Interpersonal Counselling (IPC) is an adaptation of interpersonal psychotherapy, developed to treat depressive disorders in a primary care setting. This approach connects the onset and the duration of the depressive episode with the patient’s interpersonal problems. The initial goal of the treatment is to reduce the depressive symptoms. However, the basic purpose of the treatment is to improve the quality of the patient’s relationships and social functioning. The most frequent IPC practice consists of six thirty minute sessions a week. IPC comprises an appropriate assessment of symptoms connected to life events, support techniques, improvement in communication skills and relational strategies and if necessary referrals to other treatments (pharmacological and psychological) or providers either in primary care or in specialized services. The authors describe the theoretical framework and structure of IPC. They also present a case study and a brief review of the literature on experimental studies that have tested this method
Keywords: Counseling interpersonale, depressione, cure primarie, medicina generale