How Does Interpersonal Therapy (IPT) Work?

Interpersonal therapy (IPT) techniques help you learn about yourself and work on the relationships in your life. Working with a therapist, you will get a better understanding of your thoughts and feelings, as well as those of the people around you. If you have a specific mental health condition like depression or are going through a major emotional change, interpersonal therapy techniques can help you in your day-to-day life as well as in the long term.

Let’s go over what interpersonal therapy is, what conditions it can help with, the techniques that are used, and how to find out if it’s right for you.

What Is Interpersonal Therapy?

Interpersonal therapy (IPT) is a short-term type of psychotherapy that treats mental health conditions, including depression. You’ll usually do it for 12 to 16 sessions.

Back when IPT was developed, many mental health professionals considered depression to be “person-based." IPT was different because it recognized that outside factors in a person's life—specifically, their relationships—can have a major effect on mental well-being.

As you might have guessed from the name, interpersonal therapy techniques focus on your relationships and social interactions. This includes how much support you have from others and how these relationships affect your mental health.

Unlike other forms of psychotherapy for depression, IPT does not try to delve into your inner conflicts that may stem from past experiences. Instead, it focuses on your current relationships, how they might be affecting your depression symptoms, and ways that you can improve your interactions and your mental health.

Interpersonal therapy recognizes that depression is not always a "person issue," but that it can be tied to issues people have in their relationships with others.

Interpersonal Therapy Types 

There are a couple of adaptations of interpersonal therapy: dynamic and metacognitive.

Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy

Dynamic interpersonal therapy (DIT) is also called psychodynamic interpersonal therapy or mentalization-based therapy. DIT is designed to help you better understand your own thoughts and feelings, as well as the thoughts and feelings of others. If you do this kind of IPT, you’ll typically have 16 sessions over the course of five months.

Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy

Metacognitive interpersonal therapy (MIT) is an integrative approach to personality disorders that involves holding back your emotions (emotional inhibition) or avoidance. One 12-week study found that MIT helped reduce depression symptoms and improve a person’s ability to identify their emotions.

Interpersonal Therapy Techniques

IPT approaches treating depression by improving relationships. A therapist will usually start by doing an interpersonal inventory, which is a detailed review of your significant relationships, both current and past. These relationships are grouped according to four main problem areas.

Grief

Depression can happen after the loss of a loved one. While it is normal to go through the stages of grief, a major loss can also lead to unresolved grief. There are two kinds of unresolved grief: delayed or distorted. Delayed grief remains for a long time after the loss. Distorted grief is when you do not feel emotions but have other symptoms related to depression, such as insomnia and fatigue.

Role Dispute

Role disputes happen when you and the important people in your life have different expectations about your relationship.

Here’s an example: You feel that your partner should display more affection or ask more questions about your day. There is a disconnect between your expectations and your partner’s real-life behavior, and it can lead to depression.

Role Transition

Depression can happen during life transitions if your role changes and you don't know how to cope. Getting married, getting divorced, becoming a parent, and retiring are all examples of role transitions that can lead to depression.

Interpersonal Challenges

If you find it hard to form and maintain good-quality relationships, IPT can help identify where you might be having problems.

For example, you may have feelings of inadequacy, find it difficult to express your emotions, or have certain beliefs that are keeping you from communicating effectively.

A therapist can help you figure out what is “getting in your way” the most and come up with strategies that can help address the interpersonal challenges you’re having. 

What Does Interpersonal Therapy Treat? 

IPT was created to be a short-term treatment for depression, but it’s since been shown to help people with other mental health conditions, too. You may find IPT helpful if you have:

• Anxiety
• Bipolar disorder
• Borderline personality disorder (BPD)
• Dysthymia
• Eating disorders
• Perinatal and postpartum depression
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Social anxiety disorders
• Substance and alcohol use disorders 

IPT can also help people who are dealing with attachment issues, grief, life adjustment and transitions, and relationship conflicts.

Benefits of Interpersonal Therapy

Interpersonal therapy can have a number of important benefits, including:

• Better relationships: IPT can help people understand how their relationships affect their lives. The goal of IPT is to help people function better socially and to reduce their feelings of depression.
• Less depression: IPT is based on the idea that your relationships can potentially increase or decrease your depression, and feeling depressed can affect your relationships. The goal of IPT is to relieve depressive symptoms by helping you improve the way you interact with others.

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Does Interpersonal Therapy Work?

IPT is effective for different types and severity of depressive disorders as well as other mental health conditions. For some people, IPT works best when it’s combined with medications.

Here’s what research has found about IPT:

• A 2013 review of research found that IPT was as effective as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for the treatment of major depressive disorder and could be recommended as a first-line treatment for the condition.
• Some studies show that interpersonal therapy can help prevent the development of major depression. IPT may also help prevent depression relapses.
• Research has also found that IPT can treat eating disorders, anxiety disorders, substance use disorders, and other mental health conditions.
• Engaging in IPT as a couple has been found to improve depression and reduce challenges in relationships.

Is Interpersonal Therapy Right for You? 

IPT isn’t right for everyone, and that’s OK. Each person’s experience of depression and other mental health conditions is different, and what works for someone may not work as well for someone else.

Since motivation is a really important part of IPT, it can be hard to create change if a person is not able to look at and address the role that they play in their relationships with other people.

Mental health conditions like depression and eating disorders can be chronic or recurrent. That means that even after treatment, you may need maintenance sessions (for example, once a month) to prevent relapse, reinforce the skills you’ve learned, and keep making progress.

What Interpersonal Therapy Is Like

IPT usually lasts for 12 to 16 weeks. Your sessions are structured and will involve regular assessments, therapist interviews, and homework assignments.

During your first few appointments, your therapist will learn more about you, your symptoms, and your relationship history.

Next, you will work with your therapist to address specific areas where you’re having the most trouble. The strategies your therapist uses can be adapted as your treatment progresses, which means that your goals, assignments, and sessions may change as your therapist continues to assess your progress.

IPT can be done in individual or group sessions, and your sessions could be in-person or done via online therapy. In some situations, your therapist might suggest that the important people in your life take part in your sessions.

Some people have found that combining IPT with other depression treatments offers the best results. For example, research has shown that combining therapy with medication is often more effective than doing either one alone