With an emphasis on the three major stages of interviewing: exploration, clarification and action, ESSENTIAL INTERVIEWING offers the same programmed-learning model of interviewing that has successfully trained countless members of the helping professions for nearly 30 years. Based on Ivey's systematic method of interviewer, counselor, and therapist training, as well as Hearn's programmed-learning model, the text makes interview skills clear and specific. The authors give students the tools they need to conduct successful interviews with diverse clients in a variety of professional settings, including social work, counseling, nursing, personel work, and human services.