Interpersonal psychotherapy in child and adolescent mental health services.

Over the past two decades, Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) has shown itself to be one of only two evidence-based psychotherapies for the treatment of depression in adolescence-an age group where the prescribing of antidepressant medication is limited and where morbidity and recurrence are high. We review the literature on the development and research studies of the IPT model for depressed adolescent patients, as well as recent developments expanding its use to other cultures and different diagnostic areas. An overview is provided of the model in action, using a fictionalized case vignette. Finally, we consider the future of IPT for the treatment and prevention of affective disorders in the under 18 age group and in the context of other generations in vulnerable families.