The Children’s Experience and Perspective Interview (CEPI) is a semi-structured interview format designed to help clinicians understand a child’s experience of their home and school environments, in the child’s own words.
It uses simple rating cards as prompts, followed by open questions that explore the meaning behind a child’s responses.
The CEPI is a clinician-administered interview rather than a questionnaire completed independently by a child. After a child marks each topic card, the clinician invites them to elaborate using open, non-leading questions.
The focus is on understanding the child’s perspective and context, rather than producing a score or diagnostic outcome.
The CEPI is intended to support thoughtful clinical conversations. It can be used flexibly across a range of ages and presentations.
Print the cards at full scale, cut them out, and laminate.
Introduce each topic card and invite the child to mark their response.
Use short, open questions to explore examples and context.
Record key themes and ratings on the summary form.
The CEPI is free to download for clinical use and training.
If you are planning to use the CEPI in research (including student or thesis projects), please contact us first so that appropriate permissions and consistent use can be discussed.
To keep distribution intentional, the CEPI materials are shared via email.
Complete the short form below and you’ll receive links to download the Family and School versions (PDF).
For questions, feedback, or requests regarding research use, please contact
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© Talking to Kids – Children’s Experience and Perspective Interview