Interpersonal Therapy: How and on What Conditions It Works Best?

One of the forms of psychotherapy is interpersonal therapy. Learn all about it, how it can help you, and more here.

Interpersonal therapy is a way to treat depression. It mainly focuses on your relationship with other people. How you treat people, how they treat you, how much strong your bonding is with others, and how good or bad they treat you, all these things come under interpersonal therapy. 

This therapy is based on the fact that the personal relationships of people, which are managed by the person are the key factor involved in the psychological problem of the person. 

Depression doesn't always come by itself or without any reason. It needs some reason to occur or some instances to make a home in someone's mind. The reason can be anything including conflict with someone or your dear one, maybe. It can be losing someone you love. It can be misunderstandings with your dear ones or anything. This leads to emotional imbalances in the body which could result in depression. 

Interpersonal therapy (IPT) helps here to establish healthy communication with your dear ones to let your mind work in a positive direction, giving up negative thoughts. This therapy also contributes to addressing the problems that cause depression. 

Usually, in the case of depression, antidepressants are given to the patients. But keeping in view the effectiveness of Interpersonal therapy, doctors use this therapy along with long antidepressant medications for the patients.

Some conditions that can be treated with Interpersonal Therapy:

IPT is effective to treat: 

1. Bipolar disorder 
2. Borderline personality disorder
3. Depression as a result of disease, such as HIV 
4. Depression as a result of caregiving 
5. Dysthymia
6. Eating disorders
7. Marital disputes
8. Panic disorder
9. Protracted bereavement
10. Substance abuse

How Interpersonal Therapy works on patients?

Firstly, your psychiatrist will take your interview for screening purposes. The main motive behind doing this is knowing your problems and drafting an outline for the treatment process. They will screen you to know the issues which bother you and those you're trying to solve. It includes 20 weekly hour-long therapy sessions for the treatment to be completed.

Interpersonal Therapy focuses on the current state of depression of the patients rather than focussing on any unconscious reason for your problem or the reason you do not realize. It starts with experimenting with solutions for your difficulties and realizing their effectiveness. This often causes people with depression to turn inward or act out. 

Feelings of depression often follow a major change in your life. These changes fall into one of four categories:

1. Complicated bereavement - the death of a loved one or unresolved grief
2. Ole transition - the beginning or end of a relationship or marriage or diagnosis of a disease
3. Role dispute - a struggle in a relationship 
4. Interpersonal deficit - the absence of a major life event 

Your therapist would then try to determine the life events that have put you in the state of depression and will equip you with the resolution in the form of ways that you could use to deal with those reasons in positive ways. 

They will encourage you to participate actively in social gatherings and events to let you come out of the state of depression. This will also help you to heal with positive thoughts.

If you are suffering from depression and want interpersonal therapy to treat your depression. Feel free to contact us. Our myfitbrain team will help you to solve your problem