ABSTRACT
One of the explicit and overriding goals of IPT is helping patients to improve their interpersonal communication. The therapeutic aim, given the patient’s underlying attachment style, is to help the patient more closely meet his or her attachments needs by communicating them more effectively to others. In IPT, one of the most powerful means to bring this about is to collect information about Interpersonal Incidents. The technique allows for a more thorough understanding of the communication that is occurring, and is also helpful in assisting the patient to begin to appreciate the ways in which he or she is not communicating effectively with others. Interpersonal Incidents are frequently used as a form of communication analysis.
