The anatomy of a dietetic counseling interview

Dietetic students in a course on interviewing skills were given an opportunity to practice interviewing, first with "coached," volunteer clients, then with real clients. Their interviews were taped and later analyzed as to content and approach. In trying to develop rapport during the "relationship-establishing" phase of the interview, the students asked questions which required mininal self-exploration by the client to answer (closed questions), five times as often as any other type of question. For effective counseling which results in changed behavior by clients, skills in counseling which develop an understanding of clients' feelings must be learned and implemented in counseling settings.