Session 5: First Interview

Session 5: First Interview (19:30)

Jim Andrews, Ph.D, Speech-Language Pathologist

Mary Andrews, M.S., Couple & Family Therapist

This podcast provides an example of counseling techniques that may be used when conducting a first interview with a family that has a member with a communicative disorder/delay. I (Jim) conducted the interview to learn about the child’s communication, but also wanting to help the family tell their story and to learn about their attempts to help their child. Techniques used in the interview included the following:

1. Listening and Clarification (also called Restating)
   Clarification was used many times during the interview beginning with my opening statement, “Tell me about Johnny.” In nearly every instance that I clarified, Johnny’s parents remembered additional details they wished to share.
   
   
2. Tracking
   Tracking occurred during the discussion about the manner in which the father actively played with Johnny. Through tracking, the SLP often begins to identify family interactions that can be linked to speech language change.
   
   
3. Amplification
   This technique will be described in the next podcast (#6). It helps clients and family members identify speech-language abilities and strengths already present in their daily interactions.
   
   
4. Summarizing
   Summarizing was demonstrated at least twice during the interview. This technique assures that a clinician’s understanding of what has been learned is accurate. Family members and/or clients then have the opportunity to correct and refine that understanding if it is not “on target.” Summarizing also helps families remember something else they want to tell the interviewer. Notice that it led to useful information about the cloze technique Johnny’s mother used when she paused and allowed Johnny to say the last word of songs with which he is familiar. I will want to see her do this so we could talk about it more. Likely, it would lead to something she could not only continue to do, but also to expand. Summarizing also helps the clinician decide whether or not it’s time to move to a different topic.
   
   
5. Searching for exceptions
   Notice that the exception question (Has there ever a time when Johnny used his voice to indicate something meaningful?) led to a significant parental resource: pointing to Johnny’s classmates’ pictures and waiting for Johnny to make word-like sounds that varied with the different children his mother pointed to.
   
   
6. Learning what the family has already done in an attempt to help their member with the communicative disorder/delay
   A communicative disorder affects every family member and nearly always results in efforts to help the person. We’ll describe how this information is used to create speech-language change in Podcast 6 (Delivering Suggestions/Assignments to Family Members)

As you conduct an interview with your clients and their family members, consider it an opportunity to establish a client or family-clinician partnership. The partnership will become stronger as sessions progress and as more information is shared and discovered. Such partnerships lead to expanding effective techniques that may be used by clients and family members outside of the therapy room.