If you are struggling with an eating disorder, the stress of difficult relationships can make everyday life feel even harder. Conflicts with loved ones, unresolved losses, or feeling disconnected from those around you can weigh heavily on your emotional well-being. Interpersonal Therapy, or IPT, offers a way to address these challenges directly. It helps you strengthen your relationships, communicate more effectively, and, in turn, build a healthier relationship with yourself. In this blog article, be Collaborative Care will guide you through the introduction to IPT and its potential benefits.
Understanding Interpersonal Therapy
Interpersonal Therapy (IPT) is a structured, time-limited approach that was first developed in the 1970s to treat depression. Since then, it has been adapted to support people facing a range of mental health challenges, including eating disorders. The International Society of Interpersonal Psychotherapy (ISIPT) explains that IPT focuses on the connection between emotional well-being and relationships. The idea is simple but powerful: when our relationships are stable and supportive, mental health often improves; when connections are strained or distant, emotional struggles can feel heavier.
Unlike therapies that concentrate primarily on thoughts or behaviors, IPT looks at how your current life events and relationships affect your mood. It helps you improve communication, resolve conflicts, and strengthen your support network. Many people find that this makes symptoms like anxiety, depression, or disordered eating easier to manage.
How IPT Works in Practice
Most people experience IPT in weekly sessions over three to four months. The National Library of Medicine highlights that this structured approach allows therapists and clients to focus on the interpersonal challenges driving distress. These challenges usually fall into one of four areas: grief and loss, role transitions (like starting a new job or ending a relationship), interpersonal disputes, and social isolation.
Once a focal area is chosen, therapy becomes a combination of exploration, learning new communication skills, and trying out healthier ways of relating to others. Because IPT emphasizes present relationships rather than digging deeply into the past, many people find it practical and immediately useful in day-to-day life.
Signs IPT Could Be a Good Fit
IPT can be especially helpful if your emotional challenges are closely tied to your relationships. Some signs it might be right for you include:
- Frequent conflicts or tension with family or close friends
- Feelings of isolation or withdrawal
- Major life changes, like moving, career shifts, or relationship changes, that feel overwhelming
- Unresolved grief or loss that still weighs on your day-to-day
- Emotional distress that intensifies in social or relational settings
According to ISIPT, noticing these patterns is often the first step toward using IPT to bring clarity and relief to your relational world.
How Relationships Influence Eating Disorders
It might surprise you how much relationships can influence eating behaviors. Pain from disconnection, unresolved grief, or ongoing conflict can contribute to patterns of restriction, bingeing, or purging. Many people develop these behaviors as way to cope with emotional pain, manage overwhelming feelings, or regain a sense of control.
Because IPT targets these interpersonal roots, it works well alongside nutritional counseling and other therapies for eating disorders. ISIPT notes that learning to express your needs, set boundaries, and navigate conflict more skillfully often leads to fewer emotional triggers fueling disordered eating.
What to Expect from IPT Sessions
Each session usually blends reflection, conversation, and concrete skill-building. Early sessions often involve mapping out relationships and pinpointing stress points. As therapy continues, you might practice communication techniques, role-play challenging conversations, and work on building stronger support networks.
Your therapist serves as a guide, helping you notice patterns in your relationships and experiment with new ways of relating. These skills often carry over beyond therapy, giving people confidence to handle future challenges more resiliently.
Healing Through Connections
Recovery doesn’t happen in isolation—it happens in relationships with family, friends, partners, and communities. IPT honors that truth and helps you rebuild connections in ways that foster growth and healing. For those navigating eating disorders, IPT offers more than symptom relief; it provides a roadmap for lasting change: building support, improving communication, and reclaiming a sense of belonging.
At be Collaborative Care, IPT is one of the evidence-based therapies we use to support clients’ healing journeys. By addressing the interpersonal roots of distress, we help people develop tools to sustain well-being both in their relationships and within themselves.