ABSTRACT
Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) is a focused, short-term, manual-based psychotherapy designed to be implemented by a variety of healthcare professionals. The role of the therapist in IPT is, first, to provide psycho-education about the bio psychosocial components of depression, including the utility of antidepressant medication as a proven effective treatment which might be used singly or in combination with psychotherapy. They also provide explicit explanations about the proposed mechanisms of IPT, which include clarification, confrontation, communication analysis and decision analysis. Using communication analysis, clarification, confrontation and decision analysis, the IPT therapist seeks to elucidate all aspects of the agreed-upon focus within the patient's environment and the interpersonal relationships contained therein. The role of the IPT therapist is to repeatedly return the attention of the patient to current interpersonal relationships, while acknowledging past traumas or early-life conflictual relationships.
