Interview Project
Interview Project
The Purpose of the interview is to determine the client’s issues in terms of constant headaches and evident problems in sleeping. Besides, the client’s belief in stress being the issue needs confirmation or be refuted (Friesen, 2010).
Have the client explain his symptoms
Ask him to build causal relations between his symptoms and the external factors that are likely to influence him
Talk about stress
Besides emotional symptoms discuss physical symptoms pertaining to headache and lack of sleep.
Questions (Zuckerman, 2005)
How are you feeling [Name]?
Did you get enough sleep lately?
So your headaches are the result of lack of sleep?
Do you believe there are other reasons that cause your headaches?
Is it possible that you work too much?
What kind of relations do you have at work?
Have you been denied promotion lately?
So, because another person has been promoted instead of you, you think that you are undervalued?
How does this reflect on your work?
You spend more time at work than at home with family?
Does this hard work reflect on your salary, or you think of working towards building up respect of others?
Is your family ok with you working so much?
Is this getting to you?
You feel stressed because of work, and even more stressed, because your family does not seem to understand you?
Can you say that you are feeling depressed?
Sometimes? Please explain.
You feel anger at the people at work and at home for not understanding you?
What else do you feel?
Feelings of anxiety and worry are present unless you are afraid to fail?
Do you want to succeed yourself or also impress someone?
So it was your Mum? Do you want her to be proud of you?
What else are you expecting? Praise approval?
Might it be that you are taking everything too serious?
Besides the evident emotional symptoms, are there any physical symptoms?
Physical symptoms mean frequent colds, pains in the chest, obsessive or compulsive behavior, difficulty breathing, panic attacks and so on.
You have all of them?
Maybe you are too hard on yourself?
Do you feel that your family does not support you?
Do you think it possible you talk to them and discuss this issue?
Paraphrasing, reflection and summary techniques are to be used (Friesen, 2010):
Because of not receiving a promotion at work, you feel more weight upon your shoulders because of your family’s attitude.
All you professional attempts are aimed at impressing your mother and making her proud of you
Because of the expectations your family has of you it is difficult to talk to them about your hardships
The difficult situation at work is stressing you out, and is thus the cause of your emotional and physical symptoms
Rapport techniques (Schumacher, 1990):
It is feasible to use the “Break the Ice” technique and have some small talk before the actual interview. During this small talk it is necessary to look for shared experience so as to make the client more inclined to open up and speak frankly.
Showing more empathy during the start of the interview will undoubtedly make the client feel more friendly and open.
It is important to avoid questions pertaining to race, or any other questions when asked the client may feel discriminated.
Analysis Summary
The client is a 25 year old who has graduated from the University with a Master’s Degree. He has a 3-year experience in working for a local law firm. These three years have been quite successful for him, however, he is nonetheless underappreciated. The client has not been sick with any disease or illness. More so, the client is not used to complaining preferring to keep silent and not go in about the problems he is experiencing.
The client seems not to be used to talking about anything beside his study topic and looks a little alienated. Moreover, his perplexed and puzzled look give away a feeling of not being sure as to why he is here in the first place. His words are rash and unconventional. Instead of explaining himself using modern day vocabulary, his speech is full of archaisms and long words even I do not know the meaning. He is a classic bookworm with a mind of a fully-grown man. However, his attitude to the surrounding world is hostile. In a way, I feel sympathetic for him, knowing that all I would get in return is anger, disbelief and mockery.
Of course, it is best to pull away from judging and abstain from the process of evaluating his appearance, which is deceiving. It is most important to focus on his words, behavior and attitude to the interview. This my own beliefs cannot influence, thus, the result would be fully objective.
Reference
Friesen, B. (2010). Designing and conducting your first interview project. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Schumacher, M. (1990). Creative conversations. Cincinnati, Ohio: Writer's Digest Books.
Zuckerman, E. (2005). Clinician's thesaurus: the guide to conducting interviews and writing psychological reports. New York: Guilford Press.
