Interpersonal narratives in cognitive and interpersonal psychotherapies

The purpose of the current investigation was to explore the predictors of the frequency and completeness of interpersonal narratives in psychotherapy. Narratives were extracted from 548 sessions of 72 patients who received either cognitive (CT) or interpersonal therapy (IPT) for depression. Consistent individual differences in narrative frequency, length, completeness, and number of therapist words per narrative were found. IPT sessions contained significantly more narratives than CT sessions, and CT sessions contained a higher proportion of therapist words per narrative. The alliance was positively related to the number of patient words per narrative, and patients with more involved interpersonal styles elicited more therapist words per narrative. Expectations about the causes of depression and helpfulness of focusing on interpersonal issues in therapy influenced narrative frequency and completeness more in CT than in IPT.