Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) is a brief, time limited treatment that was initially developed in the late 1960s for adult depression. IPT is based on the premise that depression occurs 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.
The IPT model identifies four general areas in which a person may be having relationship difficulties:
1) grief after the loss of a loved one;
2) conflict in significant relationships;
3) difficulties adapting to changes in relationships or life circumstances; and
4) difficulties stemming from social isolation. The IPT therapist helps identify areas in need of skill-building to improve the client's relationships and decrease the depressive symptoms.
Over time, the client learns to link changes in mood to events occurring in his/her relationships, communicate feelings and expectations for the relationships, and problem-solve solutions to difficulties in the relationships.
IPT has been adapted for the treatment of depressed adolescents (IPT-A) to address developmental issues most common to teenagers such as separation from parents,
development of romantic relationships, and initial experience with death of a relative or friend. IPT-A helps the adolescent identify and develop more adaptive methods
for dealing with the interpersonal issues associated with the onset or maintenance of their depression. IPT-A is typically a 12-16 week treatment.
Although the treatment involves primarily individual sessions with the teenager, parents are asked to participate in a few sessions to receive education about depression,
to address any relationship difficulties that may be occurring between the adolescent and his/her parents, and to help support the adolescent's treatment.
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