© Angela Lewis COUNSELLING AUSTRALIA Vol 12, No.4, 2012
ACA Book Review: Essentials of Intentional Interviewing by Ivey, Ivey and Zalaquett (2012)
Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning. 392 pages, list price A$111.95
By Angela Lewis
This book is intended to clarify interviewing and counselling expertise through the use of the
microskills hierarchy, communication skill units which include attending behaviour, the basic
listening sequence, paraphrasing and reflection of feeling. It is a text book that will
comprehensively meet the needs of students and beginners in the helping professions, as
well as being a worthwhile addition to the library of a practicing professional. Readers
familiar with Carl Roger’s person-centred style of interviewing will recognise that the
authors share Roger’s ethic of positive regard and respect for the client as well as his belief
in experiencing the client’s world.
A key tenet of this book is an insistence that the counsellor/interviewer (I will use counsellor
in the remaining review for ease of reading while referring to both), possesses what the
authors call multicultural competence. They describe this state as one of cultural awareness
and sensitivity. The term multiculturalism is generally more familiar as a referent to racial
groups, but Ivey et al have expanded the definition in multiple ways to include all aspects
that make up a person’s cultural background; so their definition includes not only race but
religion, gender, sexual orientation, relationship and physical ability. The concept itself is
not new, so readers may recognise the Ivey definition of multiculturalism as acculturation,
the pluralistic society or multicultural pluralism (Sue and Sue 1990); or if familiar with the
social work field, as anti-oppressive practice (Strier 2006).
There is a continuous, strong emphasis throughout the book on the importance of
counsellors learning about themselves. They consider the counsellor’s awareness of both
themselves and their clients to be a necessary foundation for effective interviewing and/or
counselling. They maintain that counsellors will neither establish a relationship, nor grasp
the client’s issues, if they do not have an awareness of diversity and sensitivity to the client’s
uniqueness, coupled with an awareness of their own culture and world view; and that this
will affect the outcomes and experience of the clients. Readers who are employed in the
helping professions will recognise that an empathetic understanding of the cultural position
of both self and client is one of the basic conditions under which a successful counsellor
operates (without using the Ivey label of multicultural competence), so in this regard Ivey et
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© Angela Lewis COUNSELLING AUSTRALIA Vol 12, No.4, 2012
al do not present any type of new theory. However, it is a good reminder to experienced
interviewers (and may well be a new idea for the novice or student) that we must be
mindful to take into account the historical, cultural and environmental experiences and
influences that may be present in an interview or counselling session—from the point of
view of both parties.
Chapter one focuses on what counsellors bring to the interview. Readers are encouraged to
identify their beliefs and attitudes and where they intersect, both for themselves personally
and to think about how this might occur with clients. Chapter two presents the three critical
aspects of interviewing and counselling: ethics, multicultural awareness and wellness and
the microskills hierarchy are covered in Chapters three through to twelve. Chapters three
through to seven present what they term the basic listening sequence, covering questioning
skills, clarifying skills and empathetic reflection of feelings. Chapter Seven puts together the
basic listening sequence microskills of questioning, encouraging, and reflection of meaning
and the five stage interview structure. This is based on the five dimensions of relationshipstory-strengths-goals-restory-action. These stages are explained in detail, in terms of
function, purpose, appropriate skills required and predicted results. As well, readers are
instructed on how to conduct an interview using this framework, and are presented with a
practical case study (as is the case in the majority of chapters).
Given that the experienced counsellor should already possess the majority of the skills
necessary for interviewing and listening, some of the material covered in the microskills
hierarchy might not be applicable to the skilled professional. However, the modular rather
than linear style of the text means the reader can pick and choose the sections relevant to
their needs,
I found Chapter 11, which deals with the role of self-disclosure and feedback, particularly
interesting. While it is a strategy that I personally support, it remains contentious, with
many theorists arguing that there is no place for interviewer self-disclosure, preferring a
more distant and objective stance for the helper. However Ivey et al’s humanistically
oriented view of counselling advocates that self-disclosure early in the interview is an ideal
way to build trust, particularly if the client has a substantially different back ground to that
of the counsellor; and they believe this practice is an integral component of successful
multicultural competence.
The final section brings everything together with a chapter on skill integration, treatment
planning, a chapter on the application of the microskills framework in different counselling
methods and a final chapter on determining your personal style as an counsellor; where the
readers have an opportunity to review where they are at with the skills taught in the text
and is asked to think about integrating these skills with their own natural style of
counselling.
Online Access
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© Angela Lewis COUNSELLING AUSTRALIA Vol 12, No.4, 2012
There is an assumption throughout the book that readers have access to the online tools
and are able to complete the self evaluation check lists for each chapter, contributing to the
creation of a portfolio of personal competencies. Each chapter in fact has instructions for
readers to assess personal awareness, competence, knowledge and skills before and after
completing a chapter by using the online self assessment quizzes, flashcards and self
evaluation checklists as well as accessing online articles and completing interactive exercises
and activities mentioned throughout the text. As well, having online access provides the full
content of the textbook with enhanced with searching, note-taking, and other advanced
features. Readers will need to allow the time required for these extra activities; as an
indication the average self-assessment took me around 40 minutes to complete. In order to
use the online materials readers it is necessary to contact Cengage and pay ($59.95) to
access the CourseMate website; I found it very easy to use and worth the extra money. I
also think that without doing the online section readers will miss out on a lot of the
intended self-development, as being tested on the material means you become aware of
where there may be gaps in and ensures there is a deeper level of learning.
In Summary
This book presents highly practical tools and resources and large number of case examples
and sample interviews in an engaging and easily understood format; and while it is designed
with building chapters, they are modular enough that the book can be used on a
consultative basis.
This book presents highly practical tools and resources and large number of case examples
and sample interviews in an engaging and easily understood format. It meets its intention of
providing a text that can be used to conduct successful interviews or counselling session,
and the option of completing chapter specific quizzes and questionnaires online offers a
particularly useful way of embedding the learning. Providing a thorough background in the
microskills framework and the five-stage interview structure for effective interviewing and
counselling, this book makes a valuable addition to the personal library of counsellors and
those in the helping professions, particularly those in the early stages of their careers.
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© Angela Lewis COUNSELLING AUSTRALIA Vol 12, No.4, 2012
What
the
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online
learning
centre
looks
like
for
each
chapter: