Fall 2025 SOWK 581 Week 02 - The Clinical Interview Process

A presentation at Heritage University in September 2025 by Jacob Campbell and is tagged with Heritage University, MSW Program, SOWK 581

A white chair icon appears beside large text stating 'THE CLINICAL INTERVIEW PROCESS' on a bright blue background. Additional text reads 'Jacob Campbell, Ph.D. LICSW' and 'Week 02 for SOWK 581.'

**Slide Description**: The slide presents the 'WEEK 02 PLAN' with a focus on 'LEARNING OBJECTIVES' and an 'AGENDA'. **Learning Objectives**:- Analyze the concept of impostor syndrome.- Define transference and countertransference.- Understand change model stages.- Explain treatment phase considerations.- Experience motivational interviewing.**Agenda**:- Defining clinical practice.- Clinical interview overview.- Beginning stage of treatment.- Transference and countertransference.- Motivational interviewing practice.- Middle and end of treatment. **Context**: The background is a split of bright yellow and turquoise color.

Title: 'Core Tasks of Psychotherapy' by Cooper & Granucci Lesser, 2022. The slide lists tasks: develop therapeutic alliance, educate, nurture hope, coping skills, reconsider beliefs, sense of mastery, prevent relapse.Questions: Defining tasks? Importance? Implementation?

A person looks into a mirror with a shadowed reflection; the text discusses imposter syndrome, its effects, and recommendations for addressing it in social work education.

A list outlines types of cognitive distortions on the left. On the right, a silhouette labeled 'Thoughts we Have' faces a heart labeled 'Replacement Thoughts,' under the title 'Considering Our Thoughts.'

Diagram illustrating three stages of a clinical interview process: 'The Beginning of Treatment' (Pre-contemplation), 'The Middle of Treatment' (Contemplation, Preparation, Action), and 'The Ending of Treatment' (Maintenance, Termination).

Sun icon shines alongside text 'BEGINNING STAGES OF TREATMENT,' while cloud with lightning and rain contrasts on pink background. Text below reads 'MANDATED VS VOLUNTARY.'

A yellow circle displays 'BEGINNING STAGES OF TREATMENT' on a pink background. Nearby, text reads: 'The first meeting, Confidentiality, Introductions, Answering personal questions.'

A magnifying glass labeled 'Self-Awareness' is prominently displayed in the center. Text reads: 'WHO ARE YOU? WHO DO YOU SEE? Self-awareness is an umbrella term...interacts with multiple dimensions of the client’s identity.'

Flowchart illustrating 'Therapeutic Relationship' progression with stages labeled 'Beginning' in yellow, 'Middle' in green, and 'End' in blue, connected by arrows in a streamlined design.

**Object:** Text on concepts.**Action:** Defines psychological terms.**Context:** Presentation slide with split background.- 'TRANSFERENCE: A client’s transferential responses may be evoked by the therapist.'- 'COUNTERTRANSFERENCE/INTERSUBJECTIVITY: Considered to be both the result of the therapist's unconscious processes and an appropriate reaction by the therapist to the patient. It is a reciprocal influence of the conscious and unconscious subjectivities in the therapeutic relationship.'- (Cooper & Granucci Lesser, 2022 p. 22)

Slide displays a 'Persuasion Exercise' by Miller & Moyers (2020). On the left, instructions for the Speaker discuss considering life changes. On the right, instructions for the Helper detail persuasive techniques.

**Slide Description:**Title: 'A Taste of Motivational Interviewing' by Miller & Moyers, 2020.**Instructions for Speaker:** Share about a change you're considering, something you’ve thought about but not decided on. It should be a beneficial change or one you've delayed.**Instructions for Helper:**1. Ask why they want to change.2. Ask how they'd succeed if they decide to change.3. Ask their top three reasons for the change.4. Ask importance on a scale of 0-10, and why that number.5. After listening, summarize motivations and ask what they'll do.Blue header text on a white background; detailed guide next to it.

Two wooden oars intersecting at the blades are mounted on a shingled wall. Text: 'OARS' followed by:1. Open-Ended Questions2. Personal Affirmations3. Listen & Engage in Reflections4. Provide Summaries

The image features a presentation slide with the heading 'THE MIDDLE STAGE OF TREATMENT.' It includes tasks of psychotherapy like developing alliances and nurturing hope, along with a note stressing client safety and mastery.

Slide with text on a yellow background. Left: 'Ends without plan. In long-term treatment, termination is not necessarily agreed on beforehand but is an outgrowth of the therapeutic process that has reached an end. (Cooper & Granucci Lesser, 2022, p. 31).' Right: Blue oval with 'THE ENDING PHASE' in white.

Dr. Jacob Campbell

16 slides

Description

Week two is focused on the clinical interview process. Class is synchronous, with our in-person session taking place (09/06/25). You will read Cooper and Granucci Lesser (2022) Chapter 02 where you look at the therapeutic process as a whole divided into stages of treatment and what that looks like. I also ask you to read two journal articles about the DSM and ask you to start exploring your copy of this reference book. There are forums for you to consider diverse perspectives on the DSM and the content in the textbook. During the in-person class session we will be defining clinical practice and our role within the process practice. The agenda is as follows:

Defining clinical practice and our roles
Overview of the clinical interview process
What happens in the beginning stage of treatment
Transference and countertransference
Practice exercise with motivational interviewing
Middle and end of treatment

The learning objectives for this week include:

Be exposed to different perspectives on DSM and the medical model.
Students will be able to analyze the concept of impostor syndrome and its impact on new clinicians.
Students will be able to analyze the concept of impostor syndrome and its impact on new clinicians.
Define the concepts of transference and countertransference.
Understand the stages of the change model and relate it to the therapeutic process treatment.
Explain some of the considerations in the different phases of the treatment process.
Experience a conversation that is not motivational interviewing, and one that is more in line with the principles of motivational interviewing.