ABSTRACT
Assessing Traditional Patient Characteristics for Time-limited Psychotherapy 62
Patient Characteristics Specific to IPT 64
Empirical Support for IPT 66
Conclusion 67
References 68
Introduction The primary purpose of conducting an assessment is simply to determine if the patient is a good candidate for Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT), and if so, to make a judgment about how to modify the therapeutic structure. Though it is obvious, it is worth emphasizing that the treatment and patient must be compatible to ensure the greatest likelihood of resolving the patient’s interpersonal problems. When making this determination, the therapist should be guided by several factors including the patient’s attachment style, her communication style, her motivation and insight, and the empirical evidence regarding IPT. All of these factors should be integrated using a good measure of clinical judgment.
