Evidence-based psychotherapeutic interventions for geriatric depression

Since 1991, when the National Institutes of Health consensus statement on the treatment of late-life depression ranked psychotherapy as the third-line treatment option, numerous articles have reviewed the evidence base for psychotherapy research in older adults and have evaluated the efficacy of psychotherapy as a treatment for late-life depression. Most of these studies have focused on the evaluation of cognitive-behavioral therapy, brief dynamic therapy, interpersonal psychotherapy, reminiscence therapy, and the combination of these interventions with medication management. This updated review systematically evaluates the evidence base for psychotherapy as an empirically supported treatment of late life depression.