PSY 364/Techniques in interviewing & casework

Jeanne M. Slattery, Ph.D.

Growth means change and change involves risk, stepping from the known to the unknown. --George Shinn

The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases. --Carl Gustav Jung

Your previous Psychology classes have looked at the theory behind social problems and how to address them. This class is likely to be the most applied class other than an internship that you take in Psychology. Rather than only talking about listening, we will practice it. Rather than only discussing a person's background (in theory), we will begin to assess it in the course of our interviews and write-up of our findings.

This course will be especially useful for three kinds of students: (a) those people who plan to go to graduate school in one of the helping fields and want a head start relative to their classmates; (b) those who do not plan to immediately go to graduate school and want some preparation for entry level human services jobs; and (c) for people who plan to work outside of the helping fields, but know that listening skills are essential for their personal and professional success.

1. Learning an assessment model that will guide the helping interview;
2. Using active verbal and nonverbal listening skills to increase the effectiveness of the helping interview;
3. Writing our findings in an empathic, yet objective manner;
4. Understanding the roles of race, culture, class, and other contextual factors that may influence the assessment and interview process, and using these effectively;
5. Applying psychological theory to the interview situation.

As several of our objectives assume knowledge of psychopathology, PSY 354 is a prerequisite for this course.  However, successful completion of some of the following courses (e.g., Cross-cultural Psychology, Developmental Psychology, and Social Psychology) may also be useful.

This course earns a W flag because of its writing and rewriting requirements as well as its emphasis on writing as a basis for learning the content of this course. It also meets the Applied Coursework requirement in the Sociology/Psychology major.

How will you learn? Murphy and Dillon (2003) emphasize that learning to listen and work with others requires a variety of different strategies. I encourage you to use their REVIEW model:

Read about the skill
Explore and discuss the skill in class
View experienced clinicians employing the skill
Implement the skill in videotaped role plays
Evaluate your performance with classmates
Watch your videotapes with your classmates, giving and receiving feedback (p. xiv)

These ideas are the backbone for the assignments made in class.

        Text. Murphy and Dillon's Interviewing in action: Relationship, process and change (2nd ed.) is a wonderful book and emphasizes a respectful, culturally-relevant approach that should by the foundation for all counseling. It is supplemented by a video tape that can be borrowed from Diana in the Psychology Office and watched outside of class. Slattery's Counseling diverse clients: Bringing context into therapy helps you identify the range of contexts that can help you assess your clients and intervene with them respectfully. If you have taken or are taking Theories of Counseling and Psychotherapy, you will want to refer to Meier & Davis's Elements of counseling. This optional text is short and sweet.

My Counseling diverse clients: Bringing context into therapy (2004) helps you identify the range of contexts that can help you assess your clients and intervene with them respectfully. I am supplementing this text with readings available on the web or through the e-Reserve feature at our e-library.

I am supplementing your texts with readings available on the web or through the library's e-Reserve offerings. Go to http://library.clarion.edu and click on "Electronic Reserves and Course Materials." Then click on this course to find e-reserve materials. The password to access these readings is on your paper syllabus.

         Class time.  We will often have structured assignments as we learn different writing styles. Throughout the course we will often watch video clips of therapy and discuss them. However, this is a class that will depend on your active involvement. Many days I will begin class by asking you what ideas you want to discuss. The more active you are in asking and responding to these questions, the more you are likely to get out of this course.

         Role plays.  It is one thing to talk about interviews, something we will do a lot, and another to do them.  Watching other people perform interviews and doing interviews yourself -- both as the interviewer and as the interviewee -- are an essential part of our learning process.  Relax!  We'll all make mistakes, but we'll learn at least as much from the mistakes as from our successes.  Please talk to me if you are uncomfortable with this process and we will work together to make it work as smoothly as possible.

         Interviews.  Seeing yourself on tape is rarely fun, yet my previous students agreed that this assignment was a very important part of this course! You must schedule a time to review your tape with me. If you want an A in this class, you must do a second interview and turn in a five to ten page paper summarizing the interview, critiquing your work in it, and discussing your strengths, weaknesses and your improvement in your listening skills across the course. Your first interview is worth 10 points extra credit, the second is worth 50 points and is part of the course grade.

         Listening quiz.  We will have one quiz to assess your understanding of listening skills and when/why they would be used. This quiz will assess your understanding of the skills discussed to date as seen in a taped interview.

         Journal. Effective listeners spend time thinking about what does and does not work in their and others' listening styles. I'd like to engage in this "conversation" with you throughout this semester. You must turn in 10 typed journal entries over the first 12 weeks of the semester (starting with week 2). While entries do not have to be on exercises from your text, these exercises might be a good source of ideas.

Journals are worth 10 pts. No more than one entry can be turned in per week. Entries turned in after 11/21 will be counted as late, with a 2 pt. late penalty per entry.

These are short examples of what good and not so good entries might look like:

         Writing projects.  In your professional careers, a significant amount of your time will be spent writing reports, intakes, SOAP notes and letters. The faster and better you can do these, the more effective you will be on your job -- and the stronger your supervisor's evaluations of you will be! Although your job setting may use a somewhat different style than we will use here, the general ideas are the same across settings. In most settings you will be writing carefully and respectfully about what you observe. When you draw inferences, you will be expected to document the sources of your inferences carefully.

There are six kinds of writing assignments that you will perform across the course of the semester in addition to the journals. Papers are expected to be typed and double spaced. A 10% penalty will be assessed for late papers. Assignments include:

        (a) Behavioral observation.  Psychologists must carefully observe and describe the person with whom they work. Your first taped interview might be the basis of this observation. What do you see during the interview? What does this mean? This can be done based on a tape seen in class or any other interview from the list of movies that I will give you.

        (b) SOAP note, a formal and brief way of presenting the content of an interview. This can be written based on tapes watched in class or movie interviews, even the movie or tape that you used for your behavioral observation.

        (c) Psychosocial history, a written summary of the client's functioning in a variety of areas. We will do one in class and you are expected to do a second out-of-class based on yourself, a live interview with a friend, or a fictional or historical character (e.g., Harry Potter, Adolf Hitler, Amelia Earhart). Obviously, this may require significant research if you are doing a figure you don't know. I have books in my office that I would be willing/happy to share for this assignment.

Choosing to do your psychosocial history with someone with "a problem" can give you the basis for your treatment plan. Doing a live interview in order to gather your psychosocial history can give you a second taped interview.

        (d) Research summary, a two page summary of the research on treatment of an issue. This should be done on the issues that you are investigating in your psychosocial history (it's to your benefit to have identified who you're doing it on and what issues you want to address. Ideas must be cited and referenced in APA format. You can earn no more than 44 points (of 50) if your paper does not use primary sources or research articles.

        (e) Treatment plan, an outline of the treatment goals jointly developed with a client and the interventions designed for meeting these goals. We will initially do this in class, and then will do it out of class. Please attach your psychosocial history and research summary, if you did them on the same person. If you didn't, please describe the person and context in one page and briefly summarize the literature on "the problem" in another page before writing your treatment plan.

        (f) Client handout.  a short, but clear description of some of the issues that you would want your clients to consider. You might, for example, pull together a handout on coping with a depressed relative, working effectively with the school system, or on diagnostic issues for depression or generalized anxiety disorder. Although not required, it would make sense to develop your handout for the "client" for which you are developing a your treatment plan.

• performance in class
• the nature of questions raised and answers given
• attitude and motivation, including persistence and attendance
• quality of writing or analysis in your writing
• ability to continue to perform even as you experience stressors in your life
• other relevant interactions we have had and how you have performed there, including with Psi Chi, on research with me, or on departmental and university committees

Be aware of these and present your best face.  I am not asking that you be "perfect," instead that you demonstrate a willingness to think, learn and profit from experience, as well as an ability to behave professionally.

Grades will be determined as a percentage of the available points earned. These will come from ten sources: (a) journal (100 pts.); (b) a behavioral observation (50 pts.); (c) a SOAP note (20pts); (d) a research summary (50 pts.); (e) a psychosocial history (100 pts.); (f) a treatment plan (50 pts.); (g) listening skills quiz (100 pts.); (h) a client handout (25 pts.), (i) the first interview (10 pts. extra credit), and (i) the second interview (50 pts., optional, but required for an A), less (k) four points for each class missed beyond three.

If you choose not to do the second interview and analysis of your work, compare your performance to this scale:

I do not expect that a certain number of students fail and I would be happy if the class received only As and Bs.  To meet this goal I will be happy to help you when you need it.   If you have test anxiety or if this course raises issues which you want to work on, but that are beyond the scope of this class, call the Counseling Center (2255).

	8/29		What is counseling?		Slattery draft on BB: Ch. 1
	8/31-9/7		Empathy and nonverbal listening strategies		Slattery draft on BB: Ch. 3 Slattery (2004): Tables 8.2 & 8.3 Phillips (1996)		Video 3.1-4.4 First journal due 9/7 and Mondays thereafter until 11/21
	9/12-9/26		Making good observations and inferences		Slattery (2004): Ch. 1 Slattery draft on BB: Ch. 2		Video 1.1, 6.1
	9/28		Talking about change: Difficulties in making it and ways to maximize it		Slattery (2004): Chs. 6, 8, & 9 Lebow (2002)		Video 2.1 - 2.4 9/28: Behavioral observation due
	10/3-10/12		Verbal listening strategies		TBA Edgette (2002)		Video 5.1 - 5.3, 7.1 - 8.4 10/5: SOAP note due 10/12: Listening skills quiz
	10/17-10/19		Identifying and engaging "natural" supports: The role of context		Slattery (2004): Chs. 2 & 13		Interviews must be reviewed with me between10/15 and10/27
	10/24-11/2		Thinking about problems in their larger context		Slattery (2004): Chs. 2-4 Associated Press (2002) -- not for the faint of heart! Hardy (2001) Gandy (2002) Roche (2002)		Video 6.1, 7.1 - 7.4
	11/15-11/22		Treatment plans: Knowing where you're going		Continue with Yates readings Kaysen (2001)		11/9: Psychosocial history due.
	11/16-11/28		Choosing a focus		Slattery (2004): Ch. 12		11/16: Research summary due 11/21: Final journal entry due. 11/28: Client handout due
	11/29-12/6		The advantages (and difficulties) of empowering clients		Slattery (2004): Ch. 10 Shimrat (1997) Glenn (2003)		12/5: Treatment plan due
	12/8		Your own supports are important too...		Weiner-Davis (2001) DeAngelis (2002) Dess (2002)		Optional interviews must be reviewed between 12/5 and 12/13.

Associated Press. (2002, February 21). Transcript of Andrea Yates' confession. Houston Chronicle. Retrieved on January 16, 2003, from http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/special/drownings/1266294#top

Borash, M. (2002, March/April). Treating the involuntary client. Psychotherapy Networker, 21-22.

De Angelis, T. (2002, July/August). Normalizing practitioner stress. Monitor on Psychology, 62-64. Retrieved January 16, 2003, from http://www.apa.org/monitor/julaug02/normalizing.html

Dess, N. (2002, July/August). Re-igniting your spark. Monitor on Psychology, 66-68. Retrieved January 16, 2003, from http://www.apa.org/monitor/julaug02/reigniting.html

Edgette, J. S. (2002, January/February). Avoiding the responsibility trap: Engaging the reluctant teenager. Psychotherapy Networker, 25-26.

Gandy, K. (2002, March 13). Yates verdict can serve as warning to prevent future tragedies. National Organization for Women. Retrieved April 10, 2002, from http://www.now.org/press/03-02/03-13a.html

Glenn, D. (2003, January 3). Liberty, sanity, equality. Chronicle of Higher Education,49, A12. Retrieved January 15, 2003, from http://chronicle.com/free/v49/i17/17a01201.htm

Hardy, K. V. (2001, September/October). Soul work. Psychotherapy Networker, 36-39, 53.

Kaysen, S. (2001). One cheer for melancholy (pp. 38-43). In N. Casey (Ed.), Unholy ghosts: Writers on depression. New York: Harper/Collins.

Lebow, J. (2002, January/February). Transformation now! (Or maybe later). Psychotherapy Networker, 31-32.

Phillips, B. A. (1996). Bringing culture to the forefront: Formulating diagnostic impressions of deaf and hard-of-hearing people at times of medical crisis. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 27, 137-144.

Roche, T. (2002, January 20). The Yates oddyssey. Time, 42-50.

Shimrat, I. (1997). Call me crazy: Stories from the mad movement (pp. 1-10). Vancouver, BC: Press Gang.

Weiner-Davis, M. (2001, September/October). Hopefully ever after: A therapist discovers her mission. Psychotherapy Networker, 40-43, 49.

University / Department / Home / Syllabi / Skills / After graduation / Schools

Page by jms
URL= http://psy1.clarion.edu/jms/syllint.html

Last updated August 5, 2005