The Importance of Psychotherapy for Treatment-Resistant Depression

Dham Ho, Yong Ku Kim, Weon Jeong Lim

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

Many clinicians choose psychoanalytic psychotherapy or supportive psychotherapy as the primary method of treating depression with or without antidepressant medications. Despite new antidepressants, 20% or more patients showed inadequate responses to the medications, and remained in chronic courses, known as “treatment-resistant depression (TRD).” In this chapter, we described (1) the reasons for psychotherapy in treating TRD from the perspectives of the hazard of polypharmacy, resistance, and neural mechanisms. (2) Next, we focused on the importance of assessment with two clinical vignettes and the original modality of psychoanalysis, psychoanalytic psychotherapy, and supportive psychotherapy in brief. (3) Finally, we described specific considerations in undertaking psychotherapy for TRD patients in terms of transference, countertransference, and resistance. In addition, the efficacy of psychoanalytic psychotherapy in childhood, adolescent, and late-life depression has been depicted in this paper.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationAdvances in Experimental Medicine and Biology
PublisherSpringer
Pages257-271
Number of pages15
DOIs
StatePublished - 2024

Publication series

NameAdvances in Experimental Medicine and Biology
Volume1456
ISSN (Print)0065-2598
ISSN (Electronic)2214-8019

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2024.

Keywords

  • Countertransference
  • Psychoanalysis
  • Psychoanalytic psychotherapy
  • Psychotherapy
  • Resistance
  • Supportive psychotherapy
  • Transference
  • Treatment-resistant depression

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