Interviewing is one of the most important skills that you'll use in your career. This proven text gives you the tools you need to conduct successful interviews with diverse clients in a variety of professional settings, including social work, counseling, nursing, personnel work, and human services. 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. The text makes interview skills clear and specific -- and exposes you to a variety of client situations and cultures. Each chapter highlights an ethical situation you may confront in your future career, further grounding you in current standards of professional practice.