Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) for Trauma, Anxiety and Depression: A Brief Relational Approach to Healing and Personal Growth

Credit

Program Information

All members of the PESI, Inc. planning committee have provided disclosures of financial relationships with ineligible organizations and any relevant non-financial relationships prior to planning content for this activity. None of the committee members had relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies or other potentially biasing relationships to disclose to learners.  For speaker disclosures, please see the faculty biography.

Speaker

Lillian Gibson, PhD Related seminars and products

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Lillian Gibson, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist with over a decade of experience working with clients facing trauma, insomnia, nightmares, race-based traumas, minority stress, anxiety, depression, and chronic medical conditions. In addition to her clinical duties, she serves as a consultant to other licensed clinicians, and supervises psychology and medical residents on “gold star” evidenced-based psychotherapy treatments. Dr. Gibson is a highly recommended speaker, consultant, and clinician who is frequently engaged by non-profit agencies, community-based programs, and mental health agencies to inform and train their staff. Experienced in a variety of settings including inpatient mental health centers, outpatient behavioral care services, and primary care settings, Dr. Gibson’s professional footprints include places such as Johns Hopkins Medicine and the Quality Education for Minorities Network. Dr. Gibson has also conducted international research in Johannesburg, South Africa.  

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Lillian Gibson maintains a private practice. She receives compensation as an independent consultant. She receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Lillian Gibson has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Additional Info

Program Information

Please note: There will be a 70-minute lunch and two 15-minute breaks; one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Lunch and break times will be announced by the speaker and at their discretion. A more detailed schedule is available upon request.

For live CE credit, you must watch the live webcast in its entirety at its scheduled time and complete the CE quiz and evaluation within one week. You will have access for 90 days after the program for review.

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Objectives

1. Analyze the role of early attachment experiences and family dynamics in shaping interpersonal functioning and how these factors can be addressed in IPT.
2. Identify the four main problem areas targeted in IPT treatment.
3. Identify the challenges and limitations of IPT treatment, including potential treatment risks.
4. Demonstrate the ability to conduct an effective clinical interview and use the interpersonal inventory to assess for interpersonal difficulties and relevant problem areas.
5. Demonstrate skills in implementing IPT techniques, such as communication analysis, decision analysis, role-playing exercises, and interpersonal skills building, to address specific problem areas targeted in IPT.
6. Utilize IPT interventions to address trauma-related interpersonal issues, such as coping with triggers and managing interpersonal problems.
7. Use decision analysis to help clients clarify values, priorities, and options in interpersonal situations that contribute to their anxiety and depression.
8. Analyze cultural and diversity considerations when implementing IPT, including adapting to different populations and cultural norms, and identifying potential biases or barriers to effective therapy.

Outline

IPT: Reducing Symptomology by Improving Clients’ Relationship Skills

• The interpersonal context of clients’ mental health
• The impact of early attachment experiences and family dynamics on interpersonal functioning
• Overview of IPT’s history, development, and theoretical underpinnings
• Key features of IPT and evidence base
• Problem areas targeted: role disputes, role transitions, interpersonal deficits and grief
• Treatment limitations and risks
• Inclusion/Exclusion criteria for discerning when to use IPT techniques in groups or individual work

Assessment and Treatment Planning

• Clinical IPT interview outline
• Assessing interpersonal functioning and identifying relevant problem areas
• Steps for conducting the interpersonal inventory with clients
• Communication styles, attachment patterns, and role expectations
• Review of helpful self-report measures
• Treatment considerations when comorbid issues are present
• Cultural and diversity considerations and adapting to specific populations

Getting Started with IPT: How to Conduct the Initial Phase

• Psychoeducation on social support, interpersonal relationships, and mental health
• Completing the interpersonal inventory
• Formulating a treatment strategy with clients

Intermediate Phase of Treatment: IPT Techniques and Strategies to Jumpstart Interpersonal Change

• Communication analysis to identify problematic communication patterns
• Using decisions analysis to clarify values, priorities, and options
• Role play exercises for practicing confident effective communication
• Interpersonal skills building
• How to use IPT to address grief, role disputes, role transitions, and interpersonal deficits
• Develop and reinforce new interpersonal skills and patterns

Phase Three: Termination and Maintenance

• Identifying past treatment trends
• Summarizing progress and reviewing treatment goals
• Consolidating gains and preparing for termination
• Strategies for maintaining new interpersonal patterns

IPT as an Adjunctive Treatment for Trauma

• Addressing trauma in the context of interpersonal relationships
• Conducting an interpersonal assessment in clients with trauma histories
• Coping strategies to manage triggers in the context of interpersonal relationships
• Targeting interpersonal problems that have arisen as a result of the trauma or loss
• Research limitations of IPT for trauma

IPT for Anxiety and Depression

• Interpersonal factors in the development of anxiety and depression
• The role of social support, attachment, and communication patterns
• Specific interventions for fears related to change and loss, resolving conflicts and misunderstandings, and enhancing social support networks
• IPT as an adjunctive treatment for anxiety

Target Audience

• Social Workers
• Counselors
• Psychologists
• Marriage & Family Therapists
• Addiction Counselors
• Psychiatrists
• Physicians
• Nurses
• Other Mental Health Professionals