Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) is based on the premise that interpersonal factors may contribute heavily to the cause and maintenance of psychological problems. For example, psychological problems like depression occur in the context of an individual’s relationships regardless of its origins in biology or genetics.
More specifically, depression affects people’s relationships and these relationships further affect our mood.
IPT identifies four general areas in which an individual may be having relationship difficulties: grief due to loss of a loved one, conflict in significant relationships, adjusting to interpersonal role transitions (e.g. childhood to puberty, illness, primary school to high school, etc.) and gaps in the persons’ ability to initiate and maintain relationships.
IPT helps to identify areas that need skill-building in order to improve the individual’s relationships, decrease symptoms and increase social support. The aim is for young people to eventually learn to link changes in mood to events occurring in their relationships, appropriately communicate their needs in relationships, and problem-solve solutions to difficulties in relationships.
IPT has been shown to be effective in the treatment of a range of conditions, in particular, depression and bulimia.
