Premium
Interpersonal psychotherapy for chronic depression
Author(s) -
Markowitz John C.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/jclp.10177
Subject(s) - interpersonal psychotherapy , psychology , dysthymic disorder , depression (economics) , psychotherapist , interpersonal communication , chronic depression , clinical psychology , interpersonal relationship , psychiatry , major depressive disorder , medicine , cognition , randomized controlled trial , social psychology , surgery , economics , macroeconomics
Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) is a time‐limited, manualized, life‐event‐based treatment of demonstrated efficacy for acute major depression. This article describes its adaptation and application to chronic forms of unipolar depression. The interpersonal difficulties of chronically depressed patients present a potentially good fit for a therapy that builds interpersonal functioning, but the chronicity of illness and paucity of life events of dysthymic patients complicate the use of IPT. Recent outcome research is reviewed. A case example illustrates the clinical approach and potential benefits. Based on a limited number of studies, the benefits of acute IPT for chronic depression appear non‐specific and modest. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol/In Session.