Interpersonal Deficits in Interpersonal Therapy for Grief

Interpersonal Deficits – Grief
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June 7, 2022
Understanding the value of interpersonal relationships is essential for every clinician. It allows him to better appreciate the effects of these kinds of relationships on the patient’s symptoms and target these possible triggers. In line with this, this article will focus on the case of a 75-year-old widower who has grieved for the loss of his wife for 50 years, for the last 28 months. This includes an analysis of the importance of interpersonal relationships and the possible questions that could be asked to facilitate the patient’s healing process.
Interpersonal Deficit
One of the most common techniques used in Interpersonal Therapy (IPT) is addressing Interpersonal Deficits. Addressing interpersonal deficits means looking into the patient’s feelings of inadequacy regarding his relationship with others, seeking possible expression difficulties, and addressing reasons that prevent effective communication with others CITATION Sch21 \l 1033 (Schimelpfening, 2021). Accordingly, the concept of the interpersonal deficit is related to Bowman’s Attachment Theory which posits that individuals and their relationships are essential. Thus, any changes, shifts, or loss of such a relationship would cause distress to the human psyche CITATION Stu21 \l 1033 (Stuart & Chung, 2021).
In line with Interpersonal Therapy, targeting Interpersonal Deficits seeks to reduce or address the primary reaction of the mind to external problems like the quality of the relationship between the patient and another. On the one hand, this technique aims to “improve social adjustment and rapid symptom reduction” in the short term CITATION Sch21 \l 1033 (Schimelpfening, 2021). On the other hand, its primary goal is to help improve the formation and maintenance of good relationships, reduce excess emotions towards relations with others, and even identify patterns that would reduce the risks of recurrence in the longer term CITATION Sal20 \l 1033 (Saling, 2020).
In this case, the cause of the widower’s grief was the loss of the relationship between him and his spouse, whom he was with for fifty years. This long duration of attachment also suggests a higher relationship quality between the spouses, which also means more significant distress for the patient upon his loss. Thus, the goal of the therapy should be to determine the quality of the patient’s relationship with his spouse, address the loss of such relationship, and help form new relationships with family, peers, and friends, among others.
Questions to Ask
One of the questions that should be asked to the patient is the onset and duration of the symptoms of the possible depressive disorder. While the patient has already said that he has been grieving ever since the loss of his wife until the past 28 months, the extended duration of t...