Project Summary

John C. Markowitz, M.D. (Independent Investigator 2002) of New York State Psychiatric Institute, will utilize interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT), an empirically validated, time-limited psychotherapy, for patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD), including those at suicidal risk.  There are no published studies of BPD being treated with IPT, but several features of IPT are likely to be helpful for this disorder.  The IPT therapist defines the patient's problem as a treatable illness that is not the patient's fault.  Treatment focuses not on past traumas but on current interpersonal difficulties.  IPT has been shown to build interpersonal skills while relieving depressive symptoms, which are frequently associated with BPD.  It might provide a psychotherapeutic alternative to DBT; its medical model meshes nicely with pharmacotherapy.  Goals of the study will be to complete an IPT manual and then initiate an open trial of IPT for patients with BPD.  Treatment outcomes of the study will be assessed by independent raters.  Promising results from this study could lead to a study which would include a comparative trial of IPT (IPT evaluated against a different treatment) and would include a control condition.

Program Area: PERSONALITY DISORDERS\Borderline Personality Disorder

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