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Interpersonal Psychotherapy for PTSD

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Book cover Future Directions in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

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Abstract

Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) is a time-limited, evidence-based treatment that focuses on patients’ social and interpersonal functioning, affect, and current life events. IPT helps patients to explore affective experiences through the lens of the social and the interpersonal, and offers techniques to help the patient translate feelings into interpersonal interventions that ameliorate functioning in those domains. IPT has been supported by numerous clinical trials over the last 40 years, and it continues to be applied and adapted across cultures, pathologies, and modalities. Among the many contemporary adaptations, is the use of IPT for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In this chapter, we will trace the theories that influenced the design, research, and practice of IPT as we describe in more detail the approach and its recent application to PTSD.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Ruth and Allen Ziegler Student Services Division, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Alexandra Klein Rafaeli Psy.D.

  2. The New School of Psychotherapy, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Alexandra Klein Rafaeli Psy.D.

  3. New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA

    John C. Markowitz M.D.

  4. Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, 1051 Riverside Drive, Unit #129, New York, NY, 10032, USA

    John C. Markowitz M.D.

Authors
  1. Alexandra Klein Rafaeli Psy.D.
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  2. John C. Markowitz M.D.
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alexandra Klein Rafaeli Psy.D. .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel

    Marilyn P. Safir

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel

    Helene S. Wallach

  3. Department of Psychiatry and School of Gerontology, University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies, Los Angeles, California, USA

    Albert "Skip" Rizzo

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Rafaeli, A.K., Markowitz, J.C. (2015). Interpersonal Psychotherapy for PTSD. In: Safir, M., Wallach, H., Rizzo, A. (eds) Future Directions in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7522-5_13

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