title: Patterns of response and non-response in interpersonal psychotherapy: a qualitative study.
abstract: This qualitative analysis of response and non-response in interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) was conducted on sessions that had been audiotaped for a randomized clinical trial designed to identify patient predictors of treatment response to psychotherapy for depression. A thematic analysis was conducted on ten sets of IPT sessions (120 hours) to explore the process of change. Analysis of these sessions revealed a pattern associated with improvement in mood. This pattern involved struggling with the symptoms; deconstructing interpersonal patterns; altering the pattern; and reconstructing a sense of self. Because the analysis revealed that not all participants' transcripts showed an engagement with this pattern, a further analysis revealed characteristics associated with response and non-response. These characteristics were: an ability to engage in multiple perspectives, an awareness of others' feelings, a desire to make change, a sense of self-responsibility, an ability to use a range of communication strategies, a desire to act cooperatively, and an ability to engage with the therapist.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological Medicine, Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences, New Zealand. marie.crowe@chmeds.ac.nz
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Crowe
authors.forename: Sue
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Luty
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome