Interventive interviewing and the IPscope

Domain V · Systemic, relational, group & community · Karl Tomm · 1987 · Calgary, Canada

What it is

This is not a manualised therapy with set sessions. It has two parts. Interventive interviewing is a way of running any family, couple or individual interview, built on Milan systemic practice. The IPscope is a systemic assessment tool for seeing and naming recurrent interpersonal patterns (IPs).…

Format

• The sources set out no fixed phases, session count or manual. The structure below has two parts. The first is the in-session arc Tomm describes in Part III. The second is the order of IPscope work he describes in 2017. Linking them into a course of therapy is my synthesis.
• Format: conjoint family or couple sessions, individual sessions (with absent others brought in through questions or internalized-other interviewing) and supervision. The Milan-derived end-of-session intervention is optional. Tomm treats it as one part of treatment, not the main agent of change. The…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Training and licensing: No certification, licensing or fidelity system is described. Tomm teaches through the University of Calgary Family Therapy Program, the Calgary Family Therapy Centre, workshops and the 2014 book. Chapter 3 of the book covers teaching and chapter 9 covers supervision.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Does it use a device, heat, cold, water or a physical procedure? Has a medical professional checked that it is safe for you?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Lecturing. Keep statements short and return to questions.
• Relying on a clever ending rather than on the interview itself.
• Empathic statements, a member describing their own contribution, and a softer tone.
• Pressure towards the "right" branch makes it strategic. Keep both options legitimate.
• The family taking over the pattern language on its own is a good sign of readiness to end.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.