychiatry, social work, pastoral counseling, medicine, and nursing. For the seasoned clinician, it offers a refresher course and new approaches to the difficult patient.

About this title

About the Author

bio revised for reprint, 9/02:
James Morrison, MD, was educated at Reed College and obtained his medical and psychiatric training at Washington University in St. Louis. He is currently Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland. He is the author or coauthor of such acclaimed professional resources as [i]DSM-IV Made Easy[/i], [i]When Psychological Problems Mask Medical Disorders[/i], and [i]Interviewing Children and Adolescents[/i], as well as [i]Straight Talk about Your Mental Health[/i], a guide for consumers considering mental health treatment.

James Morrison, MD, was educated at Reed College and obtained his medical and psychiatric training at Washington University in St. Louis. He is currently Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Oregon Health Sciences University. He is the author of The First Interview, DSM-IV Made Easy, and When Psychological Problems Mask Medical Disorders, and coauthor (with Thomas F. Anders) of Interviewing Children and Adolescents.

Review

"A very valuable new text for beginners who are learning to do the first interview of a mental health patient. It has good tables, detailed outlines, and outstanding quotes that tell the reader what to say at any given time. The author also gives pointers on how to write up and conduct the interview, At the end of the book there are descriptions of selected psychiatric disorders plus a sample interview and a sample written report. The experienced clinician will find this text a good review and a nice reference outline. For me, reading this book sharpened my attention to several areas of my 'first interviews' that had gotten sloppy."--"American Journal of Psychiatry" "Beginning trainees, those preparing for certifying examinations of patients, and experienced clinicians could all benefit from reading this book....Clearly written, highly practical, and fully researched....The book is richly illustrated with verbatim examples of effective and ineffective patient-professional communications, with accompanying commentaries on the pros and cons of the verbal and nonverbal messages. Numerous examples show how some messages elicit cooperation and enhance the flow of information, whereas others turn patients off....This book has much to offer, and I will be happy to suggest it to my residents and colleagues."--"Hospital and Community Psychiatry" "This is very much a do-it-yourself manual. Its aim is to give practical guidance to the novice psychiatric interviewer, and in this it succeeds admirably....The book clearly reflects a wealth of experience--the number of clinical case examples is prodigious--as well as familiarity with theoretical issues and relevant research....May berecommended to the keener medical student, to all psychiatric trainees and to those of their seniors who may wonder if their long-ago-acquired interviewing skills are as good as they might be."--"British Journal of Psychiatry" "This practical book guides readers in a thorough examination of the first interview a therapist conducts with a client, demonstrating how one can best approach, assess, and gain crucial diagnostic information during that first hour."--"Contemporary Psychology"

Edition details

• Publisher: The Guilford Press
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0898629926
• ISBN 13: 9780898629927
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 317