What do clinicians aim to identify through clinical interviews?

Clinicians aim to identify personality types based on interview responses because clinical interviews are structured or semi-structured conversations that facilitate a comprehensive understanding of a patient's thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and relational patterns. During these interviews, clinicians delve into an individual's history, preferences, and coping strategies, which helps them form an impression of the person's overall personality structure.

By recognizing patterns in responses, clinicians can categorize individuals into broader personality types, which can inform diagnosis and tailored treatment plans. This approach allows clinicians to better support their clients by understanding their unique experiences and behaviors relative to established personality frameworks.

While genetics and stable personality traits are of interest in psychology, and the recognition of specific personality disorders can emerge from interview data, the primary goal of the clinical interview is to analyze the responses that reveal the personality types and how they manifest in the individual being assessed.