The interpersonal therapy (TIP) is a model of psychological therapy that was developed by Gerard Klerman.
Klerman was a psychiatrist and researcher who served as head of the United States' national mental health agency for three years. He developed this therapy as a long-term treatment for depression.
Interpersonal therapy was first developed in 1969 at the Yale University and was initially called high-contact therapy. The aim of its creators, Gerald Klerman and Myrna Weissman, was to test the effectiveness of a antidepressant with and without psychotherapy.
Interpersonal therapy is a brief therapeutic model which is based on the critical analysis of the social factors that influence the development of psychopathologies.
TIP was originally developed by Klerman as maintenance treatment of depressionHowever, it was later also used as an independent treatment. In addition, it is currently applied to different types of disorders.
This type of therapy mainly treats the current interpersonal relationships. That is, the emotional ties and the immediate social context of the patient.
What is interpersonal therapy for depression?
Interpersonal depression therapy is a psychotherapy that focuses on the psychosocial and interpersonal problems of the patientIt should be noted that this therapy does not derive directly from psychoanalysis, behaviorism or cognitive therapy, although it takes elements from all of them.
Therefore, it can be said that IPT for depression is an essentially therapeutic tool. eclecticThat is, a mechanism that is positioned between different currents and ideas and that combines elements of these.
What interpersonal therapy does is contribute to increase the individual's interpersonal skills. This, in turn, increases their control over their psychosocial context.
Interpersonal therapy for depression focuses on the relationships between pathology and psychosocial context. It gives greater importance to the present than to past situations or events. It analyses the person's current personal relationships and intervenes in the formation of symptoms.
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What does psychosocial refer to in TIP?
In interpersonal therapy for depression, psychosocial refers to the different roles that a patient plays in his interactions with his environment. By role we refer to the role or meeting place between his true «I«and the way it is presented to others.
Different roles and relationships can be altered by an excess of emotions, pressures, conflicts or losses. This excess or overload of feelings causes our strength to diminish. Conflicts cause anxiety and discomfort, and losses cause depression.
Usually, when we talk about losses in interpersonal psychotherapy, we refer to the duel, divorces either job lossesWithin this, it is assumed that, when the disorder appears, the psychosocial and interpersonal context of the person is immediately modified.
What is the role of interpersonal therapy?
Interpersonal therapy is brief, one session per week over the course of 3 to 6 months. The first sessions are usually used as assessment medium of the patient. This will allow the therapist to obtain a better analysis about what is important and what is expected from therapy.
Interpersonal therapy gives you the opportunity to identify, together with your therapist, the interpersonal problems you want to address. In addition, you can establish a classification based on the level of importance you give to them. Once this is done, you will move on to work on the problems or issues that have been raised.
Therefore, in the following sessions, These concerns will be addressed. This is done with the goal of understanding them better and thus learning to make adjustments and being able to apply them outside of therapy.
At the end of each session, the therapist and the patient have to discuss the problems that are considered most important. It is a technique that is used as therapy completion tool.
This moment is also important to demonstrate that the patient knows how to use the skills and mechanisms learned. It serves to teach the therapist and the patient that he or she can effectively cope with different life situations without help when the therapy is over.
What techniques does interpersonal therapy use?
The functions or techniques used will depend on the characteristics of each patient. However, there are some techniques that are common and quite efficient when it comes to interpersonal therapy:
- Identify emotions. Sometimes it can be difficult to identify what we are feeling at a given moment. A professional therapist will help us identify our emotions from an impartial perspective.
- Expressing emotions. Once we have identified the emotions, it will help us to express them, to be able to transmit to whomever we want what we feel in an easier and healthier way.
- Dealing with problems of the pastThere are relationships from the past that can affect how we relate to others in the present. Interpersonal therapy is based on looking back at our past. Trying to find out if any kind of patterns have formed that make us act this way now.
Interpersonal therapy helps improve the way we relate to others. That's why the help of a therapist or mental health professional will help you maintain healthy relationships and bonds.
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