The use of structured clinical interviews for assessment in counseling

Abstract

The purpose of this article is twofold: to summarize some of the major issues concerning structured clinical interviews and to review data available on some of the most widely used interview schedules. One of the key challenges with the practitioner-scientist approach to counseling is the ability to compare information from a variety of clients and counselors. A structured clinical interview can be considered an empirically driven instrument that has preestablished questions and scoring procedures that make it a useful assessment tool. Through its use, comparisons can be made among clients, and the reliability of assessment and diagnosis can be increased.