Clinical support
7 interpersonal therapy techniques to try: An overview for mental health providers
Need fresh interpersonal therapy techniques? Get practical ideas, tips, and condition-specific adjustments — plus implementation help from Headway.
May 15, 2026
9 min read
No matter which style of therapy you offer, relationships will likely be a recurring theme — if not the major recurring theme — in many client sessions.
Interpersonal therapy takes that situation to a whole new level. Relationship complexities are the heart and soul of this treatment modality, which aims to improve mental health conditions, such as depression, by solving interpersonal conflicts. Interpersonal therapy is time-limited and highly structured, making it easy to translate to treatment plans and other forms of documentation.
Looking to add interpersonal therapy to your practice? Here’s where to begin.
Key insights
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Interpersonal therapy is an evidence-based treatment method that aims to relieve symptoms of depression and other mental health conditions by addressing relationship problems.
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Interpersonal therapy usually begins with a detailed assessment of the client’s relationships, then uses techniques like role playing, communication analysis, and decision analysis to address a specific social issue.
What is interpersonal therapy?
Interpersonal therapy (IPT) is all about helping people improve their mental health by improving their relationships. Its guiding principle is that interpersonal conflict — as opposed to internal conflict — is often a key driver of mental health issues, and that addressing these social problems can bring psychological benefits.
IPT generally takes place over 12 to 16 weekly sessions. Treatment has distinct phases. The first few sessions are about understanding the client’s psychiatric and interpersonal profile. The middle ones are about addressing a specific interpersonal problem area. And the last few are focused on moving forward in a healthy way.
Philosophically and logistically, interpersonal therapy is quite different from many other popular forms of therapy. Unlike CBT, for example, it’s not focused on changing thought patterns unless they relate to relationships. And unlike psychoanalysis and psychodynamic therapy, it’s not concerned with the past, but rather present relationships.
What is the goal of interpersonal therapy?
Interpersonal therapy was initially developed — and is still often used — as a treatment for depression. It is also sometimes used to treat other mental health conditions, including eating disorders, grief, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. The goal is to alleviate mood-related symptoms by improving interpersonal functioning, based on the idea that mental and social health are linked.
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Interpersonal therapy techniques
When offering interpersonal therapy, everything traces back to relationships. These techniques illustrate what the process actually looks like in sessions.
1. Interpersonal inventory
During the first phase of treatment, the therapist typically takes an “interpersonal inventory,” or a detailed assessment of the key people in their client’s life and how those relationships function. They’ll seek to understand romantic attachments, sources of social support, communication styles, and interpersonal problem areas.
2. Selecting an interpersonal problem area
Once the interpersonal inventory is complete, the therapist and client generally work together to select an interpersonal issue to focus on in the middle stage of treatment. These issues typically fall into one of four categories:
- Grief
- Role dispute (a mismatch in expectations between two parties in a relationship)
- Role transition (difficulty with a big change, like getting married or becoming a parent)
- Interpersonal deficits (for those with a long-standing pattern of unsatisfying relationships, but not necessarily an acute issue)
3. Communication analysis
To help correct interpersonal issues, the therapist will likely want a deeper understanding of how their client communicates. To do so, they might ask for a transcript of a conversation between the client and another person. This helps the therapist diagnose problems and get a better sense of how the client’s perception of their communication style compares to reality.
4. Role playing
If the client has communication issues that need to be fixed, the therapist may use role play so the client can practice. For example, the therapist might act like the client’s spouse so they can rehearse having a difficult conversation.
5. Decision analysis
Decision analysis helps the client think about what success looks like for them — that is, how they would like to resolve interpersonal issues. The therapist’s job is to help their client generate ideas, assess whether they’re realistic (and, if not, come up with alternatives), and prepare to implement plans.
6. Affective exploration
One of interpersonal therapy’s key tenets is that relationships directly influence mental health. To that end, the therapist will likely guide their client to think more deeply about the emotions that surface during social situations. They’ll ask open-ended questions to help their client think about their feelings in specific circumstances or with certain people.
7. Graduation
The last phase of IPT is sometimes called “graduation” because it’s all about preparing for the future. During this stage, the therapist helps their client reflect on their treatment and figure out what comes after interpersonal therapy — whether it’s a different form of mental health treatment or a plan for maintaining healthy relationships in day-to-day life, outside the therapist’s office.
Interpersonal therapy techniques for specific applications
IPT is often used to treat adolescents or adults struggling with depression, but it can be adapted in many ways.
Interpersonal techniques for depression
Interpersonal therapy was specifically developed as a treatment for depression, so any of the techniques above can be incorporated into a treatment plan for depression. Logically, it’s a particularly good fit for clients whose depression has been caused or exacerbated by an interpersonal issue, such as a life transition, death, or major dispute.
Interpersonal techniques for group therapy
Interpersonal therapy was designed as an individual modality, but it can be used with groups as well. When working with multiple clients, consider using approaches like:
- Role playing or practicing interpersonal skills
- Group feedback on habits or communication styles
- Individual meetings to review problems and progress
To learn more, check out our guide to group therapy techniques.
Interpersonal techniques for kids
When working with kids under 12, clinicians typically focus interpersonal therapy on the parent-child relationship. This can include techniques like:
- An increased focus on social anxiety to foster good social skills moving forward
- Sessions that include the parent(s), as well as parent-only meetings
- Psychoeducation, for both parents and kids
Check out our other kids’ therapy activity ideas.
Tips for implementing interpersonal therapy techniques in your practice
It can be daunting to add interpersonal therapy to your repertoire, given its differences from other popular styles of treatment. Here’s how to start learning about it.
How do I structure an IPT session?
The structured nature of interpersonal therapy may be helpful in planning individual sessions. Remember, IPT is typically broken down something like this:
- Sessions 1–3: Understanding pain points, taking an interpersonal inventory, picking a focus area
- Sessions 4–14: Working on that problem area with techniques like role playing and communication analysis
- Sessions 15 and 16: Wrapping up and charting a path forward
How do I conduct an effective IPT session without it feeling overwhelming?
Clients more familiar with modalities like CBT may find interpersonal therapy a bit uncomfortable, especially at first. For many people, it’s a completely new way to think about mental health. To reduce overwhelm, try tactics like:
- Warm-up exercises to ease into each session (say, a few minutes of free-flowing conversation to break the ice)
- Mindfulness exercise, to stay grounded in the present moment
- Bodily awareness exercises to lessen stress and improve awareness
Documentation and compliance considerations
Since interpersonal therapy is typically used to treat a specific diagnosis and follows a clear and time-limited structure, it lends itself fairly easily to insurance documentation. Your treatment plan, intake assessment, and progress notes should work together to tell the whole story of a client’s progression through the treatment course. Using Headway’s free EHR, which includes documentation templates and AI assistance for note-taking, simplifies this process so you can focus on client care.
Interpersonal therapy FAQS
Below are answers to some of the most common questions clinicians have about IPT.
How do I use IPT with clients who are very avoidant or withdrawn?
A client who is avoidant or withdrawn in the therapy room may be displaying similar habits in their real-life relationships. Addressing those issues head-on can be an important part of IPT. You can:
- Help clients understand how their avoidance or withdrawal is contributing to mood or social issues
- Focus on reversing these issues to increase connection and improve mental health
- Validate the client’s feelings while guiding them toward a healthier outlook
How effective is IPT compared to CBT for depression and anxiety?
Studies have shown that IPT is about as effective as CBT when treating major depressive disorder, and thus can be recommended as a first-line treatment. It may also help prevent new or relapsing depression, research suggests.
There is less research on IPT’s efficacy for anxiety, but some studies support its use for that indication, too.
How directive should I be when offering IPT?
An IPT therapist may take on a directive role at times, such as when working through a conversation or decision analysis. Like psychodynamic therapy, however, it is generally a less directive style of therapy than CBT. It will also not dive deeply into personality traits, past experiences, or internal conflicts.
Explore other therapy approaches
Each client demands a unique approach to therapy. That means IPT may not work for every client — but, luckily, there are many other evidence-backed techniques to draw on.
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This content is for general informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute clinical, legal, financial, or professional advice. All decisions should be made at the discretion of the individual or organization, in consultation with qualified clinical, legal, or other appropriate professionals.
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