Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

IPT focuses on the present, not the past.
 Some therapies dig 
up painful events from earlier in your life. Although we know 
that you have had such painful events (such past traumas define 
PTSD), you and your IPT therapist will not focus on them. 
Instead, the focus will be on 
how you are functioning now, how the 
symptoms of PTSD are making it hard to function, and how you 
can overcome those symptoms.
 D. 
What will your therapist want to know?
 At the beginning of treat-
ment, your IPT therapist will want to know something about who you 
are and what you’ve been through.
 •  How are you feeling?
 •  What is your current situation?
 •  Who are the important people in your life? How have you been 
getting along with them?
 •  What happened to you that led to PTSD?

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 •  Have there been other traumas in your life?
 •  How have relationships changed, and how has your life changed, 
since the PTSD began?
 •  How would you like things to change during treatment? What 
would make your life better?
 E.