Diagnostic Interview In Psychology: Characteristics And Functions
The interview is one of the most important tools within psychology, being used in order to carry out different types of exploration that allows the psychologist to find unobservable contents that need to be evaluated.
More specifically, the diagnostic interview in psychology is a tool used by mental health professionals, in this case within the clinical and health context, with the aim of exploring possible psychopathologies or the causes of the psychological discomfort that the patient is suffering. who comes for consultation.
In this article We will see in greater detail the diagnostic interview in psychologyas well as some of the most used techniques during the course of it.
The diagnostic interview in psychology and mental health is a resource widely used by psychologists and psychiatrists, in a clinical or healthcare contextin order to carry out a diagnostic examination and possible psychopathologies, or simply in order to search for the origin of the psychological discomfort or suffering that has led to the person who has come to the consultation to receive professional help.
It should be noted that the most important thing is not to formulate a diagnostic label, but to find the most appropriate psychological treatment that allows the psychologist to help his patient.
When making a diagnosis in psychology or an examination of a patient’s mental health, the criteria of the most recognized diagnostic systems worldwide are normally taken as reference, such as the DSM-5 of the American Psychiatric Association, or the ICD-10 and the recently published ICD-11, both from the World Health Organization.
However, these manuals have been developed based on a wide diversity of clinical mental health conditions, but they do not present indications about how to proceed to perform a diagnosis or explore the root of psychological discomfort. Therefore, it is important that mental health professionals have knowledge about how to conduct a diagnostic interview through a series of questions that facilitate the diagnosis or allow finding the causes of the psychological discomfort that the patient presents.
Throughout the diagnostic interview in psychology, the psychologist promotes the establishment of a good therapeutic alliance through sincerity, honesty and collaboration and by demonstrating that there will be confidentiality. The psychologist puts into practice fundamental skills in the profession, such as empathy or active listening.
Notably The purpose of the diagnostic interview in psychology is not merely to formulate a diagnostic label. about some psychopathology or mental disorder, although it must be taken into account that clinical diagnosis plays a fundamental role. However, this type of interview also serves to find the psychological treatment and the tools that the psychologist should use to help his patient.
It is also important to note that There is no single style of diagnostic interview in psychology, but rather each psychologist outlines his or her personal style. throughout his professional career as he gains experience with all types of cases in consultation. However, there are a series of essential aspects that most psychologists usually take into account when conducting a diagnostic interview.
What is it for?
The diagnostic interview in psychology and mental health is usually used with the objective of carrying out an initial examination that is of great help to the psychologist in order to make the first decisions about the path to follow during the following therapy sessions. It is common that this interview is complemented with different psychological evaluation instruments that allow the psychologist to contrast what he has collected during the diagnostic interview.
The diagnostic interview in psychology serves as an initial examination tool that makes it possible to determine if the patient can be evaluated or needs a more urgent intervention, and may need to be referred to a professional from another specialty (e.g., neurologist), as well as It also allows having a first reference that allows determining where the diagnostic examination should continue (e.g., complementing the examination through the diagnostic interview through the use of psychological evaluation tests).
In short, the diagnostic interview in psychology is a tool that allows the psychologist to have initial diagnostic impressions that mark the direction of the diagnostic evaluation, as well as the selection of the most appropriate psychological treatment or the determination of a referral to another clinical specialty. Therefore, this first exploration offered by the diagnostic interview must be carried out in the most reliable way possible, putting aside any type of expectations or stereotypes that the psychologist may have initially formed with respect to the patient.
Phases and guidelines to follow
Below we will see what are the fundamental guidelines that are usually considered when carrying out an initial exploration through the diagnostic interview in psychology.
1. Initial observation
The first task in the diagnostic interview in psychology is the initial observation that allows the psychologist to notice a series of details about the patient during the first seconds of the interviewsuch as those listed below:
2. Detection through questions
The diagnostic interview in psychology is a good detection tool through a series of questionsthere are numerous of them with extensive validation through empirical research that has allowed us to demonstrate that there are questions that have a higher quality when making an initial detection and a possible diagnosis in psychology.
These questions should not be considered as a diagnostic criterion in themselves, but they do serve as a first filter so that the psychologist can choose throughout the interview those topics of greatest relevance to determine the reasons why the patient has gone to the hospital. consultation, as well as the origin of his possible psychological discomfort.
Therefore, the clinician uses questions that are oriented to the aspects that are most relevant for the diagnosis or determination of the causes of the discomfort that the patient suffers in order to find the most suitable treatment.
3. Exploration
During the diagnostic interview in psychology, a series of informal questions in order to explore various aspects in the patient:
General level of attention during the conversation, as well as sustained, focused and selective attention.
Patient’s language, analyzing fluency, articulation, rhythm, inflections or way of expressing oneself.
Analysis of thought, through the assessment of its associative capacity or possible inconsistencies.
Assessment of the patient’s orientation (space-time, vital and historical and current).
Evaluation of short and long term memory, assessment of possible distortions.
Assessment of the patient’s anamnesis or life history.
Evaluation of the patient’s affective state (self-perception, motivation, non-verbal expressions, etc.).
It is very useful that the diagnostic interview in psychology be complemented with other psychological evaluation instruments in order to contrast the results of the tests with the conclusions drawn during the interview to enable a more complete and exhaustive diagnosis.
These complementary instruments offer the possibility of evaluating possible psychosocial problems or carrying out an evaluation of the patient’s global functioning about the degree of dependence when carrying out basic activities for daily living in case the psychologist deems them necessary when carrying out the diagnostic interview in psychology; To do this, you could use the Katz index or Katz Functional Scale.
Tests that evaluate the patient’s subjective health status can be used (for example, through the SF-12 test – “12-Item Short-Form Health Survey”) or through the brief Quality of Life scale (for example, WHOQOL – “World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire”).
It is also possible to use psychological tests complementary to the diagnostic interview in psychology to evaluate broader functional contents of the patient, such as through the Mini-Mental Test (“Mini-Mental State Examination”) that serves to make an evaluation of the subject. at a cognitive level if any possible deterioration is suspected.
