[Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) for post traumatic stress disorder]

Amongst the many modifications and applications of Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT), its utilisation in the treatment of psychological trauma is amongst the most complex. Psychological trauma is usually defined as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in the Anglo-American literature. Despite the focus of the scientific literature on PTSD, psychological trauma engenders profound disturbances of mood, affect regulation, self-concept, interpersonal adjustment and a profound existential crisis in the lives of those afflicted. In the light of this, no one psychological therapy is positioned to 'treat'all aspects of psychological traumatic stress. Through its focus upon the individual and his or her experience of their interpersonal world, IPT provides scope for a psychological intervention which, whilst aiming at relief of distress, approaches issues not usually addressed in symptom focussed treatments. In this paper, I will attempt to outline the rationale for the use of IPT in psychological trauma and PTSD and then provide some evidence of its utility in the clinical setting.