Client Problems Client Problems

It’s possible to identify at least four points on a continuum examining the causes of “mental disorders.” Of course, the biological psychiatrists might even claim that the words mental disorder are inaccurate , while someone like David Smail would claim that there is no such thing as mental illness. The following table brie?y describes four viewpoints on causal factors in mental/behavioral problems.

Biological Psychiatry DSM IV TR Minuchin Smail

Client problems Client problems re Client problems are Client problems are are a product of side in the individual, primarily a function completely derived their individual but are sometimes of family and envi from social, culgenetic and bio provoked or main ronmental context. tural, and political logical make up. tained by social or context.

cultural factors.

As with so many issues in psychology and counseling, your beliefs about clients’ responsibility for their problems will undoubtedly in?uence how you interact with them. Take time to examine where you fall on this continuum of client responsibility.

INDIVIDUAL AND CULTURAL HIGHLIGHT 6.2 your client’s thoughts, feelings, and behavior with respect to these standards to obtain a clearer sense of whether psychopathology is present in an individual case.

Tasks for the body phase of the interview are listed in Table 6.3.

THE CLOSING As time passes during the interview, both interviewer and client may feel pressure. Usually, the interviewer is tempted to ?re a few more pertinent questions at the client; it becomes a race to see if you can ?t everything into the 50 or 90 minute session. One key to a smooth closing is to consciously and skillfully stop gathering new information somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes before your interview time is over. Shea notes, “One of the most frequent problems I see in supervision remains the overextension of the main body of the interview, thus forcing the clinician to rush through the closing phase” .