Effects of Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy on Depressive Symptoms and Executive Functioning in Major Depression

Abstract

This study examined the efficacy of intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy (ISTDP) on depressive symptoms and executive functioning in patients with major depression. We examined pretest, posttest, and follow-up depression scores as well as pretest-posttest executive functioning scores between 16 participants receiving ISTDP and 16 allocated to wait-list control. Participants in each group were matched according to age, sex, and educational level. Mixed-models analyses demonstrated significant interaction effects of group and time on depression scores when the group ISTDP was compared with the wait-list control group; participants receiving ISTDP had significantly reduced depression severity both after treatment and at follow-up. Next, a series of hierarchical regression models demonstrated modest improvements on most tests of executive functioning in participants receiving ISTDP. Depressed patients receiving ISTDP show a sustained reduction in depression severity after treatment and after 12-month follow-up and improvements in executive functioning after treatment compared with a wait-list control.

Implementing a Psychotherapy Service for Medically Unexplained Symptoms in a Primary Care Setting

“…Twenty percent of new presentations in primary care and 20–40% of medical outpatient referrals [ 3 , 4 ] present with high rates of somatization into bodily systems including the respiratory, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, musculoskeletal, neurological and dermatological systems. The health and well-being of patients with these symptoms suffer to a greater extent due to related destructive health behaviors (e.g., smoking, poor diet, patterns of self-neglect, poor medication compliance), leading to disability and ultimately higher overall mortality [ 5 , 6 , 7 ]. This contributes to enormous healthcare costs, long waitlists and patient/clinician frustration [ 7 , 8 , 9 ].…”

Dynamic Psychotherapy: The Therapeutic Process in the Treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

“…The main therapeutic interventions, which aim to unlock the unconscious, include confrontation, clarification, challenge to resistance, head on collision, facilitation of emotional experiences and recapitulation [10,[15][16][17][18][19][20]. The basis of ISTDP is resistance, transference and unconscious therapeutic alliance [10,[19][20][21][22][23], allowing this technique to be considered as an effective psychodynamic therapy, mainly by studies that cover follow-up interviews and post-treatment assessment measures [18,24,25].…”

Relationships, Emotions, and Defenses Among Patients with Substance Use Disorders, Assessed with Karolinska Psychodynamic Profile: Possibilities to use Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy in Substance Abuse Treatment

“…The literature indicates that interest in ISTDP is increasing. According to a study by Ajilchi, Nejati, Town, Wilson and Abbass (2016), patients with depression who were treated with ISTDP had decreased levels of depressive symptoms at end of treatment and at 12-months follow-up. Their executive functions also increased (Ajilchi et al, 2016).…”

“…According to a study by Ajilchi, Nejati, Town, Wilson and Abbass (2016), patients with depression who were treated with ISTDP had decreased levels of depressive symptoms at end of treatment and at 12-months follow-up. Their executive functions also increased (Ajilchi et al, 2016). Randomized controlled trials concerning depression showed that ISTDP was connected to partial or complete remission 6 months after treatment, and also to increased socialcognitive capacity (Ajilchi, Kisely, Nejati, & Frederickson, 2018;Town et al, 2017).…”

“…ISTDP, with its focus on emotions, relationships, and defenses, could reasonably be a valuable contribution to the treatment of patients with SUD. It should however be noted that in ISTDP, impartial assessment is not commonplace because the diagnostic evaluation specific to ISTDP, the extended trial therapy, is seen as sufficient for assessing the patient's level of functioning (Ajilchi et al, 2016;Della Selva & Malan, 2006;Frederickson, 2013). Psychodynamic assessment of patients with SUDs has however been described as difficult (Weinryb, Busch, Gustavsson, Saxon, & Skarbrandt, 1998), and it has been recommended that various assessment methods should be used (Aleman, 2007b).…”