Interpersonal Psychotherapy

Depression-Focused Psychotherapies: Interpersonal Psychotherapy

IPT evolved between the late 1960s and the early 1980s. The developers of IPT trace its origins to the work of Adolph Meyer (1957), which emphasizes the significance of psychosocial and interpersonal experiences within a more comprehensive psychobiological model of psychopathology. One of Meyer's associates, Harry Stack, is similarly acknowledged for blending work from anthropology and sociology within a more interpersonally based approach to psychoanalysis. The interpersonal model of depression also draws on the writings of Bowlby, G. W. Brown , in which depression is viewed from relational and social perspectives.

IPT of depression was initially conceived as a brief psychological treatment for unipolar major depression. This outpatient therapy is typically provided over 12-16 weeks on an individual basis, although it has also been adapted for work with couples. It is readily used with or without concomitant antidepressant pharmacotherapy. A manual guiding individual therapy for patients with major depressive disorder is available, and various modifications of IPT for conditions such as dysthymia, depression in adolescents, and late-life depression have been described. When administered in research protocols, IPT is readily discriminated from CT and pharmacotherapy.

Depression-Focused Psychotherapies Introduction Historical Overview Shared Features of Depression-Focused Psychotherapies Interpersonal Psychotherapy Behavior Therapy Cognitive Therapy Treatment Efficacy

• Interpersonal Psychotherapy
• Behavior Therapy
• Cognitive Therapy Depression-Focused Psychotherapies in the Treatment of Severe Depression: Are They Contraindicated? Conclusions

At the most basic level, IPT aims to improve the quality of a depressed patient's interpersonal world. Klerman and Weissman (1982) emphasized that the premise of IPT is that depression occurs within an interpersonal context regardless of its severity, phenomenology, or presumed etiology. The authors further proposed that helping patients to improve their understanding of and ability to modify the interpersonal context associated with depression facilitates the recovery process. Additional long-term benefits were predicated to include improved social function and prophylaxis against relapse. The original work using IPT also drew heavily on the methods and findings of social casework (e.g., Weissman and Paykel 1974). As a result, the therapy was always intended to be feasible for social workers and other master's degree-prepared mental health workers, as well as psychologists and psychiatrists.