Interpersonal Psychotherapy (Theories of Psychotherapy)
Ellen Frank, PhD,is distinguished professor of psychiatry and professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and director of the Depression and Manic-Depression Prevention Program at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.She completed her undergraduate work in drama at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, completed a master's degree in English at Carnegie-Mellon University, and obtained her PhD in psychology at the University of Pittsburgh. She received her training in interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) from Drs. Gerald Klerman, Myrna Weissman and Bruce Rounsaville in the early 1980s. Since that time she and her colleagues have developed a series of adaptations of IPT, including those for preventative maintenance treatment of unipolar depression and for the acute and maintenance treatment of bipolar disorder, all of which have been subsequently validated in empirical studies.Jessica C. Levenson, MS,is a PhD candidate in clinical psychology at the University of Pittsburgh. She received a BA from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, and an MS at the University of Pittsburgh.Jessica's work focuses on the mechanistic understanding and treatment of mood disorders. Her recent work has focused on identifying the patient and treatment characteristics that may differentiate those patients who benefit most from interpersonal psychotherapy.