Interview with Daniel Becker

Interview with Daniel Becker
Prepared by Jack Butler
The interview with Dr. Daniel Becker took place in his office in Burlingame. Dr. Becker graduated with an MD 28 ears ago. He practices addiction psychiatry and psychiatry. He is also a psychiatrist for depressed people. Dr. Becker has been in this business for a long time and has a vast knowledge regarding the topic of peer pressure. During the interview I received information about; the different reasons people use drugs, how the use of drugs has changed over time, his personal experiences with peer pressure, what can be done to prevent peer pressure, and finally is it possible for drugs to be a part of a healthy lifestyle.

As soon as I walked in the door to Dr. Becker’s office I could sense the respect that he was showing me, so in turn I displayed the upmost respect towards him. I also got the sense that he was glad that someone was interested in getting his views on this topic, as though he was flattered. He gave me great answers to my questions so I felt that in turn I should do a great job of providing background to my questions then asking them clearly in a way that he would be able to easily understand what I was asking.

I learned that it could be difficult to write down the interviewee’s answers word for word. Going into the interview I thought that this could be an issue, and it turns out it was. However I was able to outline Dr. Becker’s answers in an effective and constructive manner. This way I could record exactly what it was he was saying, without taking a long time or having to ask him to repeat himself. I learned how effectively outline his answers in an effective manner.

One thing that I learned that I was not expecting to learn is that one may ask a question, seeking on specific bit of information, but instead receive much more important information that was not intended to be found. When asking a question you must be ready for anything, some people will give you a direct answer and others will ramble on about things that do not pertain to the question. Also If you feel the answer you received does not answer the question asked, feel free to ask again so that you get the information that is wanted.

I feel that because this is the first official interview I have ever conducted it may not have gone as smoothly as possible. I could have been more organized going into the interview. All I can do is learn from my mistakes and improve upon them moving forward. On the other hand there were things I did very well during the interview. I provided excellent background to my questions before they were asked. This allowed Dr. Becker to fully understand exactly what kind of answer I was looking for.