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Even so, all of the psychodynamic techniques require the client to be fairly intel-
ligent and verbally able to express his or her ideas, feelings, and thoughts effectively.
People who are extremely withdrawn or who suffer from the more severe psychotic dis-
orders are not good candidates for this form of psychotherapy. People who have nonpsy-
chotic adjustment disorders, such as anxiety, somatoform, or dissociative disorders, are
more likely to benefit from psychodynamic therapy.
INTERPERSONAL PSYCHOTHERAPY Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) is a psychotherapy
developed to address depression. It is an insight therapy focusing on relationships of the indi-
vidual with others and the interplay between mood and the events of everyday life (Bleiberg &
Markowitcz, 2008). It is based on the interpersonal theories of Adolph Meyer and Harry Stack
Sullivan along with the attachment theory of John Bowlby and focuses on interpersonal rela-
tionships and functioning (Bleiberg & Markowitcz, 2008). It is one of the few theories derived
from psychodynamic thinking that does have some research support for its effectiveness in
treating depression, particularly when combined with medication (Mufson et al., 2004; Reyn-
olds et al., 1999). Despite its origins, IPT is not considered to be a psychodynamic therapy, as
it combines aspects of humanistic and cognitive-behavioral therapies, making it truly eclectic.Humanistic Therapy: To Err Is Human
15.3 Identify the basic elements of the humanistic therapies known
as person-centered therapy and Gestalt therapy.
Unlike psychodynamic therapists, humanistic theorists do not focus on unconscious, hid-
den conflicts. Instead, humanists focus on conscious, subjective experiences of emotion and
people’s sense of self, as well as the more immediate experiences in their daily lives rather
than early childhood experiences of the distant past (Cain & Seeman, 2001; Rowan, 2001;
Schneider et al., 2001). to Learning Objective 1.3. Humanistic therapy emphasizes
the importance of the choices made by individuals and the potential to change one’s behav-
ior. The two most common therapy styles based on humanistic theory are Carl Rogers’s per-
son-centered therapy and Fritz Perls’s Gestalt therapy; both are primarily insight therapies.
TELL ME MORE: ROGERS’S PERSON-CENTERED THERAPY Chapter Thirteen discussed the
basic elements of Rogers’s theory of personality, which emphasizes the sense of self (Rogers,
1961). To sum it up quickly, Rogers proposed that everyone has a real self (how people see their
actual traits and abilities) and an ideal self (how people think they should be). The more closely
the real and ideal selves match up, the happier and more well-adjusted the person. To have
these two self-concepts match, people need to receive unconditional positive regard, which isinterpersonal psychotherapy (IPT)
form of therapy for depression which
incorporates multiple approaches and
focuses on interpersonal problems.
Psychotherapy often takes place one on
one, with a client and therapist exploring
various issues together to achieve deeper
insights or to change undesirable behavior.
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