CLINICAL

INTERVIEW SPECIFIC
BEHAVIORS A
CLINICIAN MUST
By Camae Gangcuangco,RPm
HAVE DURING
CLINICAL
INTERVIEWS
When interviewers succeed in quieting themselves, knowing themselves,
and developing good working relationships, they have laid the
groundwork for conducting successful interviews.
The next task is to master the tools of the trade, the specific
behaviors characteristic of effective interviewers.

A primary task of the interviewer is to listen. Listening may

seem like a simple enough task, but it can be broken down into even
more fundamental building blocks of attending behaviors.
EYE CONTACT
Eye contact not only facilitates listening, but it
also communicates listening. That is, when the client
notices the interviewer’s continuous, appropriate eye
contact, the client feels heard.

Of course, culture plays a significant role in the

meaning of eye contact. In some cultures, eye contact
that lasts too long or is too intense may communicate
threat, seduction, or other messages that an
interviewer would be wise to avoid. On the other hand,
scarce, inconsistent eye contact
may be viewed by some clients as inattentive or
insulting.
Like so many other aspects of the clinical interview,
eye contact is a specific behavior that requires
cultural knowledge and sensitivity on the part of the
interviewer, both as the sender and receiver of eye
contact.
BODY LANGUAGE
As with eye contact, culture can shape the
connotations of body language. There are a
few general rules for the interviewer: face
the client, appear attentive, minimize
restlessness, display appropriate facial
expressions, and so on.

But even these basic rules are subject to

cultural interpretation, and a client may not
feel understood if an interviewer unknowingly
communicates disinterest through body
language.
Furthermore, the client’s body language can be
misinterpreted by an interviewer
whose knowledge of the client’s cultural
background is deficient.
 Skilled interviewers have mastered the
subtleties of the vocal qualities of language—
not just the words but how those words sound

VOCAL to the client’s ears. They use pitch, tone,

volume, and fluctuation in their own voices to

QUALITIES let clients know that their words and feelings

are deeply appreciated. And these interviewers
also attend closely to the vocal qualities of
their clients.
VERBAL TRACKING
Effective interviewers are able to repeat
key words and phrases back to their
clients toNassure the clients that they
have been accurately heard. Interviewers
don’t do this in a mechanical way;
instead, they weave the clients’ language
into their own. In addition, interviewers
skilled at verbal tracking monitor the
train of thought implied by clients’
patterns of statements and are thus able
to shift topics smoothly rather than
abruptly.
REFERRING TO THE
CLIENT BY PROPER
NAME
This sounds simple enough, but using the client’s
name correctly is essential. Inappropriately using
nicknames or shortening names (e.g., calling
Benjamin “Benji”), omitting a “middle” name that is
in fact an essential part of the first name (e.g.,
calling John Paul “John”), or addressing a client
by first name rather than a title followed by
surname (e.g., addressing Ms. Washington as
“Latrice”) are presumptuous mistakes that can
jeopardize the client’s sense of comfort with the
interviewer. Especially with clients of certain
ethnicities or ages, the misuse of names in this
way may be disrespectful and may be received as a
microaggression.
The interviewer should carry out all
these attending behaviors naturally
and authentically. Beginners may need
to make deliberate attempts to
incorporate such behaviors, but with
experience, they should occur more
effortlessly. As they do, clients
will respond more positively.
 Compared with traditional Western culture, Chinese culture tends to
feature far less eye contact, especially between members of the opposite
sex. Eye contact that falls within the normal range among Western
individuals may communicate rudeness or sexual desire among Chinese
people.
Norms for physical touch also differ from one culture to another, with
Asian cultures typically incorporating less than European Americans.
Thus, a touch on the shoulder, intended and received as innocuous from
one European American to another, might be received as inappropriate by
an Asian individual.
People from diverse cultures have also developed measurable differences
in the physical distance or “personal space” they maintain. Individuals
of Middle East and Latino/Latina cultures tend to stand or sit closer
together, whereas North American and British people tend to maintain more
space between themselves.

Tendencies such as these represent essential knowledge for the

culturally competent interviewer.