Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) in depressions -: As example for evidence-based medicine in psychotherapy

Evidence-based medicine gains more importance within psychotherapy as well, although some problems occur in trying to follow the principles of evidence-based-medicine in the field of psychotherapy very strictly. The Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) for depression, which has been developed more than 30 years ago may be taken as an example for evidence-based-psychotherapy: the concept was built on empirical observations and manualised. Furtheron it was evaluated in many clinical trails that showed the good efficacy and later effectiveness. IPT reaches a high level of evidence and is to be seen as well-established psychotherapy. Psychotherapy research tries to point out the effectiveness for different subtypes of depressive disorders. Moreover it is investigated which connection exist between therapy outcome and neurobiological changes in the central nervous system.