Interpersonal Therapy Case Study of Susan

Interpersonal Therapy Case Study of Susan

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Interpersonal therapy is short-term therapy for depression and other problems that looks for solutions and strategies to deal with interpersonal problems rather than spending time on interpretation and analysis. In the initial stages of interpersonal therapy, therapeutic goals typically include diagnosis, completing the requisite inventories, identifying the client's major problem areas, and creating a treatment contract.

Presenting Problem

This case study is about Susan, a young lady in her early twenties. She came to see me because her office manager had recommended that she should consult a professional to help her with her anger management problems.

At first glance, she looked like a very reasonable human being and judging by her way of talking and her outgoing personality, I found it hard to believe that she had anger management problems. On inquiring from her she said that she did not believe that she had an anger management problem, only that she was an orderly person, and when things did not function as they should anybody would get angry.

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Anger Management

She thought that the office manager was over emphasizing the issue, and she agreed to come here just to satisfy the management.

Precipitating factors

In the first session which I had with her, I came to know more details about her work and also about her personal life. She was working as a financial analyst for a clothing company, and her job required her to meet strict deadlines on a regular basis. I also came to know that she had recently got married. Both these factors could have contributed to her being in a state of acute stress at all times and I suspected that she could be lashing out at other people as a reaction to all this stress. Her job as a financial...