The major goals of IPT are achieved by ascertaining with the patient which of these four problems was associated with the onset of the current episode of depression and, subsequently, by working with the patient to renegotiate interpersonal difficulties associated with the primary problem area. IPT strategies include role-play, communication analysis, and direct suggestion. Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical Although maintenance

interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT-M) preserves the four distinctive problem areas and employs the strategies and techniques of IPT, it differs in that its primary goal is prevention of recurrence and it is conceptualized as a long-term rather than an acute intervention. Because of the length of maintenance treatment, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical a number of problem areas are typically addressed and the therapist often focuses on long-standing patterns of interpersonal behavior that appear nonadaptive for the patient.23 Cognitive behavioral analysis system of psychotherapy CBASP is a manualized psychotherapy specifically designed to help severely and chronically depressed individuals build new problem-solving and relationship skills.6 Hirschfeld et al30

explain that CBASP is similar to IPT, inasmuch as treatment focuses on interpersonal interactions, but is substantially more directive and structured than IPT, and frequently focuses on the therapist-patient Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical interactions. CBASP is an acute treatment that is scheduled twice weekly for the first 4 weeks, and weekly thereafter until week 12, with a maximum session allowance of 20 sessions.6 CBASP evolved from McCullough’s view of the specific cognitive Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical correlates of dysthymia or chronic depression.6 He argued that individuals with dysthymia tend to have a series of dysfunctional attitudes, particularly Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical with respect to dependence, competence, and trust. They also tend to have an attributional style that views these problems as internal, global, and

irreversible. Their sense of self-efficacy relative to that of the general population is low and they tend to have a highly reactive response to problems and stressors consistent with MTMR9 Eysenck’s concept of neuroticlsm. The primary goal of CBASP is to teach patients to understand the Belinostat research buy consequences of their situational behavior and address the interpersonal difficulties and cognitive correlates of dysthymia through situational analysis, interpersonal discrimination exercises, and behavioral skill training and rehearsal. Problem-solving treatment Problem-solving treatment (PST) was developed at Oxford University by Gath, Mynors-Wallis, and colleagues as a very brief form of psychotherapy to be used in the treatment of major depressive disorders in primary care settings.7,31 They developed PST with an eye toward reducing emotional symptoms by addressing “problems with living.