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ArgosyUniversity

COURSE NUMBER: PP7365 – C1

COURSE NAME: CLINICAL INTERVIEWING

TERM: Spring 2008

INSTRUCTOR:

Elizabeth Davies, Ph.D.

PHONE:

(312) 777-7694

EMAIL:


FAX:

ALT PHONE:

REQUIRED TEXTS:

Title / Helping Skills: Facilitating Exploration, Insight and Action
Author(s) / Hill, Clara E.
Copyright / 2004
Publisher / Washington, D.C. : American Psychological Association
ISBN / 1-59147-104-4
Edition / 2nd ed.
Title / The Gift of Therapy : An Open Letter to a New Generation of Therapists and Their Patients
Author(s) / Yalom, Irvin
Copyright / 2003
Publisher / New York: Harper Perennial
ISBN / 0060938110
Edition

RECOMMENDED READINGS: NONE

This Course Requires the Purchase of a Course Packet: YES NO

ArgosyUniversity

COURSE SYLLABUS

Course Number: PP7365– C1

CLINICAL INTERVIEWING

Spring 2008

Class Day and Time: Tuesday12:30-3:15

Faculty Name: Elizabeth Davies, Ph.D.

Campus: Chicago

Phone: (312) 777-7694

Email:

Office Hours: Mondays 10:20-10:50 and 12:00-12:30, Tuesdays 3:20-5:20; and by appointment.

Office Location: Room 1329

Teaching Assistant: Jennifer McCartin

Teaching Assistant e-mail:

Teaching Assistant phone number: (312) 735-0649

Course Description

This course is an introduction to psychological services, across theoretical orientations. It will cover the basic skills needed for interviewing and engaging clients in a diagnostic interview, assessment session or therapeutic relationship. It will provide a broad range of skill development experiences for students, which will serve as a foundation to help students prepare for diagnostic and therapy practica.

Course Prerequisites

None.

Required Texbooks

1. Hill, Clara E. (2004). Helping Skills: Facilitating Exploration, Insight and Action (2nd ed.).Washington, D.C. : American Psychological Association.ISBN=1-59147-104-4.

2. Yalom, Irvin. (2003). The Gift of Therapy : An Open Letter to a New Generation of Therapists and Their Patients. New York: Harper Perennial. ISBN= 0060938110.

3. Articles and excerpts as assigned in class. These are required, not optional. Many of them will be available electronically; the remainder will be on reserve in the library or distributed in class. It is your responsibility to let me know well before coming to class if you are having trouble getting the readings; inability to obtain a reading the night before class meets is not an acceptable reason for being unprepared.

Required Technology

Pentium III CPU/ Windows 98; 128MB RAM printer; Microsoft Office: Acrobat (full version); Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 (PC), 5.0 (MAC), or Netscape Navigator 4.08; Norton Antivirus.

Course Length

15weeks.

Contact Hours

45 Hours

Credit Value

3.0

Program Outcomes: Doctoral Program in Clincal Psychology

The Doctoral program in Clinical Psychology at ArgosyUniversity, Chicago Campus is an APA accredited program (APA, 750 First St. NE, Washington, DC20002, 202-336-5500). This program is designed to educate and train students so that they may eventually be able to function effectively as clinical psychologists. To ensure that students are prepared adequately, the curriculum provides for the meaningful integration of theory, training and practice. The Clinical Psychology program at Argosy University Chicago Campus emphasizes the development of attitudes, knowledge, and skills essential in the formation of professional psychologists who are committed to the ethical provision of quality services. Specific objectives of the program include the following:

  • Goal 1: Prepare professional psychologists to accurately, effectively, and ethically select, administer, score, interpret, and communicate findings of appropriate assessment methods informed by accepted psychometric standards and sensitive to the diverse characteristics and needs of clients.
  • Objective 1a: Accurately and ethically administer and score various psychodiagnostic instruments.
  • Objective 1b: Accurately interpret and synthesize assessment data in the context of diversity factors, referral questions, and specific objectives of the assessment, and organize and communicate results in writing and orally.
  • Objective 1c: Examine psychometric properties of psychological assessment instruments, and use that knowledge to evaluate, select, administer, and interpret psychological tests and measures appropriate for the client, the referral question, and the objectives of the assessment.
  • Goal 2: Prepare professional psychologists to select, implement, and evaluate psychological interventions consistent with current ethical, evidence-based, and professional standards, within a theoretical framework, and with sensitivity to the interpersonal processes of the therapeutic relationship and the diverse characteristics and needs of clients.
  • Objective 2a: Synthesize the foundations of clinical psychology, including psychopathology, human development, diagnosis, diversity, ethics, and various therapeutic models in clinical applications.
  • Objective 2b: Select, plan, and implement ethical and evidence-based interventions with sensitivity to the diverse characteristics and needs of clients.
  • Objective 2c: Demonstrate knowledge, skills, and attitudes to effectively implement and participate in psychological consultation and supervision.
    Objective 2d: Demonstrate personal development and self-reflective capacity, including growth of interpersonal skills, and therapeutic relationships.
  • Goal 3: Prepare professional psychologists to analyze the complexity and multidimensionality of human diversity, and demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to understand diverse worldviews and the potential meaning of social, cultural, and individual differences for professional psychological services.
  • Goal 4: Prepare professional psychologists to examine the historical context and the current body of knowledge of biological, cognitive, affective, developmental, and social bases of human functioning.
  • Goal 5: Prepare professional psychologists to critically evaluate the current and evolving body of scholarly literature in psychology to inform professional practice.

Program Outcomes: Master’s Program in Clinical Psychology

The Master’s Program in Clinical Psychology has been designed to educate and train students to enter a professional career as MA level practitioners.ArgosyUniversity, Chicago Campus provides students an educational program with all the necessary theoretical and clinical elements that will allow them to be effective members of a mental health team. The program introduces students to basic clinical skills that integrate individual and group theoretical foundations of applied psychology into appropriate client interactions and intervention skills

In addition, the Program offers excellent preparation for those considering application to the Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology.

Course Objectives

  1. Students will develop basic skills essential for interviewing as clinicians.
  2. Students will develop a wide repertoire of skills on which to base their interventions in both diagnostic and therapy practica.
  3. Students will learn more advanced skills by which to foster engagement, alliance and the therapeutic process.
  4. Students will know basic legal, ethical and professional concerns essential for clinical practice.
  5. Students will learn interventions that recognize and respect diversity related to race, religion, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation and culture.
  6. Students will develop increased capacities for open and accurate self-evaluation and peer evaluation of their clinical interventions.

Library Resources

ArgosyUniversity’s core online collection features more than 21,000 full-text journals, 23,000 electronic books and other content covering all academic subject areas including Business & Economics, Career & General Education, Computers, Engineering & Applied Science, Humanities, Science, Medicine & Allied Health, and Social & Behavior Sciences.All electronic resources can be accessed through the library’s website at User IDs and passwords are distributed during orientation, but can also be obtained at the circulation desk, calling 312-777-7653, or by e-mail at .

In addition to online resources, ArgosyUniversity’s onsite collections contain a wealth of subject-specific research materials searchable in the Library Online Catalog. Catalog searching is easily limited to individual campus collections.Alternatively, students can search combined collections of all Argosy University Libraries. Students are encouraged to seek research and reference assistance from campus librarians.

Information Literacy: ArgosyUniversity’s Information Literacy Tutorial was developed to teach fundamental and transferable research skills, including selecting sources appropriate for academic-level research, searching periodical indexes and search engines, and evaluating and citing information. In the tutorial, students study concepts and practice them through interactions. At the conclusion of each module, they can test their comprehension and receive immediate feedback. Each module takes less than 20 minutes to complete. Please view the tutorial at

Academic Policies

Academic Dishonesty/Plagiarism: In an effort to foster a spirit of honesty and integrity during the learning process, ArgosyUniversity requires that the submission of all course assignments represent the original work produced by that student. All sources must be documented through normal scholarly references/citations and all work must be submitted using the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th Edition (2001). WashingtonDC: American Psychological Association (APA) format. Please refer to Appendix A in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th Edition for thesis and paper format. Students are encouraged to purchase this manual (required in some courses) and become familiar with its content as well as consult the ArgosyUniversity catalog for further information regarding academic dishonesty and plagiarism.

Scholarly writing: The faculty at ArgosyUniversity is dedicated to providing a learning environment that supports scholarly and ethical writing, free from academic dishonesty and plagiarism. This includes the proper and appropriate referencing of all sources. You may be asked to submit your course assignments through “Turnitin,” ( an online resource established to help educators develop writing/research skills and detect potential cases of academic dishonesty. Turnitin compares submitted papers to billions of pages of content and provides a comparison report to your instructor. This comparison detects papers that share common information and duplicative language.

Americans with Disabilities Act Policy

It is the policy of ArgosyUniversity to make reasonable accommodations for qualified students with disabilities, in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). If a student with disabilities needs accommodations, the student must notify the Director of Student Services. Procedures for documenting student disability and the development of reasonable accommodations will be provided to the student upon request.

Students will be notified by the Director of Student Services when each request for accommodation is approved or denied in writing via a designated form. To receive accommodation in class, it is the student’s responsibility to present the form (at his or her discretion) to the instructor. In an effort to protect student privacy, the Department of Student Services will not discuss the accommodation needs of any student with instructors. Faculty may not make accommodations for individuals who have not been approved in this manner.

The ArgosyUniversity Statement Regarding Diversity

ArgosyUniversity prepares students to serve populations with diverse social, ethnic, economic, and educational experiences. Both the academic and training curricula are designed to provide an environment in which students can develop the skills and attitudes essential to working with people from a wide range of backgrounds.

Performance Criteria

  1. Students will structure a therapeutic session, including opening the session, engaging in fostering self-disclosure, managing transitions and interruptions, and closing the session.
  2. Students will demonstrate basic skills such as attending and listening, communicating empathy, clarification, reflection of feelings, summarizing, and appropriate questioning.
  3. Students will demonstrate the ability to assist client in clarification of feelings, thoughts, experiences, and communication.
  4. Students will model appropriate self-disclosure.
  5. Students will demonstrate the ability to effectively respond to client’s strong emotional expressions (e.g., anger, crying, suicidality, personal attraction, etc.)
  6. Students will demonstrate appropriate sensitivity to and respect for client diversity including racial, religious, ethnic, gender and sexual orientation issues.
  7. Students will demonstrate therapeutic responses to silence and resistance.
  8. Students will demonstrate an understanding of professional therapeutic relationship and boundaries.
  9. Students will be able to identify basic legal, ethical, and professional issues involved in clinical interviewing.
  10. Students will become more objective in their self-evaluations and evaluation of peers.
  11. Students will gain increased awareness of the impact of the variety of interventions presented through this course.
  12. Students will demonstrate the ability to be self-reflective or self-monitoring during therapeutic interactions; to be aware of their own emotions, thoughts, experiences, and bodily reactions; and to be aware of personal biases and issues that may foster and/or inhibit therapeutic progress in the interview.

Course Format

The class may include didactic presentations, discussion of readings, role-play, observing videotapes, class exercises, self and peer evaluation, and audio and video practice interviewing.

Informed Consent

This class is structured for the purpose of developing therapy skills. In order to learn these skills to apply in therapeutic contexts, you will be practicing these skills in class by talking about your own experiences and issues. Thus, this class requires personal participation. The value of this class will be enhanced through talking about issues that are real for you now. At the same time, it is very important for you to sense your own level of safety and privacy and honor this. You are not evaluated on the level of material that you choose to work on in this class. The issue of safety is one we will discuss both for the purpose of this class and as a therapeutic variable.

Confidentiality is required in this class. Your attending this class will imply that you understand the importance of confidentiality and that you are making a commitment to not share any personal information about any student outside of this class.

Grading

  1. Participation in class discussion and exercises.Evaluation will be based upon the quality of class discussion reflecting understanding of issues, openness to learning, and reflection upon one’s own strengths and weaknesses. (15% of course grade)
  2. Attendance is required.Please notify the instructor in advance in the event of an absence.If one class is missed a contracted way to make up the class must be arranged.If two or more classes are missed, credit will not be given.
  3. A 10-15 minute audio-tape will be submitted the 5th week of the term with a 2-3 page self critiqueand a verbatim transcript. The first tape should represent the way one would conduct a first session with a client. Your task is to establish rapport and demonstrate listening and attending skills regarding the subject's experience. The focus should be on integration of Exploration stage skills. These tapes will be presented in class.Please bring six extra transcripts for the class to read while you are playing your tape, as some tapes prove to be inaudible in a large classroom. For this tape only, you will receive two grades, one for the quality of the self-critique and the other for the quality of your interaction with the client. The self critique will count for 10% of your course grade and your performance in the interview will count for 5% of your course grade. (15% of course grade)
  4. A second 10-15 minute audio-tape will be submitted during the 9th week of class with a 2-3 page self critiqueand a verbatim transcript.The second audio-tape should include Exploration stage skills and begin to demonstrate some use of Insight stage skills. It should include a focus on basic skills such as empathic communication. These tapes will be presented in class. Please bring six extra transcripts for the class to read while you are playing your tape, as some tapes prove to be inaudible in a large classroom. The tape will be evaluated as described below. A single grade will be given for this tape, based on a combination of your self-critique and performance in the interview, with the latter constituting the bulk of the grade. (20% of course grade)
  5. A 20-25 minute video-tape will be submitted during the 13th week of the course.This is to be submitted with a self-critique (3-4 pages) and a written verbatim transcript of the entire session formatted as above.The videotape should include a demonstration of advanced skills such as challenging, summarization, emotional expression, probing, reframing of issue, goal setting, etc., as well as integration of the three stages (Exploration, Insight, and Action). Please note that the self-critique should reflect the entire session, not just a portion of the session.Ten minute excerpts of each video tape will be presented in class; please bring the tape to class cued to the portion you would like us to see, as well as six copies of the relevant portion of the transcript.Again, a single grade will be given for this tape, based on a combination of your self-critique and performance in the interview, with the latter constituting the bulk of the grade. (30% of course grade)
  6. A 30 minute group presentation (approximately three students per group) on clinical interviewing skills with special populations such as suicidal/homicidal clients, substance abuse clients, violent/angry teenagers, severely mentally ill clients, children, issues of diversity such as gender, religion, social class, age, ethnicity, or issues of trauma, grief and loss, etc. There are different intervention guidelines one must use to work appropriately with these various groups. The presentation should address the potential effects of belonging to the particular group on the interviewing process, the therapist, and the therapeutic relationship. Your discussion should include ways in which similarities and differences between therapists and clients might affect the therapeutic process, as well as specific intervention and interviewing suggestions for working with individuals belonging to that group. You must include an exercise or a role play in which you demonstrate exactly what you would say to such a client. Because this course focuses on clinical interviewing skills, it is important to assist class members in finding the words to speak with clients in the population about which you are presenting. In addition, you are required to submit a one to two paragraphwritten assessment describing your contribution to the group presentation, the other group members’ contributions to the project, what grade you believe you and each of them should receive, and any triumphs or troubles you encountered in preparing for this presentation. This self-evaluation will not be assessed as an independent contribution to your grade on the presentation, but will be taken into account in determining your presentation grade. (20% of course grade)
  7. Grading is done on a fixed curve as per school policy:A:94-100%;A- : 90-93%;B+: 88-89%;B: 84-87%;B-: 80-83%;C: 79% or below

Guidelines for Audio and Video Taped Interviews