Psychotherapy
- Briefly describe how supportive and interpersonal psychotherapies are similar.
- Explain at least three differences between these therapies. Include how these differences might impact your practice as a mental health counselor.
- Explain which therapeutic approach you might use with clients and why. Support your approach with evidence-based literature.
Briefly describe how supportive and interpersonal psychotherapies are similar.
- Supportive psychotherapy approach refers to a form of psychotherapeutic strategy that combines psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, as well as interpersonal conceptual approaches of psychotherapy and techniques (Wheeler, 2014). With this psychotherapy approach, the major aim of the therapist is to improve the adaptive and healthy patterns of the patient, with the major objective being to reduce the prevailing intrapsychic conflicts contributing to the patient’s condition.
- The interpersonal approach refers to a brief, interpersonal-focused strategy that concentrates on identifying and resolving the prevailing interpersonal problems to alleviate the presenting symptoms (Wheeler, 2014). The therapist is essentially concerned with the interpersonal context and the associated factors that may predispose, propagate, or precipitate the symptoms of psychiatric disorders.
- Both approaches are mainly aimed at bringing a therapeutic impact to patients presenting with the symptoms of psychiatric conditions.
Explain at least three differences between these therapies. Include how these differences might impact your practice as a mental health counselor.
- However, the two approaches have differences. Firstly, the interpersonal approach is an emphatically supported treatment model that mainly adheres to a highly structured and time-limited approach that often takes between 12 to 16 weeks (Cuijpers et al., 2016). Conversely, the supportive approach is not structured and utilizes a combination or either the psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral and/or interpersonal conceptual approach.
- What is more, as highlighted above, the main aim of the supportive approach is to enhance the patient’s healthy as well as adaptive patterns in order lessen the prevailing intrapsychic conflicts contributing to the development of mental disorders. Conversely, the main aim of using the interpersonal approach is to identify and resolve any prevailing problematic interpersonal relationships. As such, therapist are necessitated to evaluate the relational aspects of patients that may be impacting the patient.
- Lastly, the supportive psychotherapy approach is mainly used in the treatment of patients with behavioral psychiatric problems such as alcoholism, addiction or eating disorders such as bulimia nervosa. On the other hand, the interpersonal psychotherapy approach is mainly used in the treatment of mental disorders that are related to the way people interact with family members or in other social organizations
References:
Wheeler, K. (Ed.). (2014). Psychotherapy for the advanced practice psychiatric nurse: A how-to guide for evidence-based practice (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company.
Cuijpers, P., Donker, T., Weissman, M. M., Ravitz, P., & Cristea, I. A. (2016). Interpersonal psychotherapy for mental health problems: a comprehensive meta-analysis. American Journal of Psychiatry, 173(7), 680-687
