The Psychiatric Interview

by Daniel J. Carlat

Now DSM-5 updated! Using a unique and effective combination of mnemonics, practical techniques, and phrasing examples that illustrate the nuances of the interviewing process, The Psychiatric Interview, 4th Edition helps you establish a rapport with patients and gain valuable clinical insights. Now updated to incorporate the DSM-5 and current research, this popular manual teaches you how to  improve your interviewing skills, breaking down this complex area into concise information you can put to use immediately in your practice.

Genres: Psychology, Psychiatry, Medicine, Mental Health, Nonfiction

485 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 1999

Reviews

[Bianca Iglesias · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great tool

Great tool for practice for anyone in the psychiatric field. Highly recommend as it is brief and easy to follow.

[Boris Tizenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a pretty quick read, that is thorough, while remaining very accessible. In addition to overviews about the different parts of the interviews, it includes examples and pearls. Highly recommend to any mental health professional.

[Meaghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I admit I'm not a psychiatrist or clinician of any kind; I'm just interested in the field. I think if I were one, however, this book would be very helpful, especially if I were just starting out. It's clear and concise, and I liked the examples given and the "clinicial vignettes." I would recommend this to any beginning psychiatrist or med student in psych rotation.

[Danny]

useful primer for med students and beginner mental health clinicians to learn psychiatric interviewing. describes the skills and strategies necessary to conduct a thorough assessment, going beyond the basic symptom review typical of history taking in other disciplines. does a good job of exposing the mistakes and weaknesses of untrained interviewing (such as the tendency to attribute symptoms to a particular disorder, rather than realizing the symptom is present in a wide variety of diagnoses). has a few good mnemonics, while others are tedious. a quick and practical read.

[Bablu · Rating 4 out of 5]

helped me figure out how a psydoc functions while interviewing. heavy on common sense, for good and bad. the meat of the book starts in section two with the mnemonics. not to say section one is skippable (it's easy to get through) but the most worthwhile are the sections on diagnosis and therapy. pretty sure having categorization and stereotypes of psychiatric illness memorized from an intro book isn't great for future conviviality

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, concise, interview guide. However, a lot of data is from old sources.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I mean, what can I say? It is assigned reading for school but it is a helpful textbook, and I did finish reading it this month!

[Chavonne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Diagnosis is, to me, one of the most difficult parts of being a therapist. On principle, I'm against diagnosing clients; however, as we are a managed-care driven society, I must. This book is incredibly helpful in giving key questions to ask to differentiate between similar disorders (I struggle with depressive disorder NOS and dysthymia). Also, the mnemonics are great. Some are incredibly useful, such as DIGFAST for bipolar disorder and SIEGCAPS for major depressive disorder. Some, however, are just silly; the one for panic disorder had me laughing out loud. This book is a real treasure that I will use time and again.

[Anthony Koller]

Well worth it!

A solid, reliable, although neither perfect nor exhaustive, tour through the psychiatric interview. Well worth the read for registrars/residents in psychiatry.

[Heshan Gunawardena · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you had to read just one book about interviewing psychiatric patients..,this is that book.