Growing Evidence for Psychodynamic Therapy for Depression

Psychodynamic therapy (PT) for depression is the least examined treatment method for depression, compared to cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and interpersonal therapy. This article, consisting of five randomized clinical trials of short psychodynamic supportive psychotherapy (SPSP) conducted over the last 25 years in Amsterdam, will review the trial results to provide answers to the question about which role SPSP can play in the treatment of depression. The researchers conclude that it is justified to qualify SPSP an empirically supported therapy form of PT for depression. In particular, adding SPSP to pharmacotherapy yields better results than pharmacotherapy by itself. Adding medication to SPSP may have a significant added value, but it is not as large as in the first comparison. The results also confirm no difference in efficacy between CBT and SPSP.