Supportive Versus Interpersonal Psychotherapy

 

            Psychotherapy is a term used to explain the process of engagement in which the participants bond to change therapeutic venture. There are two therapies that are used to treat disorders which are related to moods, namely; interpersonal and supportive psychotherapy. Interpersonal psychotherapy is usually meant to help the therapist know level that the patient is suffering as well as improving their relationships with other people and takes a short duration. This therapy is usually focused on treating the depressed patients who do not present with other medical conditions (Mulder, Boden, Carter, Luty & Joyce, 2017). It mainly focuses to bringing change in interpersonal relationships and improvement in terms of the symptoms. It also focuses on enabling the patient to deal with interpersonal discomforts through helping to refine their social help. Supportive psychotherapy on the other hand is a form treatment that focuses on empowering the functions of the mind that are in short-term or long-term unable to deal with the requirements of internal and external world (David, 2014). It focuses to give the patient the essential insufficient or absent psychological constituents. This therapy has been on use by patients who are suffering from eating and dependency disorder. The therapist is in the position to understand the mental functions that the patient is lacking and how they can be nourished or offered if they are absent. This paper is going to outline the similarities and differences of the two. It is also going to give an explanation on how the role of a counselor in mental health will be affected by their sameness and dissimilarity.

Similarities

            In both of the therapies, the therapist and the patient are expected to be active participants in order to come out with positive results. Both of the methods are applied to treat behavioral traits presented with by the patient (Robertson, 2012). The therapist is supposed to engage the patient in every week to facilitate faster healing in both of the therapies. Another way in which these therapies are similar is that they have been both given approval by the philosophers as impacting positively to the patients as well as being evidence-based. Both of the therapies are meant to treat the patient in order to improve their relationships with significant others. Lastly, both of the therapies are directed into enabling that the patient to establish proper brain functions, reassure and assist to patient to gain positive expectations with life (Wheeler, 2014).

Differences

            Interpersonal psychotherapy aims at enabling the patient to deal with interpersonal discomforts whereas supportive psychotherapy is meant to give the patient essential or the lacking psychological constituents. Interpersonal psychotherapy is meant for the patient who present with no other illness apart from depression while supportive psychotherapy mainly focuses on the psychotic patient (Scott &Michael, 2012). Another difference is that interpersonal psychotherapy takes a short period of time while supportive therapy may either be short-term or long-term depending on the presenting symptoms of the patient.

Supportive Psychotherapy and Interpersonal Psychotherapy in Daily Practice

            The choice of the type of method to be used will depend on the understanding of the therapist about the effectiveness of the methods. It will also depend with the nature of the client’s problem. Therefore, I would apply both methods but selectively depending on the nature of the conditions of the patients. On patients with interpersonal problems like depression, I would choose to use interpersonal method while for the psychotic patients, I would use supportive method.

Conclusion

            Interpersonal and supportive psychotherapy are two types used in treatment of the patients who have disturbed mental conditions. They have several similarities like participation of patient and therapist, application of both in treatment of treat behavioral traits and weekly engagement in the practice. They are different in that interpersonal psychotherapy aims at enabling the patient to deal with interpersonal discomforts whereas supportive psychotherapy is meant to give the patient essential or the lacking psychological constituents. Interpersonal psychotherapy is meant for the patient who present with no other illness apart from depression while supportive psychotherapy mainly focuses on the psychotic patient. They are both effective depending on the way they are applied by the therapist on the clients. What is important is that there is the need to comprehend both methods in order to utilize them effectively.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reference

David S. Werman,2014,  Practice Of Supportive Psychotherapy ,Routledge

Mulder, R., Boden, J., Carter, J., Luty, S., & Joyce, P. (2017). Ten month outcome of cognitive    behavioural therapy v. interpersonal psychotherapy in patients with major depression: a            randomised trial of acute and maintenance psychotherapy. Psychological medicine,    47(14), 2540-2547.

Robertson, S. (2012). Interpersonal psychotherapy: A clinician's guide, 2nd Edition. London,

Edward Arnold (Oxford University Press), 2012

Scott stuart, Michael Robertson, 2012 Interpersonal Psychotherapy 2E A Clinician's Guide, CRC             press

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