The First Interview: Revised for DSM-IV [Hardcover]

James Morrison MD (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 18, 1994 | ISBN-10: 0898625696 | ISBN-13: 978-0898625691 | Edition: Revised

Designed for students in all mental health disciplines and for professionals who wish to hone their skills, this user-friendly, jargon-free text clearly shows how to conduct a successful diagnostic interview. The book covers a broad range of personalities and problems, offering fresh insight on how to elicit key information from even the most challenging patient. Focusing on both content and process, it details what should be asked and describes the best methods for posing clinical questions. Many illustrative clinical vignettes enliven the presentation throughout. Appendixes feature a sample interview and written report, abbreviated DSM-IV diagnoses for easy reference, and more.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An important how-to book on the diagnostic interview. Its elucidation of the medical model is particularly noteworthy. Comprehensive and eminently readable, the first edition of The First Interview has been at the top of my list of recommended readings to beginning psychiatry residents; senior medical students; psychology, social work and counseling students; and other trainees needing to sharpen their diagnostic interviewing skills. Dr. Morrison's years of experience as a crack interviewer and diagnostician come through in vivid colors. Thank you, Dr. Morrison, for making my job as an educator that much easier." --Sidney Zisook, MD, Professor of Psychiatry, UCSD School of Medicine

"Complely updated for DSM-IV, The First Interview is an important how-to book on the diagnostic interview. I plan to put it at top of my list of recommended readings for senior medical students and any other trainees needing to acquire diagnostic interviewing skills." --Sidney Zisook, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine

"Dr. Morrison has successfully sharpened the focus of the earlier edition of his important book, further enhancing the value and utility his work brings to all of us who are interested in the efficacy of the first interview and its relevancy to the DSM-IV." --Jule D. Moravec, Ph.D., Director, Western Region, Department of Veteran's Affairs, San Francisco

"The first contact with a patient, more often than not, sets the stage for a useful relationship as well as a sensible therapeutic plan. This book systematically presents a methodology for doing this. The new edition incorporates the latest in diagnostic criteria (DSM-IV) which have become a necessity for people to use in ordering their ideas about patients as well as interacting with their colleagues. This is true whether the clinician is a psychologist, psychiatrist, social worker, minister, nurse or, for that matter, a non-psychiatric physician. Dr. Morrison writes extremely well. One doesn't need a dictionary to understand the concepts and the suggestions. A decent educational experience in the discipline of one's practice is quite adequate for total understanding of the text. Finally, I want to say something about Dr. Morrison's common sense and insightfulness. In discussing a variety of stressors that may occur in the life of a patient or client, he points out that these could be independent events, possibly causing some part of the disorder or that the disorder itself might cause these events. This indicates both an open mindedness as to the cause of behavioral and emotional problems. I believe that Dr. Morrison's practical viewpoint and intelligence shines through every page of this book. No reader could help but derive considerable benefit and knowledge." --George Winokur, M.D., The Paul W. Penningroth Professor of Psychiatry, University of Iowa College of Medicine

About the Author

bio revised for reprint, 9/02:
James Morrison, MD, was educated at Reed College and obtained his medical and psychiatric training at Washington University in St. Louis. He is currently Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland. He is the author or coauthor of such acclaimed professional resources as [i]DSM-IV Made Easy[/i], [i]When Psychological Problems Mask Medical Disorders[/i], and [i]Interviewing Children and Adolescents[/i], as well as [i]Straight Talk about Your Mental Health[/i], a guide for consumers considering mental health treatment.

James Morrison, MD, was educated at Reed College and obtained his medical and psychiatric training at Washington University in St. Louis. He is currently Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Oregon Health Sciences University. He is the author of The First Interview, DSM-IV Made Easy, and When Psychological Problems Mask Medical Disorders, and coauthor (with Thomas F. Anders) of Interviewing Children and Adolescents.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 317 pages
• Publisher: The Guilford Press; Revised edition (November 18, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898625696
• ISBN-13: 978-0898625691
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #305,104 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

James Morrison, M.D., is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, Oregon.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The First Interview : Revised for Dsm-IV Clinical Perspectiv, April 8, 2000

By 

Karen Dougherty (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The First Interview: Revised for DSM-IV (Hardcover)

The First Interview : Revised for DSM-IV, by J. Morrison is a detailed and forthright tool for obtaining critical information from the client during the first session, while maintaining the clinician's ability to develop trust and rapport with the client. The use of vignettes offers the reader opportunity to visualize how the book's message might be utilized with clients. I have found this book to be of particular benefit to new interns, and to those who are working in government funded facilities, as it provides instruction for gaining the information required for developing an accurate diagnosis and creating an assessment plan such as are required for Medical clients. It is also a good review for clinicians regarding such issues as formulating effective questions and dealing with resistance. I suggest reading the book before one begins seeing clients face-to-face, as it will help to prevent the beginning clinician from developing poor clinical skills.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Must Have For Social Work Students!, April 6, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The First Interview: Revised for DSM-IV (Hardcover)

Morrison's approach to providing information and direction for the first interview is clear, detailed, informative, and right on the mark. As a first year social work student I wish that I had been able to read this book before I started my field placement. He takes you step by step through the process of the first interview--what to expect, what to do, how to handle different situations. Again, he is right on the mark. What makes this book such a great resource is that Morrison presents the material in a clear and concise manner. This is the type of book that you will open again and again as a reference and a refresher as you progress in your practice. Whether you are working with kids or the elderly, I highly recommend buying this book if you are thinking about going into social work, are a social work student or a practicioner.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Written by a great academic teacher, July 12, 2005

By 

Wolfgang Schlage - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The First Interview: Revised for DSM-IV (Hardcover)

A wonderful book! I have an MA in Psychology (and a PhD in an unrelated field) and have been working in emergency psychiatric evaluations for two years now. This is the one most helpful book that I have found on the question: How do I talk to a person for one hour and know what's going on with them psychiatrically?

What I like about it:
a) It guides you through the phases of an interview: opening; developing rapport; finding out the client's/patient's chief concern; enquiring about necessary background information, such as psychiatric, social, medical history; current mental status; closure. In what order to cover these topics, which questions to ask, how to ask them, how to pace the interview.
b) It fills you in on the main diagnostic signs and symptoms of the major psychiatric disorders. (If you know them already, it is a great refresher.)
c) There is a chapter about how to write the diagnosis, such as "diagnostic hierarchies" in case of more than one applicable diagnosis or when there is a number of possible diagnoses you are not sure about. [This will also help you read other people's diagnosis better.] Then a chapter about recommendations and prognoses.
d) Two chapters are about dealing with resistance and in other ways difficult clients.
e) It is written for a student who learns to do psychiatric interviewing. [The title, "The first interview" is indeed a double entendre, referring to the first interview of a patient/client *and* to your, the reader's, first interview(s).] Thus, it talks about the interviewer's problem with himself/herself, one's own insecurities, feelings, shame, and the techniques available to manage the interviewing relationship itself (such as, e.g., keeping boundaries without appearing callous).

The book ends with a list of the most important DSM-IV diagnostic criteria, a sample interview, and a sample written report. It has an annotated bibliography (i.e. a list of books with comments that the author recommends for further reading) and and index.

The best I saved for last: This author can write well! It is obvious that he likes his students (in this case you, the reader) and his patients. The author has humor that is never denigrating. This attitude is contageous, it warmed my heart and helped me like my patients. Thus, the book is a pleasure to read. Never dry. In my case, the question was not if I *had* to read the next chapter, but *when* I would have the time to do so. And all this not in a book about feel-good, "it's good that we talked about it" psychotherapy, but in a book covering a chapter in the field of "hard core" psychiatry.

Enjoy!