ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author finds that a special place has to be given for a first interview. It is a diagnostic interview, based on the theory that no diagnosis can be made in psychiatry except over the test of therapy. The patient's communication with the psychiatrist will have reference to the specific emotional tendencies which have a current form and which have roots that go back into the past or deep into the structure of the patient's personality and of his personal inner reality. One useful technique has been called the Squiggle Game, which is simply one method for making contact with a child patient. The reason this game can have value for the psychotherapeutic consultation is that consultant uses the results according to his knowledge of what the child would like to communicate. The Squiggle Game will not be found to dominate the scene for more than one session, or at most two or three.
