Asking questions, therapist

If a physical examination is not possible, then a therapist or counselor will have to assess physical health in an interview format. The therapist can ask specific questions about health conditions and symptoms in the intake interview, and then can address specific health concerns through referrals as part of the treatment plan. It may be that a particular non-life-threatening health problem cannot be addressed during the course of therapy or treatment, but can be listed as a quality-of-life problem in the treatment plan to be addressed at a later date. In that way, the therapist and client can brainstorm ideas about treating the problem while in therapy and develop a plan of action for addressing the health concern after therapy is completed. 

Besides the intake interview, which can help gather information, there are a number of assessment measures for determining the quality of an important interpersonal relationship. The questions on these measures generally ask about things like communication styles, satisfaction in the relationship, joint decision making, and in some cases, abusive behavior. Two of the most well-known measures are the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (Spanier, 1976) and the Marital Satisfaction Inventory (Snyder, 1979). Therapists and counselors also may choose to interview couples together (with the consent of client and partner), and some therapists may recommend couples therapy (see Chapter 5) as part of the overall approach to treatment if deemed appropriate to help the client. Relationship assessments can yield important information that may be useful when working with couples. 

Why buy a book about psychopharmacology if you don t prescribe medications Ask yourself, how many of your clients tell you about the medications they are taking or wonder if they should be taking, for whatever disorder they are receiving treatment for from you. Or, do they tell you that they appreciate having more time with you than they get with the person who prescribes their medications so they can ask their questions in a less hurried environment This is the feedback from many mental health professionals, psychologists, social workers, therapists, and nurses, that we have received. 

On many occasions, people used precisely the same words to explain what they owed to medications They saved my life. One woman described just how deeply indebted she was to her therapist because he truly taught me what hope was. When asked what he most wanted others to know, a middle-aged man immediately replied Number one is, don t give up the hope that things can turn out for the best with or without medication. When asked the same question, a long-time patient thought for a moment and said with intensity, You can overcome suffering. ... 

Questioning can be a valuable technique. By asking the right questions at the correct moments the therapist can help the client to be much more concrete and specific in the things that he says. The therapist can phrase questions in certain ways in order to help the client provide information which is as concrete as possible. This is most important when the therapist is making an inventory of client s drug use. 

Another audience of the therapist s colleagues was arranged for her to practise the presentation that she was due to make to her fellow medical students in a fortnight, but this time it was also videotaped. As part of the previous week s homework, she had made predictions about how she thought she would cope and how people in the audience would react. These included that she would blush, shake, and look awkward, and that others would look embarrassed, avoid eye contact with her, and not ask any questions at the end. In addition, she agreed to start off using several safety behaviours, but then drop them one by one and note what effects this had on her anxiety. 

---