Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT)

Interpersonal Psychotherapy, or IPT, is a structured, time-limited approach that focuses on how your relationships and social experiences affect your mental health—especially your mood. The central idea is that symptoms like depression, anxiety, or grief don’t just happen in isolation; they often show up in the context of life transitions, role changes, unresolved grief, or conflicts in important relationships. In IPT, we work together to identify which of these interpersonal areas might be contributing to your distress right now.

The therapy process starts with understanding your current symptoms and mapping out recent or ongoing changes in your relationships or life roles—like becoming a parent, going through a breakup, losing someone, or struggling with communication. From there, we choose a focus area and begin exploring how it's affecting your emotions, behavior, and sense of self. Therapy then supports you in developing skills like improving communication, navigating conflict more effectively, setting boundaries, expressing emotions more clearly, or adjusting to a new life role or identity.

IPT is typically short-term (often around 12–16 sessions) and goal-oriented. It’s grounded in the belief that when we improve the quality of our relationships and social supports, our mental health improves too. The process is collaborative and focused on the here-and-now—not digging into the past unnecessarily, but helping you feel more connected, supported, and empowered in your current life.