Interpersonal Therapy (IPT)

What is Interpersonal Therapy?

Interpersonal Therapy (IPT) is based on a simple but powerful observation: our emotional wellbeing is deeply connected to our relationships. When our relationships are strained, conflicted, or in transition, we often struggle emotionally. And when we're struggling emotionally, our relationships often suffer.

IPT focuses on this connection. Rather than exploring your entire history or analyzing your thoughts, we look at what's happening in your current relationships and how this relates to how you're feeling. It's practical, focused, and typically shorter-term.

Four Areas IPT Addresses

Grief and Loss

When you've lost someone important (through death, but also through other kinds of endings) and you're struggling to process the loss or move forward. IPT helps you mourn, acknowledge what's been lost, and gradually rebuild.

Role Transitions

Major life changes that shift your identity and relationships: becoming a parent, moving abroad, retiring, ending a relationship, starting a new career. These transitions often involve losses (of your old role, familiar environment, or sense of self) alongside gains. IPT helps you sit with both.

Interpersonal Conflicts

When you're stuck in a difficult situation with someone important in your life: a partner, family member, friend, or colleague. We look at what's happening, what each person wants, and work on communication and expectations to find a way forward.

Interpersonal Deficits

When loneliness or isolation is the issue: difficulty forming or maintaining close relationships. We explore what gets in the way and work on building the skills and opportunities for connection.

How IPT Works

IPT is structured and time-limited, typically running 12-16 sessions. We begin by identifying which interpersonal area is most connected to your current difficulties, then focus our work there.

Sessions involve:

• Exploring recent interpersonal events and how they affected your mood
• Looking at patterns in how you relate to others
• Improving communication skills: expressing needs, setting boundaries, resolving conflicts
• Working through grief or adjustment to life transitions
• Building or strengthening your support network

The approach is practical and focused on the present. We're less interested in why you developed certain patterns and more interested in what's happening now and what you can change.

What IPT Helps With

• Depression - IPT has strong evidence for treating depression, especially when triggered by relationship or life events
• Life transitions - Moving abroad, job changes, relationship changes, becoming a parent
• Relationship difficulties - Communication problems, recurring conflicts, feeling disconnected
• Grief - Processing loss and rebuilding life afterward
• Loneliness and isolation - Difficulty connecting with others
• Adjustment difficulties - Struggling to adapt to new circumstances

Is IPT Right for You?

IPT works well if you can identify relationship issues or life changes that connect to how you're feeling. It's particularly helpful for depression that's been triggered by a specific event or change, and for people who want a structured, time-limited approach.

If your issues seem more about internal thought patterns than relationships, CBT might be more appropriate. If deeper patterns from early life are at play, schema therapy could be better. We can discuss what makes sense for your situation.