With time at a premium, today’s clinicians must rapidly engage their patients while gathering an imposing amount of critical information. They also face the challenge of ensuring that the person behind the diagnosis is not lost amid time constraints, data collection, and electronic health record documentation. *Psychiatric Interviewing: The Art of Understanding: A Practical Guide for Psychiatrists, Psychologists, Counselors, Social Workers, Nurses, and Other Mental Health Professionals*, 3rd Edition addresses these challenges directly, offering flexible and practical approaches for gathering essential clinical information while maintaining a patient-centered focus.

More than five years in the making, this classic introduction to the art of clinical interviewing has been thoroughly updated, expanded, and redesigned for today’s reader. Richly illustrated with detailed examples and practical guidance, it enables readers to observe and master effective interviewing techniques through comprehensive explanations, clinical scenarios, and expert insights. Rob Guerette, Founder and Director of the acclaimed Cape Cod Symposium, describes Dr. Shea as “an extremely gifted teacher” whose engaging storytelling has earned some of the highest evaluations in the symposium’s 30-year history.

Within the text, Dr. Shea skillfully integrates interviewing techniques from psychiatry, clinical psychology, social work, and counseling, providing a broad theoretical foundation. Written in the same engaging, informal style that made the first two editions best sellers, the book offers a compelling introduction to core interviewing skills, including conveying empathy, effectively using open-ended questions, building a strong therapeutic alliance, structuring interviews, and understanding nonverbal communication. Updated to DSM-5, it also demonstrates how to develop differential diagnoses in a compassionate, patient-centered manner.

Whether the reader is a psychiatric resident or a graduate student in clinical psychology, social work, counseling, or psychiatric nursing, the third edition prepares trainees for the demanding environments of community mental health centers, inpatient units, emergency departments, and university counseling centers. Throughout the book, sample questions and interview dialogues illustrate effective approaches for discussing sensitive topics such as domestic violence, substance abuse, incest, antisocial behavior, sexual history, and mental status examinations.

The expanded chapter on suicide assessment introduces the internationally acclaimed Chronological Assessment of Suicide Events (CASE Approach), developed by Dr. Shea, and provides detailed instruction on its practical application in evaluating complex presentations of suicidal ideation, planning, and intent.

A defining strength of this text is its value for both novice and experienced clinicians. It is designed to grow with readers throughout their training while remaining a trusted reference throughout their professional careers. The expanded content includes five comprehensive chapters on Advanced and Specialized Interviewing, providing in-depth coverage of specialized interviewing techniques and advanced clinical skills.

**New and Expanded Content:**

* Expanded coverage of advanced aspects of cross-cultural interviewing, including strategies for recognizing clinician biases and exploring clients’ spirituality and sources of meaning.
* Comprehensive chapter on motivational interviewing.
* Guidance on transforming patient anger and addressing moments of potential disengagement.
* Dedicated chapter for prescribing clinicians—including psychiatrists and psychiatric nurse practitioners—on collaboratively discussing medications with patients.
* Extensive clinical examples and instructional illustrations that reinforce interviewing techniques and best practices.
* In-depth discussions of the experiences of individuals living with severe mental illnesses, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder.
* A full chapter on engaging patients with challenging personality disorders, including borderline personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder.
* A new chapter covering often-overlooked topics such as positive psychology and methods for identifying client strengths and wellness.
* Extensive coverage of nonverbal communication, including the challenges of conducting interviews through telepsychiatry and text-based communication.
* A comprehensive introduction to facilics, an innovative supervision system designed to help clinicians develop natural, effective interviewing conversations.
* Practical guidance for creating high-quality electronic health record documentation, along with sample clinical forms and documentation examples.
* A specialized appendix for faculty featuring four complete articles from *Psychiatric Clinics of North America* addressing educational topics, including the design of interviewing training courses and advanced approaches to teaching suicide assessment skills.