The Affective Impact of a Clinical Social Worker's Interviewing Style: A Series of Single-Case Experiments

Abstract

A series of studies was conducted to investigate the immediate affective impact that a clinical social worker's interviewing style has on clients. In Experiment 1, four simulated interviews were conducted using B1-B2-B1-B2 single-case designs. In Experiment 2, three further B1-B2-B1-B2 single-case-design studies were conducted in order to demonstrate the replicability and generalizability of results from Experiment 1. In all of the interviews the outcome measures involved a combination of qualitative and quantitative assessments. The results illustrate that certain practitioner interviewing styles may cause immediate and profound affective responses among clients.