Psychiatric Interview Skills

Effective patient interviewing skills are essential for both diagnosis and therapy in psychiatry. Psychiatrists depend heavily on being able to elicit the symptoms from the patient through careful questioning and observation.

As with any clinical interview building a good rapport with the patient is highly important. In psychiatry many of the symptoms are phenomenological and therefore identifying them depends on your ability to extract the information from the patient. 'Rapport' is a word often thrown around during communication skills training and medical school clinical sessions but what does it actually mean in clinical practice?

The very nature of some psychiatric illnesses cause patients disharmony and discord often also experienced by those around them. This aspect of psychiatry can make building rapport even more challenging but also even more rewarding! This section of the site looks into the practical and personal aspects of conducting a psychiatric interview, getting the basics right and having a structure to refer to will serve you well.

• Interview Setting

• Your Attitude

• Interview Structure