Comprehensive Guide to Interpersonal Psychotherapy
by Myrna M. Weissman, John C. Markowitz, and Gerald L. Klerman
New York, Basic Books. 2000.
Reviewed by Christopher Dowrick, Professor of Primary Medical Care,
University of Liverpool, UK.

Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) has an impressive pedigree. Two of the authors of this text have international reputations in academic psychiatry - Myrna Weissman has a major corpus of work in the field of psychiatric epidemiology, much of it with her late husband Gerald Klerman, who wrote one of the most interesting papers it has ever been my pleasure to read 1. It is therefore exciting to see that they are also innovators in the field of therapy.

IPT is based on the premise that psychiatric syndromes such as depression usually occur in a social context: a marriage or a friendship breaks up, children leave home, a loved one dies or a job is lost. The unit of observation and intervention is the primary social group, the immediate face-to-face involvement of the individual with one or more significant others. In IPT patients learn to understand the relationship between the onset and fluctuation in their symptoms and what is currently going on in their lives - their current interpersonal problems. The therapist sets a treatment contract with the patient, in which they agreeing to focus on two or three key problem areas. The four interpersonal problem areas are grief, interpersonal role disputes, role transitions and interpersonal deficits (loneliness or social isolation). Over the course of some twelve or fourteen sessions, the patient is helped to develop new ways of dealing with their interpersonal problems, with particular emphasis on emotionally charged incidents, and thereby to reduce their depressive symptoms. Techniques include the use of opening questions geared to recent events, communication analysis, exploration of patients' wishes and options, decision analysis or role playing.
Full text
http://human-nature.com/nibbs/02/ipt.html.

Comprehensive Guide to Interpersonal Psychotherapy (Basic Behavioral Science Books)
by Myrna M. Weissman, John C. Markowitz, Gerald L. Klerman
Hardcover: 465 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.20 x 9.57 x 6.45
Publisher: Basic Books; ISBN: 0465095666; (January 14, 2000)
AMAZON - US
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0465095666/darwinanddarwini/
AMAZON - UK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0465095666/humannaturecom/

Editorial Reviews:
From Book News, Inc.
Updating Interpersonal Psychotherapy of Depression (1984), this reference consolidates the art and research behind a treatment developed in the 1970s for depression. Applied now to disorders of behavior and personality as well as mood and adapted to new formats, IPT is presented as an empirically- validated, replicable, and time-limited treatment (the type managed care likes) with rationales, techniques, and case examples. Weissman teaches psychiatry and epidemiology at Columbia U.; directs a division of the NY State Psychiatric Institute; and co-authored with the late G. Klerman, this and the 1984 manuals. J. Markowitz, a colleague at Columbia and Cornell U. Medical College, is the other author.Book News, Inc.®, Portland.

Book Description
Since its introduction as a brief, empirically validated treatment for depression, Interpersonal Psychotherapy has broadened its scope and repertoire to include disorders of behavior and personality as well as disorders of mood. Practitioners in today's managed care climate will welcome this encyclopedic reference consolidating the 1984 manual (revised) with new applications and research results plus studies in process and in promise and an international resource exchange.

Book Info
Columbia Univ., New York City, NY. Encyclopedic reference reviews, revises, and expands the original manual written by Gerald L. Klerman, c1984. Presents new research-based applications and modifications in technique that facilitate their adaptation in different patient populations and in special settings. DNLM: Depressive Disorder--therapy.

About the Author
Myrna Weissman, Ph.D. (Professor, Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons), co-authored Interpersonal Psychotherapy of Depression (1984) with the late Gerald Klerman, M.D.

John C. Markowitz, M.D., (Associate Professor, New York Hospital-Cornell Medical College), trained with Dr. Klerman and presents IPT workshops worldwide.