Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) is an effective treatment developed for major depression. It has also been shown to be efยฎcacious in a number of other conditions, including bulimia nervosa, dysthymia, depression in adolescents and the elderly, psychological difยฎculties associated with physical disease, including HIV and carcinoma, and borderline personality disorder, although research into some of these areas is still in the early stages.
IPT was developed in the United States by Gerald Klerman and collaborators as a time-limited treatment for major depression. The therapy was precisely manualized , and extensively tested by the National Institute for Mental Health in randomized clinical trials. IPT is a brief (usually 16 session), focused treatment which concentrates on the individual's difยฎculties in current interpersonal relationships. IPT developed out of the Interpersonal school, but was initially very much an examination of `what works'รlooking at what experienced and successful clinicians did and felt to be effective. It is a therapy which can be fairly easily taught to competent therapists.
IPT is based on the concept that depression is an illness which is multifactorial in nature, depending on a combination of genetics, environment, social interaction, personality and life events. Depression is usually precipitated or perpetuated by an interpersonal situation, that is it occurs in an interpersonal context. Even something as practical as bankruptcy or failing an exam often causes low mood due to the knock on effect in the person's interpersonal world. Similar ideas can be applied to eating disordersรthat their aetiology is a varied bag, but that interpersonal factors play an important role in onset and continuation of the conditions.
IPT is divided into three parts, a beginning, a middle and an end. In the initial sessions, the diagnosis is made and the patient is educated about the condition. The `sick role' is also givenรthis allows the patient to mark a change and make space to work on getting better. An extremely detailed