Interviewing tips from a psychologist

Detroit Free Press: Louise Reed Ritchie had studied journalism. But she learned far more about the art of interviewing when she trained to be a clinical psychologist. She discusses tips for interviewing, directing her advice to journalists, but using her clinical background.

Before studying clinical psychology, I thought I knew everything about interviewing that a journalist needed to know. Through coursework and experience as a reporter at AP and The Washington Post, I’d learned to get usable quotes from almost anyone, from grieving parents to recalcitrant bureaucrats.

But while working on my doctorate in clinical psychology, I learned how little journalists know about interviewing. Journalists learn to get accurate quotes on deadline. Psychologists learn to get the measure of a soul in 50 minutes.

Training provides the difference.

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Posted by Susan A. Kitchens on August 26, 2005 in • Interviewing
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