Because of the importance of the interview in assessing behavioral disorders of childhood, practitioners need to refine the techniques they normally use with adults. This book offers a comprehensive and practical guide to the child and adolescent psychiatric interview, providing an outline of how first to elicit data from younger patients and their families, then how to organize and integrate this information to form a definitive program of care. Clinical Manual for the Psychiatric Interview of Children and Adolescents shows how to focus the exploration of common psychiatric syndromes while offering guidance in such matters as general principles of interviewing, use of the AMSIT in mental status examinations, and evaluation of both internalizing and externalizing symptoms.

The diagnostic and therapeutic engagement -- General principles of interviewing -- Special interviewing techniques -- Family assessment -- Providing post-evaluation feedback to families -- Evaluation of special populations -- Psychiatric evaluation of preschoolers and very young children -- Documenting the examination -- Evaluation of internalizing symptoms -- Evaluation of externalizing symptoms -- Evaluation of abuse and other symptoms -- Neuropsychiatric interview and examination -- Comprehensive psychiatric formulation -- Symptom formation and comorbidity -- Diagnostic obstacles (resistances) -- Countertransference.