Research Topic · Peer-Reviewed

Interpersonal Therapy

Interpersonal therapy (IPT) is a structured, time-limited psychotherapy that locates psychological distress in the context of a person's relationships and social functioning, working on the premise that interpersonal difficulties and symptom onset are reciprocally linked. Rather than addressing unconscious conflict …

Curated from this journal's research 📚 6 peer-reviewed articles cited Cited 36× across the literature 🔖 ISSN 2574-612X 🗓 Reviewed June 2026

Overview

Interpersonal therapy (IPT) is a structured, time-limited psychotherapy that locates psychological distress in the context of a person's relationships and social functioning, working on the premise that interpersonal difficulties and symptom onset are reciprocally linked. Rather than addressing unconscious conflict or maladaptive cognitions directly, it focuses on a small number of problem areas—typically grief and loss, role transitions, interpersonal role disputes, and interpersonal deficits or isolation—and helps the patient improve communication, clarify expectations, and mobilize social support so that mood and functioning recover together. Originally developed and validated for major depression, IPT has been adapted for mood and other disorders and is frequently considered alongside or in combination with pharmacotherapy and other psychosocial interventions, including in the management of conditions such as bipolar disorder and depression accompanying physical illness. It shares with other contemporary psychotherapies common factors of therapeutic presence, alliance, and meaning-making, while retaining a distinctive emphasis on the here-and-now social environment. Treatment proceeds through defined initial, middle, and termination phases with explicit goals and review. Scholarship in this area examines interpersonal and relational approaches to psychotherapy, their application across mood and related disorders, comparative and combined treatment outcomes, and the broader processes—presence, flexibility, and shared meaning—through which therapeutic change occurs.

Research published in this journal

6 peer-reviewed articles, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.

2018

Dissociative Amnesia – A Challenge to Therapy  

Staniloiu AngelicaCorresponding author
University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany
International Journal of Psychotherapy Practice and Research Cited by 30 doi:10.14302/issn.2574-612X.ijpr-18-2246

How this research is being cited

The 6 articles above have been cited 36 times in the scholarly literature. Citation data via OpenAlex and Crossref, updated Jun 2026.

A sample of recent works citing this journal's research on Interpersonal Therapy, linking to each citing work.

Editorial oversight

Curated from peer-reviewed research published in International Journal of Psychotherapy Practice and Research (ISSN 2574-612X).

Journal editorial board
Karim Sedky · United States Tullio Scrimali · Italy DAMIANA SCUTERI · Italy

This page summarises published research for orientation; it is not medical or professional advice.