Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT)

IPT requires a deep level of trust with a therapist with whom we can carefully analyse our relationships and the processes by which these impact our well-being.

We understand ourselves in relation to others. We all become aware of ourselves as separate and unique beings through our relationship with others, beginning with our parents. Much of our identity is shaped by feedback from others.

Recognising how we are similar to, yet different from, others, makes for the kind of self-awareness that, in adulthood, allows us to choose suitable friends, lovers, partners and careers. In other words, learning about ourselves through our relations with others is essential to personal growth, happiness and fulfilment.

However, we may not feel good when we are around certain people who behave in certain ways. There is always a valid reason for how we feel. If we can stay with those feelings, we may be able to see that a good deal of how we feel arises from a pattern of behaviour in the other person that does not sit well with the values that underpin our idea of a good relationship. We might then be faced with some difficult choices around whether to accept the behaviour, confront the person or even end the relationship. To the extent that we avoid making these choices, we procrastinate, ruminate, blame ourselves and cause ourselves to feel inadequate or guilty.

IPT can help us to understand how we are affected by our interactions with others and how we can turn those patterns around so that we feel secure and authentic in our dealings with others. We may not feel good about the choice we have made but, we might at least feel that we have taken the road that causes the least grief in the long run.