The effectiveness of internal cohesion psychotherapy in treating young clients with depression and anxiety disorders: The role of developmental assets in Kosovo context

Abstract

The positive youth development approach (PYD) is widely used as a meaningful framework to guide research, policy, and intervention, to support young people to develop their full potential. Psychotherapy, on the other hand, is a verbal and psychological procedure that can be a suitable solution to mental health concerns, which are prevalent among youth. This study aimed to explore the potential role of developmental assets in treating clients with depression and anxiety disorders using Internal Cohesion Psychotherapy (ICP). In total, 10 young people who took at least five sessions of ICP were part of this study. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted to gather information about clients’ experiences with ICP and their perception/opinions on the presence of developmental assets in their lives. The results confirm the effectiveness of ICP in treating depression and anxiety, while clients acknowledge the role of developmental assets in their psychotherapeutic process. The current study has important theoretical, practical, and research implications. It provides evidence on how clients use their developmental assets in maximizing the effectiveness of the ICP process. The usage of developmental assets to enhance the effectiveness of psychotherapy opens a new path for further research and can serve as a foundation ground for intervention on mental health among youth.

Internal cohesion psychotherapy: The nature, principles and application

“…A quantitative study with a large sample (N = 853) provided evidence upon which the principles of ICP were created. The results of this study, which used different structural equation models and was originally published by Uka et al (2022), showed significant bidirectional associations between intrapersonal, interpersonal, professional and spiritual systems. Moreover, results confirmed that the past has a significant effect on the present and the future, and the present also has a significant effect on the future.…”

“…A recent study by Uka et al (2022) confirmed the effectiveness of ICP in treating depression and anxiety. Practicability, simplicity and structure were appraised among the main qualities of ICP by clients who received treatment using this approach.…”

“…ICP is a new eclectic approach that aims at integrating the best practices from different theoretical and psychotherapeutic perspectives, yet remains unique in conceptualising the nature of psychopathology and its treatment (Uka, 2022a(Uka, , 2022b. In a short period of time, this approach became popular in Southeastern Europe, and it is known for its practicability and effectiveness (Gashi et al, 2022).…”

“…Significant positive correlations between all factors in different time perspectives confirm our main expectation, as ICP postulates that factors and systems are not independent and that the development of one system is affected by other systems, as well as time. In a qualitative study (Uka et al, 2022), clients who completed the psychotherapy process assessed the effectiveness of the ICP approach. Clients reported positive changes and effectiveness of ICP in treating depression and anxiety, and they acknowledged the role of developmental assets in their psychotherapeutic process (Uka et al, 2022).…”

Main Principles of Internal Cohesion Psychotherapy and the Qualities of Internal Cohesion Psychotherapists

“…The core components of ICP approach are systems (intrapersonal, interpersonal, professional and spiritual) and three-time perspectives (client's past, present and future). Systems are composed of client's important relations, which are interrelated with one another and dependent on the construct of time [10]. Therefore, during ICP intervention, the therapist guides the client to go through the important events in the past, the current experiences, thoughts, and feelings as well as future plans related to each system.Recent evidence [9] confirmed the effectiveness of ICP in treating depression and anxiety with the clients who received treatment appraising practicability and simplicity as main ICP values.…”