ABSTRACT
This chapter touches on the reasons a comprehensive history is necessary and the importance of interviewing others, including family, peers, and health care workers such as nurses, dietitians, social workers, therapists, and medical doctors. Some salient fundamentals of interviewing, including engaging, questions to include and to leave out, note taking, safety screening, and factors that get in the way of a good history, as well as the art of give and take, are addressed. Two mantras of interviewing are commented on, and they are “Never assume. Always ask. Always know!” and “One more question.” Errors in understanding are made too often due to incorrect assumptions. When we hear that someone with bulimia vomits, it may automatically be assumed vomiting is for weight loss purposes exclusively. If we ask specifically “Why do you vomit?” reasons may be given such as to relieve abdominal pains, nausea, and bloating or to relieve stress. There may be multiple reasons an individual engages in a given eating disorder behavior, many of which may not be eating disorder driven. We need to keep asking questions along a given topic in order to make sure we have the whole picture. Assumptions are made when we do not have enough information.
