Cognitive behavioral interviewing for adult disorders : a practical handbook

This is a guidebook for clinicians on how to conduct assessment interviews with patients presenting with common psychological disorders. The orientation is behavioural and cognitive; so the book has wide applicability, as most clinicians explicitly or implicitly accept this combination of models as a useful basis for assessing and treating these problems. The problem areas covered are: fear and anxiety problems; depression, obesity; interpersonal problems; sexual dysfunction; insomnia; headache; and substance abuse.

Motivational interviewing

Co-existing mental health and drug and alcohol problems occur frequently in primary care and clinical settings. Despite this, health professionals rarely receive training in how to detect, assess and formulate interventions for co-existing problems and few clinical guidelines exist. This Handbook provides an exciting and highly useful addition to this area. Leading clinicians from the UK, the US and Australia provide practical descriptions of assessments and interventions for co-existing problems. These will enable professionals working with co-existing problems to understand best practice and ensure that people with co-existing problems receive optimal treatment. A range of overarching approaches are covered, including: • working within a cognitive behavioural framework; • provision of consultation-liaison services, training and supervision; • individual, group and family interventions; and • working with rurally isolated populations. The contributors also provide detailed descriptions of assessments and treatments for a range of disorders when accompanied by drug and alcohol problems, including anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and learning difficulties. The Clinical Handbook of Co-existing Mental Health and Drug and Alcohol Problems will enhance clinicians’ confidence in working with people with co-existing problems. It will prove a valuable resource for all psychologists, psychiatrists, counsellors, social workers and all those working in both primary and secondary care health settings.

The novice researcher : interviewing young children

Being a novice researcher undertaking research interviews with young children requires understandings of the interview process. By investigating the interaction between a novice researcher undertaking her first interview and a child participant, we attend to theoretical principles, such as the competence of young children as informants, and highlight practical matters when interviewing young children. A conversation analysis approach examines the talk preceding and following a sticker task. By highlighting the conversational features of a research interview, researchers can better understand the co-constructed nature of the interview. This paper provides insights into how to prepare for the interview and manage the interview context to recognize the active participation of child participants, and the value of artifacts to promote interaction. These insights make more transparent the interactional process of a research interview and become part of the researcher’s collection of devices to manage the conduct of research interviews.

Brief motivational interviewing for depression and anxiety

Motivational interviewing (MI)can be applied as a brief, low intensity (LI) intervention of 1-4 individualised sessions (typically 45-60 minutes in duration), including screening, assessment feedback, and psycho-education. MI is a client-centred, directive therapeutic style that enhances readiness for change by helping clients explore and resolve ambivalence (Miller and Rollnick 2002). A summary of the key components of brief MI interventions is provided in Table 16.1. There is a well-established evidence base for MI in the treatment of substance misuse (particularly alcohol misuse; Moyer et al. 2002), as well as a growing evidence for the use of MI in the treatment of other mental disorders (e.g. depression, PTSD, OCD), as well as suicidality and physical health problems (Hettema et al. 2005). Brief MI intervention can be delivered as a standalone treatment or as a motivational prelude to pharmacological and/or other psychological treatments (Hettema et al. 2005). MI has been used as an accompaniment to cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) in the treatment of both depression and anxiety for resolving ambivalence about change and developing strategies for responding to resistance (e.g. treatment attendance, homework/medication compliance; Arkowitz et al. 2008a, 2008b). This chapter will describe how to apply brief MI interventions to the treatment of depression and anxiety as applied to the case of Megan (see Box 16.1) along with some of the challenges and potential solutions to applying MI in practice.

Motivational Interviewing changes the treatment trajectory of group Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy for anxiety

Anxiety disorders have been viewed as manifestations of broad underlying predisposing personality constructs such as neuroticism combined with more specific individual differences of unhelpful information processing styles. Given the high prevalence of anxiety and the significant impairment that it causes, there is an important need to continue to explore successful treatments for this disorder. Research indicates that there is still room for significantly improving attrition rates and treatment adherence. Traditionally Motivational Interviewing (MI) has been used to facilitate health behaviour change. Recently MI has been applied to psychotherapy and has been shown to improve the outcome of CBT. However, these studies have been limited to only considering pre- and post-treatment measures and neglected to consider when changes occur along the course of therapy. This leaves the unanswered question of what is the impact of pre-treatment MI on the treatment trajectory of therapy. This study provides preliminary research into answering this question by tracking changes on a weekly basis along the course of group CBT. Prior to group CBT, 40 individuals with a principal anxiety disorder diagnosis were randomly assigned to receive either 3 individual sessions of MI or placed on a waitlist control group. All participants then received the same dosage of 10 weekly 2 hour sessions of group CBT. Tracking treatment outcome trajectory over the course of CBT, the pre-treatment MI group, compared to the control group, experienced a greater improvement early on in the course of therapy in their symptom distress, interpersonal relationships and quality of life. This early advantage over the control group was then maintained throughout therapy. These results not only demonstrate the value of adding MI to CBT, but also highlight the immediacy of MI effects. Further research is needed to determine the robustness of these effects to inform clinical implications of how to best apply MI to improve treatment adherence to CBT for anxiety disorders.

Motivational Interviewing (MINT) improves Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) acceptance and adherence : a randomised controlled trial

Objective: Adherence to Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Therapy (CPAP) for Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) is poor. We assessed the effectiveness of a motivational interviewing intervention (MINT) in addition to best practice standard care to improve acceptance and adherence to CPAP therapy in people with a new diagnosis of OSA. Method: 106 Australian adults (69% male) with a new diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnoea and clinical recommendation for CPAP treatment were recruited from a tertiary sleep disorders centre. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either three sessions of a motivational interviewing intervention ‘MINT’ (n=53; mean age=55.4 years), or no intervention ‘Control’ (n=53; mean age=57.74). The primary outcome was the difference between the groups in objective CPAP adherence at 1 month, 2 months, 3 months and 12 months follow-up. Results: Fifty (94%) participants in the MINT group and 50 (94%) of participants in the control group met all inclusion and exclusion criteria and were included in the primary analysis. The hours of CPAP use per night in the MINT group at 3 months was 4.63 hours and 3.16 hours in the control group (p=0.005). This represents almost 50% better adherence in the MINT group relative to the control group. Patients in the MINT group were substantially more likely to accept CPAP treatment. Conclusions: MINT is a brief, manualized, effective intervention which improves CPAP acceptance and objective adherence rates as compared to standard care alone.

Artful interviewing: Conducting oral history interviews for practice-led research

Recently, there has been an increased use of oral history as source material and inspiration for creative products, such as new media productions; visual art; theatre and fiction. The rise of the digital story in museum and library settings reflects a new emphasis on publishing oral histories in forms that are accessible and speak to diverse audiences. Visual artists are embracing oral history as a source of emotional, experiential and thematic authenticity (Anderson 2009 and Brown 2009). Rosemary Neill (2010) observes the rise of documentary and verbatim theatre — where the words of real people are reproduced on-stage — in Australia. Authors such as Dave Eggers (2006), M. J. Hyland (2009), Padma Viswanathan (2008) and Terry Whitebeach (2002) all acknowledge that interviews heavily inform their works of fiction. In such contexts, oral histories are not valued so much for their factual content but as sources that are at once dynamic, evolving, emotionally authentic and ambiguous. How can practice-led researchers design interviews that reflect this emphasis? In this paper, I will discuss how I developed an interview methodology for my own practice-led research project, The Artful Life Story: Oral History and Fiction. In my practice, I draw on oral histories to inform a work of fiction. I developed a methodology for eliciting sensory details and stories around place and the urban environment. I will also read an extract from ‘Evelyn on the Verandah,’ a short story based on an oral history interview with a 21 year-old woman who grew up in New Farm, which will be published in the One Book Many Brisbanes short story anthology in June this year (2010).

Effective interviewing of culturally and linguistically diverse clients

Effective interviewing of culturally and linguistically diverse clients Tips from Dr Nigar Khawaja MAPS, Convenor, APS Psychology and Cultures Interest Group

Interviewing elites in criminological research: Negotiating power and access and being called 'kid'

Qualitative Criminology: Stories from the Field brings to life the stories behind the research of both emerging and established scholars in Australian criminology. The book’s contributors provided honest, reflective, and decidedly unsanitised accounts of their qualitative research journeys - the lively tales of what really happens when conducting research of this nature, the stories that often make for parenthetical asides in conference papers but tend to be excised from journal articles. This book considers the gap between research methods and the realities of qualitative research. As such, it aims to help researchers and students who conduct qualitative criminological research reflect upon their role as researchers, and the practical, ideological and ethical issues which may arise in the course of their research. It is also a call to criminologists to make public the ‘failures’ and missteps of their research endeavours so that we can learn from one another and become better informed and more reflexive qualitative criminologists.

Does the addition of integrated cognitive behaviour therapy and motivational interviewing improve the outcomes of standard care for young people with comorbid depression and substance misuse?

Background: The high rates of comorbid depression and substance use in young people have been associated with a range of adverse outcomes. Yet, few treatment studies have been conducted with this population. Objective: To determine if the addition of Motivational Interviewing and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (MI/CBT) to standard alcohol and other drug (AOD) care improves the outcomes of young people with comorbid depression and substance use. Participants and Setting: Participants comprised 88 young people with comorbid depression (Kessler 10 score of > 17) and substance use (mainly alcohol/cannabis) seeking treatment at two youth AOD services in Melbourne, Australia. Sixty young people received MI/CBT in addition to standard care (SC) and 28 received SC alone. Outcomes Measures: Primary outcome measures were depressive symptoms and drug and alcohol use in the past month. Assessments were conducted at baseline, 3 and 6 months follow up. Results and Conclusions: The addition of MI/CBT to SC was associated with a significantly greater rate of change in depression, cannabis use, motivation to change substance use and social contact in the first 3 months. However, those who received SC had achieved similar improvements on these variables by 6 months follow up. All young people achieved significant improvements in functioning and quality of life variables over time, regardless of the treatment group. No changes in alcohol or other drug use were found in either group. The delivery of MI/CBT in addition to standard AOD care may offer accelerated treatment gains in the short-term.

Symposium - How effective are brief motivational interviewing interventions : Are they necessary? Do they require enhancement? Can they be translated into routine clinical practice?

Brief interventions are effective for problem drinking and reductions are known to occur in association with screening and assessment. Design and methods: This study aimed to determine how much change occurred between baseline assessment and a one-session brief intervention (S1), and the predictors of early change among adults with comorbid depression and alcohol misuse (n=202) participating in a clinical trial. The primary focus was on changes in Beck Depression Inventory fastscreen scores and alcohol consumption (standard drinks per week) prior to random allocation to nine further sessions addressing either depression, alcohol, or both problems. Results: There were large and clinically significant reductions between baseline and S1, with the strongest predictors being baseline scores in the relevant domain and change in the other domain. Client engagement was also predictive of early depression changes. Discussion and Conclusion: Monitoring progress in both domains from first contact, and provision of empathic care, followed by brief intervention appear to be useful for this high prevalence comorbidity...

Transmedia Storytelling: From Interviewing to Multi-Platform

There is nothing new under the sun – so the saying goes, and in a digital age of recording oral histories, this holds true. Despite advances and innovations across the board in information and communication technology in the field of oral history it is essentially only the devices we record on that have changed. However, what has emerged is a plethora of ways that oral history interviews can be used to produce multimedia, or transmedia storytelling outputs- for exhibitions in public institutions, schools and by communities to engage interested groups, and in families and by individuals wanting to play with new ways of telling their family stories and histories. In 2010, QUT’s Creative Industries introduced a postgraduate unit called Transmedia Storytelling: From Interviewing to Multi-Platform, which was the first postgraduate course of its kind in Australia. Based in a Creative Writing discipline, but open to all coursework Masters, PhD, Research Masters and Doctorate of Creative Industries students, this unit introduces students to the theory and practice of semi-structured interviewing techniques, oral history conventions and applications, and the art of storytelling across various platforms.