Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-1-2013
Publication Title
Qualitative Health Research
Abstract
We examined the characteristics of therapists' implicit clinical judgments during the mental health intake. Following the intake sessions with new clients, we conducted 129 semistructured interviews with 47 therapists. We found that 82% of therapists and 75% of interviews included reference to implicit clinical judgments. Therapists referred to these judgments as a cognitive process that relied on knowledge acquired through past clinical experiences and was primarily based on nonverbal cues and affective communication. Therapists used implicit processes when evaluating how to facilitate a good working alliance, what diagnostic information to collect, and how to decide on a diagnosis. The majority of therapists described elements of good rapport, such as being listened to, as central for a positive outcome of the intake. We concluded that implicit clinical judgments were vital to allow therapists to integrate the plethora of information from different channels of communication they collect during the intake.
Keywords
content analysis, decision making, health care, interviews, mental health and illness
Volume
23
Issue
5
First Page
645
Last Page
654
DOI
10.1177/1049732312471732
ISSN
10497323
Rights
© The Author(s) 2012.
Recommended Citation
Nakash, Ora and Alegría, Margarita, "Examination of the Role of Implicit Clinical Judgments During the Mental Health Intake" (2013). School for Social Work: Faculty Publications, Smith College, Northampton, MA.
https://scholarworks.smith.edu/ssw_facpubs/53
Comments
Peer reviewed accepted manuscript.