Personal Narrative: My Interview With Alcoholic Patients

The ability to conduct an efficient and effective clinical and diagnostic interview is arguably one of the most valued therapeutic skills. It is during the interview that the therapist learns about the difficulties and challenges experienced by the couple and begins to form the foundations for a healing professional relationship. There are three basic assessment elements that should guide every interviewing session.

So I attended the AA (alcoholic anonymous) meeting of a group called Choices Group from the KCB club on November 13th, 2015 at 2:30 PM. This AA meeting was held at the location of 5715 W. Alexander Rd.//Leon Ave. Although they meet everyday, this was the best day for my schedule. What I liked is that right away, I got in touch with the meeting organizer named Laura and she was more then willing to let me sit in in one of the meetings. Even over the phone I could feel that she was a nice person and when I met her I was not wrong. She has purple hair and such a bubbly personality. For starters, I always thought everyone would sit around in a circle but that was not the case in this meeting. There were tables where people can sit as well as some back chairs with no tables. When I arrived, Laura told me to sit in the back and when we go over people’s names to say that I was a visitor, that unfortunately never happened. It was around 2:27 PM and there was roughly 10 people there. As it got closer to 2:30 PM a bus showed up and that is when the rest of the people showed up. Roughly 45 people were there and the meeting started.

I was able to check the patient in a systemic order and to make her feel comfortable around me allowing openness and honesty about medical conditions. I responded to the patient in a professional way as to not make her feel uncomfortable and to represent myself as a professional. The patient felt very comfortable with me during the interview, I had asked her upon completion if I was professional and if she felt comfortable. She said that I was very gentle in examining her and that she was very comfortable speaking to me. During the examination there were moment when the patient and I had light conversation, as I did not want the experience to feel cold and calculated. She showed me picture of her family and the books that she loves to

The interview was not extraordinary. One thing I struggled with was not knowing how in depth I was supposed to go in the interview. In IPE it was always that we were meeting the patient for the first time so we needed to try to get a full history, but the patient today was a follow up so I didn’t know what was appropriate to ask . I decided it was easier (and better practice anyway) to stick to what I knew and go through as if I needed to get a full history.

The point at which the client’s symptoms were most extreme was towards the end of her alcoholism, which was in her early thirties. She used humor, felt incomplete and fragile, oversensitive to other’s reactions of her, felt the need to hide from people whether it was through work or through drinking, and was aware of her drinking problem. She also presented with anxiety, excessive exercising and healthy eating, and denial of drinking in excess.

Standing near the door instead of coming closer to her patient, she immediately began the interview. Without making any eye contact, she dived into a task-oriented approach by reading questions right off the chart in her hands. Throughout the

I prepared myself for the interview with the patient in advance by trying to select the best possible questions. The questions I selected were focused on getting the most information possible from my patient in the given amount of time. Prior to the interview, I was nervous about being able to comprehend and

As I pulled up and parked I checked in with myself to see how I was feeling. I was extremely nervous that I would stand out like a sore thumb. I have never been to a meeting before and I didn’t know if everyone had to speak or if there would be some sort of role call where everyone would need to introduce themselves and state they were an alcoholic and how long they had been sober. I was quite concerned that I would make some sort of social faux pas since I didn’t know the rules.

Patient Presentation: Benjamin Fowler arrived 15 minutes late for his appointment today. He was accompanied by his sister, Paula Fowler. She joined us in the interview to assist Benjamin and to answer some questions concerning Benjamin's behavior. Benjamin is a 27-year-olds African American male. He wore a t-shirt with dress pants and tennis shoes to his interview. Benjamin looked like he had not showered recently. Benjamin had issues focusing on the questions during the interview. He also was distracted by objects in the office during the interview. Benjamin also spoke in a quick manner. Benjamin was not able to tell me what day it was or where he was.

If the interview took place in a hospital or facility setting, I would have asked the participant to state her name and date of birth and I would double check the arm band to make sure I matched. During the interview, I maintained an eye contact and informed the participant to let me know any time she wanted a break and at any time she was uncomfortable. I used

Unfortunately, a full medical history was not obtained because client was not oriented and also exhibited lack of awareness. Client identified being a parent, a friend, wife, and horse owner as her main life roles. In the middle of the interview process, the client showed frustrations of her inability to recall. Interview was stopped since client could not answer further questions as she became verbally disorganized and was unable to control her

Questioning is the act of forming an inquiry and interpersonal communication to gain information which assist in making decisions. There are two common types of questions that are mostly used in an interviewing scenario, that is; closed and open questions. Closed questions are restrictive and require short answers .For instance, “Yes/ No “answers. The amount of information gained is limited while, open questions begin with “What, Why/ who?”They allow patients the freedom to talk about what they wish and invite an argument, long answers are required for these types of questions. (Stein-Parbury, 2009).

I would first enter the room wash my hand and introduce myself to the patient. Then I would verify the patient’s name and date of birth. I would explain that the neurological examination is for the assessment of the patient’s ability to respond to neurons and motor sensory. This would include the patient’s medical history review, age; drug history, family and social history; and physical examination to ensure that the patient’s reflex is responding correctly, but this would not include the deeper investigation such as neuroimaging unless some abnormality have been found.

An interview involves communication between at least two persons. Each contributor impacts and is impacted by the responses of the other. The practice of interviewing is central to the work done in many mental health settings. Interviews may be conducted for a variety of intended purposes and can be structured, semi-structured, or unstructured to best serve the purpose of the interview. The goals of a particular interview relate to the context in which that interview is conducted. Ethical clinical interviewing encompasses care for the client while working to achieve the goals of the interview. Some practitioners refer to interviewing as 'a conversation with a purpose. '

Sommers-Flanagan, J., & Sommers-Flanagan, R. (2017). Clinical interviewing (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley &