1. Systems of Psychotherapy: A Transtheoretical Analysis
Chapter 7.
Interpersonal
Therapies
Chapter 7
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2. A Sketch of Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT)
Developed in early 1970s by Gerald Klerman and colleagues.
Originally intended as treatment for depression.
Established in the research heritage.
Myrna Weisssman and John Markowitz updated treatment manual after Klerman’s death.
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3. Theory of Psychopathology
Relationships affect mood, and mood affects relationships.
Interpersonal disruption causes and results from depression.
Disorders surface when situational stressors expose inability to cope.
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4. 4 Major Interpersonal Problems
Interpersonal losses (e.g., loss of a loved one)
Disputes (incompatible expectations of a relationship)
Transitions (e.g., loss of job)
Deficits (trouble forming and maintaining relationships)
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IPT is
Time-limited
Focused
About current relationships
Interpersonal
Improving relationships
Identifying assets
Learning how to cope
IPT is not
Long-term
Open-ended
About past relationships
Intrapsychic
Cognitive/behavioral
Achieving insight
Identifying defenses
Curing the problem
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6. Therapeutic Processes
Short-term, present-oriented therapy.
Therapist should not address additional problems, but remain focused on primary problem.
No ideological hesitation to use medication.
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Therapeutic Content
Intrapersonal Conflicts
Anxieties and defenses
Self-esteem
Responsibility
Interpersonal Conflicts
Intimacy and sexuality
Communication
Hostility
Control
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8. Therapeutic Content (cont.)
Indivduo-Social Conflicts
Adjustment versus transcendence
Impulse control
Beyond Conflict to Fulfillment
Meaning
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9. Therapeutic Relationship
Patient advocate, not neutral commentator.
Not a manifestation of transference.
IPT rarely analyzes the interpersonal relationship in psychotherapy.
Therapist expresses empathy and warmth but not unconditional acceptance.
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Practicalities of IPT
Best conducted by those with favorable attitude toward short-term treatment and no attachment to theoretical system.
IPT typically weeks in duration.
Therapist adheres to treatment manual.
Disposed toward cost-efficient formats and combining therapy with medication.
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11. A Major Alterative: Transactional Analysis (TA)
Personality is structured into 3 ego states:
Parent: Both nurturing and controlling; copied from parents in childhood.
Child: Impulsive and stimulus-bound state; present since childhood.
Adult: Information gathering, data processing, and decision making.
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Games
Have overt social meanings and covert psychological meanings.
Complex series of ulterior transactions progress to a psychological payoff.
Psychological payoff are feelings such as guilt, depression, or anger.
Examples: Kiss off, Kick me.
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Therapeutic Process
TA helps clients achieve increased consciousness.
Increased consciousness allows clients to choose ego state and life position.
Frequently combined with systems theory in couple/family treatment.
Combined with Gestalt to form redecision therapy.
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Brief IPT
12- to 16-week duration
Weekly face-to-face
Present-oriented
Focus on recovery (not character change)
Provides protection against reemergence of symptoms.
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Effectiveness of IPT
IPT is more effective than no treatment and placebo.
Effective for treatment of mood and eating disorders.
Tends to be most effective in combination with medication.
Combination treatment has lower relapse likelihood.
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Criticisms of IPT
From a cognitive-behavioral perspective
From a psychoanalytic perspective
From a humanistic perspective
From a cultural perspective
From an integrative perspective
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17. Future Directions of IPT
Increasingly popular orientation.
Broadened to other disorders beyond depression.
Compatible and concurrent with pharmacotherapy.
Briefer IPT rendered by nurse practitioners.
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Key Terms
attachment styles
bibliotherapy
combined treatment
dissolution
ego state
expressed emotion (EE)
games (people play)
impasse
interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT)
interpersonal school of psychoanalysis
life positions
NIMH Collaborative Treatment Study
Parent-Adult-Child (PAC)
participant-observer
payoff
primary problem area
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Key Terms (Cont.)
randomized clinical trials (RCTs)
redecision therapy
renegotiation
ritual
role disputes
role transitions
stroking
structural analysis
switch
transactional analysis (TA)
transactions
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Recommended Websites
International Society for Interpersonal Psychotherapy:
International Transactional Analysis Association:
Society for Interpersonal Theory and Research (SITAR):
United States of America Transactional Analysis Association:
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