Psychology – The Clinical Interview

"The Clinical Interview" by Colette Chiland is a university textbook of clinical psychology explaining the purpose, nature and strategies of the clinical interview in psychology – the professional conversation between psychologist/psychiatrist and patient. The book is organised into chapters that:

🔹 Define what a clinical interview is and how it differs from an ordinary interview or instrumental testing. It treats the interview as a relationship in which the psychologist is the main instrument of assessment and must create a listening, non-directive, non-judgemental space for the patient.

🔹 Explain the theoretical models that inform clinical practice – including contributions from theories of transference & countertransference, and different approaches such as those of Rogers, Lacan and the Palo Alto school. These models help the psychologist understand what happens in the psychologist–patient relationship during the conversation.

🔹 Analyse the psychological processes at play in the interview – such as identification, projection, transference and countertransference – and how they affect the way patient and clinician understand each other.

🔹 Also focus on interviews with children and adolescents, showing how interpretation and approach change with age and development – and the importance of using suitable activities to draw information from the patient.

🔹 Present the methodological aspects of using the interview in research – how to structure an interview for scientific exploration and how to analyse the data gathered.