Clinical interviewing is a widely used assessment method among school psychologists and mental health professionals. Clinical interviewing involves a formally arranged meeting between an interviewer and interviewee to achieve specific goals. Sattler (2001) distinguished between the following four types of interviews (along with the main goal of each):

• 1.
  Clinical assessment interview—evaluates an individual's emotional and behavioral functioning and makes recommendations about treatment
• 2.
  Psychotherapeutic interview—relieves an individual's emotional stress and fosters change through treatment
• 3.
  Forensic interview—investigates specific questions about an individual or family and provides an expert opinion for a legal decision, such as child custody or determination of child maltreatment
• 4.
  Survey interview—collects data regarding specific questions or variables of interest to a researcher, such as the prevalence of different disorders or diseases in epidemiological surveys

This ...