Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy (DIT): Developing a New Psychodynamic Intervention for the Treatment of Depression

Abstract

This article outlines the development of a manualized, brief (16 session) psychodynamic intervention—Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy (DIT) ¹ —for the treatment of depression. DIT is based on a distillation of the evidence-based brief psychoanalytic/psychodynamic treatments pooled together from manualized approaches that were reviewed as part of the competence framework for psychological therapies first commissioned in the United Kingdom by the Department of Health. This article begins with a description of the methodology underpinning the competence framework, followed by an overview of the model, its relevance to depression, and, finally, its strategies and techniques, which are illustrated through a case study.

¹DIT is easily confused with Interpersonal Therapy (IPT), because both therapies are interpersonal in their focus. However, IPT is not a psychodynamic therapy and this is reflected in the competences required to deliver it (Lemma, Roth, and Pilling, 2010), which are quite different to the psychoanalytic competences required to deliver DIT.

Acknowledgments

DIT has been adopted as the prototype brief psychodynamic treatment option for depression with the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies UK program. This development has resulted from a collaboration between the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust and the Anna Freud Centre.

Notes

¹DIT is easily confused with Interpersonal Therapy (IPT), because both therapies are interpersonal in their focus. However, IPT is not a psychodynamic therapy and this is reflected in the competences required to deliver it (Lemma, Roth, and Pilling, 2010), which are quite different to the psychoanalytic competences required to deliver DIT.

²In the United Kingdom, the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Programme (IAPT), has committed itself to an expansion in the range of psychological interventions on offer to patients, beyond just CBT. This now includes DIT.

³The full list of competences can be accessed at http://www.ucl.ac.uk/CORE.

⁴The theories underpinning the manuals we consulted (see Lemma et al., 2008) have greatly influenced the development and elaboration of the current protocol.

⁵For clarity and economy, the patient will be referred to as ‘he’.