Conducting Interviews

The media clip of the journalist Michael Parkinson interviewing the actress Meg Ryan is a clear demonstration of a variety of communication strategies being employed by parties who are not familiar with one another. In many ways, this mimics the therapeutic conversations that occur between health professionals and patients when they begin working with one another. In these situations, the interviewer must use a range of questioning techniques to encourage the interviewee to provide information. For this to be successful, the participants in the conversation must usually feel comfortable and at ease.

In order to effectively execute this therapeutic technique, there are five basic principles of motivational interviewing such as the expression of empathy, the development of discrepancy, the avoidance of arguments, the adjustment to client resistance, and the support of self-efficacy and expression (Easton, Swan & Sinha 2000). Firstly, one must display an understanding and experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another from the other person’s perspective ((Moller & Potter 2016b). In relation to an alcoholic client, one must develop a therapeutic and non-judgmental relationship with the client. By the use of active and reflective listening, one can create an empathetic atmosphere by establishing a safe and open environment to facilitate the vulnerability and honesty of the client. By taking the time to understand the client’s perspective, feelings, and values, you will create an empathetic environment that will facilitate the process of motivational interviewing (Easton, Swan & Sinha 2000).

For the professional practice interview, I interviewed Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Joe Exnowski. He has been working with my population of interest for the past four years. He works with an array of students dealing with anxiety, depression, stress, and substance use and abuse. In addition, to working with this population across different college campuses, he also works with couples in private practice. I conducted a 15-minute interview in which we had the opportunity to explore the pros and cons about working with this specific population more in particular, in regards to alcohol use and abuse.

I interviewed Takisa Smith, Director of the Center for Human Development’s (CHD) Watershed Recovery Center for women in Greenfield, Massachusetts. Her facility accommodates twenty-five women at the beginning stages of recovery and can also accommodate those who have been civilly committed, are pregnant, or post-partum and their infants (http://chd.org/adult-services/addiction-recovery-services/watershed-recovery-center-women/). I was lucky enough to know Takisa through my significant other (Leshawnda Underwood’s mother). Because of our preexisting relationship the interview was very laid back. Though I have known her for some time, it wasn’t until recently that I discovered she was a director of a substance abuse program. Once I knew

I interviewed my stepson who is currently struggling with an opioid addiction. This 24-year-old male has struggled for the nine years with his addiction, and when discussing it appeared to be depressed and unable to feel any hope to overcome it. When asked about his goals in life he reacted disempowered and unable to build a path to achieve his dreams. When we discussed his family and support he reacted very irritated and frustrated by the lack of support, as the family members who have been there for him in the past will not speak to him due to the re occurring relapses. The interviewee was asked about his diet and fitness habits and although he communicated a desire to continue a proper diet and exercise regime he has not been motivated to

Phil McGraw, also known as Dr. Phil, is a famous psychologist who helps people both directly and indirectly. Dr. Phil has overcome many challenges on his way to becoming a successful television psychologist, inspires others with his story, and is the author of many bestselling books. Before McGraw’s career sparked, he quit his job working with his father, and moved his family in the hope of finding a more enjoyable career.

Dawn Poitras was my interviewee. She works in our community and school as a person who is their for kids that need someone to talk to. She gives back to the community by being there and trying to give everyone no matter who you are someone that will listen to you. A lot of kids have no one to talk to and may be struggling with substance abuse with parents at home or if they are having trouble with it. She is the one who is always here to help no matter what the issue is.

From the beginning I explained why I needed an interview and how I can protect her information confidentially. It was a relaxed and respectful conversation; we communicated easily and had eye contacts attentively. I opened the conversation by asking how she was doing? She started talking about her family, life and work. I was an active listener, allowed sufficient time sharing her experience before asking follow up questions to explore in depth medical and psychosocial concerns.

Phil seemed to let Lauren explain a bit of what she went thru, put some pieces together and repeated them back to her in a form of a list where she explained some more details.( Laurens case) In Haley’s case what Dr. Phil did was just listen to her speak, show her a picture that she claimed was taken with Eminem when she was a child and bring out someone who could perform an ultrasound (2016, November 07). Dr. Phil gives a mother advice after her son, was abused and tells her to stop blaming herself for what she didn’t or couldn’t do because "Guilt is like rocking in a chair; it's something to do, but you don't go anywhere." Meaning that she has to stop focusing on what could have been done and focus on her child for him to get better (2014, April

The interview I conducted was a friend of my cousins’ and me. The biggest concern was the person was only available for a limited time period. We had discussed over the phone the format of the interview and I had sent her a copy of the questions beforehand. The interviewee generally was pleasant, but at times appeared restless and non-committal. I was curious about what she was thinking. There were times during the interview where I felt like she was not listening to the questions, as evidenced by her inability to focus on the subject matter. I was not sure if the reason she seemed ambiguous was, she did not really want to answer the questions or she was just not listening. As the interview continued and she began to discuss the medication she was taking I thought perhaps she might be overmedicated?

He had questions and facts written out in front of him so you made sure he had the correct word for word information when he was questioning her. He asked her straight forward questions that she couldn’t switch the subject. He uses his hands to talk as well too. I don’t think he asked her any questions that she could possibly deflect. He did his best to make eye contact with Nancy. Didn’t interrupt her when she was speaking. He thanked her at the end and even shake her hand. One more thing that I noticed to that I don’t know if it is that important but he wore his glasses during his interview. I feel like even though he probably needs them it seemed to be more professional

Dr Phil is very well known for his work of dealing with malcontent children and mangled families.

I had some difficulty at the beginning using this method, because I felt like I naturally wanted to take charge of the interview and was worried I wasn’t getting all the information. I felt like early on I had trouble not asking more aggressive questions because I felt like there was information I was missing and I want to make sure I got that information. Over the course of the interview, though, I tried to ease up and focus more on having a conversation with Chris about her problems. I think that

Overall, it seemed that the interviewer used appropriate nonverbal behavior. However, as the interview progressed she appeared to change position in the chair frequently and had a tendency

During the interview, I was able to provide comfort and ensure privacy for the patient. Mr. Z.Z. has a sensitive mental disorder that impacted him and his family tremendously. He limits his interaction with people outside of the family and the family prefers not to share their story with exception of some church friends. When approaching Mr. Z, I made sure that he knows the interview is just for me to practice communicating with patients, therefore we conducted it like a conversation. I also made sure Mr. Z was comfortable about the types of questions that I will be asking by giving him an overview of the process first. I feel that Mr. Z was able to open up to me and allow the interview to go smoothly.