Supportive Therapy vs. Interpersonal Therapy
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Supportive Therapy Vs. Interpersonal Therapy
Introduction
Psychotherapy entails the various treatment strategies in psychiatric management involving changing the thought process and brain chemistry without utilizing chemical agents. Typically, it needs a therapist’s intervention that mediates and uses professional knowledge and skills for directing treatment by focusing on providing the client, a personalized solution. Through psychotherapy, clients receive treatment that involves establishing a better personality, healthier habits, and socially-acceptable thought processes (Thompson, 2016). Prominent examples of psychotherapy are interpersonal and supportive therapies.
Interpersonal and supportive psychotherapies possess certain describable similarities. First of all, both of them employ talk therapy in which therapists act as mediators and engage the clients in a conversation, aiming at identifying and discussing the underlying mental issue to present and apply an individualized solution that appropriately suits the needs of the client (Wheeler, 2014). Secondly, both therapies demand the client to be actively involved in the process. This aspect concentrates on the willingness of the client to obtain a solution to the current problem, recognizing that an issue prevails, and it has to be addressed via honest expression to prevent its escalation. Thirdly, in both therapies, the client should not only admit the problem’s existence and willingness to discuss it, but should also demonstrate the desire of applying the established solution while providing feedback for the improvement of the adaptability of the solution as the real situation demands (Cuijpers, Donker, Weissman, Ravitz, & Cristea, 2016).
Even though both therapies share the above similarities, they are, however, significantly different. First and foremost, the client and therapist play dissimilar roles during the treatment process in the two approaches. In supportive therapy, the therapist gives directions to the client by actively informing him/her on what is required in addressing the issue at hand. Even as the counselor undertakes his/her active responsibility, the client assumes a passive responsibility because he/she is not involved in developing the solution; in other words, he/she adopts it the way it is presented (Ashman, Cantor, Tsaousides, Spielman, & Gordon, 2014). On the contrary, in interpersonal therapy, the therapist assumes a passive rule whereby he/she makes sure that the client develops and adopts a solution focusing on a generalized direction that lacks specifics. The client has active participation in developing and applying the solution upon the therapist’s guidance, to behave within allowable frameworks (Gelo, Pritz, & Rieken, 2015).
Secondly, these two therapies possess dissimilar treatment boundaries. When it comes to supportive therapy, the therapeutic interrelation only prevails during the sessions of treatment, meaning that no relationship exists beyond the sessions (Gelo, Pritz, & Rieken, 2015). In contrast, in interpersonal therapy, the said relationship starts upon the acceptance of the client into therapy, ending upon the discharge or release of the patient. It implies that there is an existence of the interrelation even when the client is engaged in other activities outside the therapy jurisdictions (Thompson, 2016). Last but not least, therapists employ different techniques. In supportive therapy, the therapist is the model regarding the client’s expected ideal. However, in interpersonal therapy, the therapist is the guide whereby he/she interprets to the client what regarded an ideal (Cuijpers, Donker, Weissman, Ravitz, & Cristea, 2016).
Between the two, the preferable approach is interpersonal therapy since it presents an all-inclusive intervention allowing the client to adopt an individualized solution that is easily evaluated outside and inside treatment (Wheeler, 2014). Additionally, it takes into account the perspective of the client, hence making it easier to apply the solution. Even though supportive therapy provides a solution, there are more restrictions to the sessions, something that makes the evaluation of the solution’s effectiveness difficult (Ashman, Cantor, Tsaousides, Spielman, & Gordon, 2014). Similarly, supportive therapy significantly ignores the perspective of the patient, hence complicating the solution’s application.
Conclusion
It is crucial to acknowledge that psychotherapy offers various tools to address psychiatric problems. Additionally, it is vital to understand that interpersonal and supportive therapies are among the essential tools in psychotherapy and are similar and different in various ways. Between the two, interpersonal therapy is a better option because it is more comprehensive in that it is a personalized approach that is not only easily evaluated outside the sessions but also incorporates the perspective of clients.
References
Ashman, T., Cantor, J., Tsaousides, T., Spielman, L., & Gordon, W. (2014). Comparison of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Supportive Psychotherapy for the Treatment of Depression Following Traumatic Brain Injury: A Randomized Controlled Trial. The Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, 29(6): 467-478.
Cuijpers, P., Donker, T., Weissman, M., Ravitz, P., & Cristea, A. (2016). Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Mental Health Problems: A Comprehensive Meta-Analysis. American Journal of Psychiatry, 173(7): 680-687.
Gelo, O., Pritz, A., & Rieken, B. (2015). Psychotherapy Research: Foundations, Process, and Outcome. Springer-Verlag Wien.
Thompson, R. (2016). Counseling Techniques: Improving Relationships with Others, Ourselves, Our Families, and Our Environment(3rd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.
Wheeler, K. (2014). Psychotherapy for the Advanced Practice(2nd ed.). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company. ISBN: 978-0-8261-3625-1.