Therapy approach
Interpersonal Therapy (IPT)
For depression and low mood that seems tied to a relationship, a loss, a role change, or a conflict rather than to distorted thinking alone.
12–16
typical number of sessions
4
core problem areas addressed
Recommended
as an evidence-based depression treatment
1
or two focus areas per course
Understanding it
About Interpersonal Therapy (IPT)
Interpersonal Therapy (IPT) is a structured, time-limited talking therapy that treats depression by working on the relationships and life transitions surrounding it. Rather than focusing on thought patterns, it identifies one or two current interpersonal problem areas — grief, role disputes, role transitions or interpersonal deficits — and works directly on resolving them, on the basis that improving these relationships lifts the depression that surrounds them.
IPT rests on a simple observation: depression rarely appears in a vacuum. It tends to cluster around a bereavement that hasn't been processed, a relationship in ongoing conflict, a major life change such as becoming a parent or retiring, or a long-standing struggle to build and keep relationships at all. IPT doesn't claim these things cause depression in a simple way, but treats them as the practical, workable material through which depression can be understood and eased.
The approach deliberately puts diagnosis to one side after the first sessions and focuses on one or two current problem areas, chosen collaboratively with your therapist. This narrow focus is part of what makes it effective within a short number of sessions — rather than exploring your whole life story, you and your therapist work steadily on the specific relational situation most connected to how you're feeling now.
Sessions are practical and collaborative. You might look at a recent argument in detail, map out the different expectations two people brought to a relationship, or work through the specific tasks of adjusting to a new role or loss. The theory in the background is attachment: that our mood is deeply tied to the security and quality of our close relationships, and that untangling a stuck relational problem can free up considerable emotional energy.
How it shows up
You might recognise some of this
Nobody has all of it. Most people recognise a handful — and that's enough to start.
Best suited to
- Depression that followed, or is entangled with, a bereavement, breakup or life change
- Ongoing conflict with a partner, family member or colleague that feels linked to low mood
- Difficulty adjusting to a new role — new parent, retirement, redundancy, relocation
- A pattern of isolation or difficulty forming close relationships
What sessions involve
- An early 'interpersonal inventory' mapping your key relationships
- Agreeing one or two focus areas: grief, role dispute, role transition or interpersonal deficits
- Detailed, practical work on communication and expectations within a specific relationship
- Rehearsing new ways of raising difficult topics
- A structured, time-limited course, usually 12 to 16 sessions
What changes
- Being able to name what's actually going on in a difficult relationship
- More direct, less avoidant communication with people who matter
- Movement through a stuck grief or transition
- A noticeable lift in depressive symptoms as the interpersonal problem eases
Signals
When this helps
- Depression linked to grief, conflict or life transitions
- Postnatal depression
- Difficulty adjusting to a major role change
- Persistent relationship conflict alongside low mood
- Social isolation contributing to depression
The work
How therapy helps here
Links current low mood to a specific, workable relational problem
Uses a structured, time-limited format aimed at concrete change
Improves communication and connection in ways that ease depressive symptoms
The evidence
What the research actually says
Plain-English summaries of the guidance our therapists work from.
Recommended for depression
IPT is recognised within UK guidance as an evidence-based talking therapy option for depression, alongside CBT, and is offered within NHS talking therapies services.
Comparable outcomes to CBT for depression
Research consensus places IPT as broadly comparable in effectiveness to CBT for moderate depression, with some evidence it may be particularly helpful where relationship difficulties are prominent.
Useful across the lifespan
IPT has an evidence base extending to postnatal depression and depression in adolescence and later life, reflecting its focus on life-stage transitions that recur across ages.
What to expect
How a course of therapy usually unfolds
A guide, not a script — your therapist shapes this around you.
- 1
Assessment and inventory
Early sessions map your close relationships and recent life changes to identify what's connected to your current low mood.
- 2
Choosing a focus
You and your therapist agree one or two problem areas — grief, dispute, transition or deficits — to work on for the rest of therapy.
- 3
Middle phase
The bulk of sessions work concretely on the chosen area: understanding it, communicating differently within it, or grieving and adjusting to it.
- 4
Ending and review
The final sessions consolidate what's shifted and plan for maintaining it, since IPT is designed as a complete, time-limited course.
Worth saying
Common worries, honestly answered
“IPT is just about talking through relationship problems in general.”
It's a structured, focused therapy with a specific model and a narrow agreed focus, not an open-ended discussion of relationships.
“It's only for people whose depression is 'about' a relationship.”
Most depression has some interpersonal dimension — IPT works by finding and using that dimension, even where the initial trigger seems unclear.
“It ignores the symptoms of depression itself.”
Early sessions do include education about depression as an illness, which can itself reduce self-blame before the interpersonal work begins.
Between sessions
Small things that genuinely help
None of these replace therapy — but they're a gentle place to begin today.
- Notice which relationship or life change your low mood seems to track alongside
- Write down what you'd want to say to someone if you felt able
- Name whether your current problem is closer to grief, conflict, change or isolation
- Keep a brief log of mood alongside significant interactions each day
- Consider one small, low-risk step toward reconnecting with someone you've drifted from
FAQs
Frequently asked
Find the therapist who fits
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