ABSTRACT
Our major means of professional helping, the face-to face interview is the most important arena for skill in treatment. Adept interviewing is the sine qua non of expert casework and psychotherapy. Accordingly, one would expect a very large number of books and articles on its theory and technique, but actually the literature remains limited. It is hard to write about interview tactics. Its skills and guiding principles are probably best imparted and learned in relation to concrete experiences. Broad generalizations about “how to interview” are often ludicrous, teetering on the knife-edge that divides the high- from the simple-minded. After some years in practice, it is discouraging to reread an essay touted to the pious as a classic admonition in our field. How profound was the advice to the earnest young student, “Start where the client is!” Is there a choice?
