Interpersonal therapy for depression worksheet
By
HappierTherapy
Author bio
The Happier Therapy editorial team is made up of Masters and PhD counselling psychologists. Each worksheet is created by a team member with exposure to and experience in the subject matter. The worksheet then gets reviewed by a more senior editorial member. This is someone with extensive knowledge of the subject matter and highly cited published material.
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What are the theories behind this Interpersonal therapy for depression worksheet?
This worksheet is based on the Interpersonal Theory of Depression that emphasises the role of social relations and social context on the development and maintenance of an individual’s depressive symptoms. It highlights how an individual’s thoughts, behaviours and actions are affected by significant others in their lives and vice versa.
A conceptual model combines Interpersonal theory with Cognitive Behavioural theory and explains how distress maintaining attributions about a romantic partner’s negative behaviour contributes to depressive symptoms. These are of two types:
| Causal attributions | Cause of behaviour is within the partner | Cause is stable | Cause is global i.e it affects many aspect of the relations |
| Responsibility attributions | Partner had deliberate intentions | Partner was motivated to behave that way | Deserves blame |
How will the worksheet help?
This worksheet will help the therapist analyse the thought process of a client with depressive symptoms particularly the presence of distress maintaining attributions about a romantic partner’s negative behaviour. These thoughts can then be challenged, questioned for evidence and replaced with positive ones in therapy sessions.
How to use the worksheet?
This worksheet can be used for a client who is distressed due to interpersonal issues with a significant other. It is a way to identify negative attributions that could be contributing to their interpersonal difficulties and worsening their depressive symptoms.
Instruct the client to focus on any recent negative event and answer the questions accordingly.