News and Announcements
CASE REPORT
Treating major depression using internal cohesion psychotherapy: A case report
Fitim Uka1,2,3 ,
Arlinda Gashi2 ,
Arvesa Studenica2,4 ,
Diellza Gllogu2 ,
Vanesa Sopjani2*
Show Less
1
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Prishtina “Hasan Prishtina”, Prishtina, 10000,
Kosovo
2
Department of Psychotherapy, Institute of Research, Multidisciplinary Clinic “Empatia”, Prishtina, 10000,
Kosovo
3
Munich Centre for Learning Sciences, Department of Learning Sciences, Ludwing Maximilian University, Munich, 80802,
Germany
4
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, AAB College, Prishtina, 10000,
Kosovo
Submitted: 19 July 2023 | Accepted: 27 September 2023 | Published: 6 November 2023
© 2023 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
Abstract
Major depression is the most prevalent mental illness, often treated using different psychotherapy approaches. In this case study, we present a comprehensive account of the intervention process based on the principles of internal cohesion psychotherapy (ICP). We describe the case of a 26-year-old woman from Kosovo who was diagnosed with severe major depression and subsequently engaged in 11 ICP sessions. The ICP intervention mainly focused on the client’s relationship with four systems, corresponding to the core elements of ICP: Intrapersonal, interpersonal, professional, and spiritual, considering three time points – the past, the present, and the future. The second evaluation, conducted during the eleventh session of ICP, found minimal depressive symptoms in the patient. This case study contributes to the ongoing discourse on the effectiveness of ICP as an eclectic approach in the treatment of major depression.
Keywords
Major depression
Case report
Internal cohesion psychotherapy
Process
Funding
None.
References
- Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation, 2021, Global Health Data Exchange (GHDx). Available from: https:// ghdx.healthdata.org [Last accessed on 2023 Oct 30].
- Stringaris A, 2017, Editorial: What is depression? J Child Psychol Psychiatry, 58: 1287–1289. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12844
- De Maat SM, Dekker J, Schoevers RA, et al., 2007, Relative efficacy of psychotherapy and combined therapy in the treatment of depression: A meta-analysis. Eur Psychiatry, 22: 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpsy.2006.10.008
- Malocco DE, 2015, Psychotherapy: The Top 50 Theorists and Theories. USA: Create Space Independent Publishing Platform.
- Wampold BE, 2007, Psychotherapy: The humanistic (and effective) treatment. Am Psychologist, 62: 857. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.62.8.857
- Newman MG, Castonguay LG, Borkovec TD, et al., 2004, Integrative psychotherapy. In: Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Advances in Research and Practice. New York: The Guilford Press, p320–350.
- Norcross JC, Goldfried MR, (eds.), 2005, Handbook of Psychotherapy Integration. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.
- Laska KM, Gurman AS, Wampold BE, 2014, Expanding the lens of evidence-based practice in psychotherapy: A common factors perspective. Psychotherapy (Chic), 51: 467–481. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0034332
- Gersons BP, Carlier IV, Olff M, 2004, Manual Brief Eclectic Psychotherapy (BEP) for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Amsterdam: Academic Medical Centre.
- Lazarus AA, 2008, Multimodal therapy. In: RJ Corsini, D Wedding, (eds.). Current Psychotherapies. 8th ed. Boston, MA: Thomson Brooks/Cole.
- Uka F, 2022, Teoria dhe Psikoterapia e Kohezionit të Brendshëm. Serbia: Dukagjini.
- Uka F, (n.d), Toward a New Eclectic Approach. Society for the Advancement of Psychotherapy. Available from: https://societyforpsychotherapy.org/toward-a-new-eclecticapproach/#:~:text=what%20is%20internal%20 cohesion%20psychotherapy,of%20psychopathology%20 and%20its%20treatment [Last accessed on 2022 Dec 12].
- Clarkson P, 2003, The Therapeutic Relationship. United States: John Wiley and Sons.
- Lynch TR, Hempel RJ, Dunkley C, 2015, Radically open-dialectical behavior therapy for disorders of over-control: Signaling matters. Am J Psychother, 69: 141–162. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.2015.69.2.141
- Beutler LE, Harwood TM, Bertoni M, et al., 2006, Systematic treatment selection and prescriptive therapy. In: G Stricker, J Gold, (eds.). A Casebook of Psychotherapy Integration. United States: American Psychological Association, p29–41.
- Van Der Maas HL, Dolan CV, Grasman RP, et al., 2006, A dynamical model of general intelligence: The positive manifold of intelligence by mutualism. Psychol Rev, 113: 842–861. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.113.4.842
- Uka F, Gashi A, Studenica A, 2023, Internal cohesion psychotherapy: The nature, principles and application. In: Counselling and Psychotherapy Research. United States: Wiley, p1–8. https://doi.org/10.1002/capr.12632
- Gashi A, Sopjani V, Uka F, 2023, Main principles of internal cohesion psychotherapy and the qualities of internal cohesion psychotherapists. Curr Res Psychol Behav Sci, 3: 1079. https://doi.org/10.54026/CRPBS/1079
- Uka F, Gashi S, Gashi A, et al., 2022, The effectiveness of internal cohesion psychotherapy in treating young clients with depression and anxiety disorders: The role of developmental assets in Kosovo context. Front Psychol, 13: 1005709. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1005709
- Beck AT, Steer RA, Brown G, 1996, Beck depression inventory-II. In: Psychological Assessment. Washington, DC.: American Psychological Association.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.