Purpose Of A Clinical Interview

A quality clinical interview differs from a casual “helping” conversation because the clinical interview has purpose, structure, a contract, and different roles. The purpose of a clinical interview is the “intentional focus on the client’s story, needs, and goal” (Murphy, B.C., Dillon, C., 2010 p.5). The structure of the conversation is “the overall process has a beginning, middle and end, and each phase of the process has it own tasks and emphases” (Murphy, B.C., Dillon, C., 2010, p. 7). Then we move on to the contact of the clinical interview which “is a working agreement that specifics such things as the participants, purpose, goals, roles, expectations, techniques, time, structure and cost of care” (Murphy, B.C., Dillon, C., 2010, p. 7).
Then finally there are the different roles between the client and the clinician. The role of clients is to “bring special knowledge of his or her own history” (Murphy, B.C., Dillon, C., 2010, p.8). The clinician’s role is to “bring special knowledge of human behavior, psychological theory, system theory and communication skills” (Murphy, B.C., Dillon, C., 2010, p. 8).
The most important aspect of clinical interviews would be the purpose of the event. Without a purpose there couldn’t be structure, contract or different roles. The purpose of almost all clinical interviews is to find out the information that will help the client lead a productive life.