Page 73 - JCBP-2-2

Journal of Clinical and
Basic Psychosomatics Treating depression using ICP approach

needs of each client. Eclecticism has become increasingly the rules of psychotherapy. Afterward, she proceeded to
popular in recent years due to the increasing emphasis attend 11 biweekly ICP sessions.
on evidence-based practice and the recognition that no
single therapeutic approach is universally effective for all 2.2. Clinical case
[8]
clients . Therefore, several popular eclectic models and The client was referred to the multidisciplinary clinic
multimodal therapies have emerged in recent years [9,10] . “Empatia” after showing signs of depression and poor self-
In this particular case study, we provide a control, especially in terms of emotional regulation. The
comprehensive account of the intervention process, guided client reported experiencing a persistent depressed mood
by the principles of internal cohesion psychotherapy for the past 5 weeks, characterized by frequent episodes of
(ICP), an eclectic approach, in treating a client with crying and a pervasive sense that her life is meaningless.
severe depression. We, further, assessed the effectiveness Over the preceding 2 months, the client had an increasing
of ICP in ameliorating the client’s condition. ICP is a preference for solitude after she claimed to have lost control
newly developed, empirically grounded, process-focused, over her life. She expressed tendencies of self-blame and
and personalized approach [11,12] . Its primary objective is frequent crying. Moreover, she reported a loss of interest
to address an individual’s needs by focusing on all levels in most activities and could not derive satisfaction from
of human functioning, including one’s self-relationship, any of the events or experiences. Previously, she engaged
interpersonal relationship, life objectives, and beliefs. In in yoga and sports regularly, but she quit these activities
addition to ICP, there exist other integrative approaches simultaneously when she left the university. Activities
that share a common emphasis on addressing multiple she once engaged in, such as reading books and watching
levels of human well-being. Noteworthy examples TV shows in the evenings, had lately been perceived
include the five-relationship model by Clarkson and as sources of anxiety and discomfort. In addition, she
[13]
Radically Open-Dialectical Behavior Therapy by Lynch reported weight gain and the adoption of unhealthy eating
and colleagues . ICP aligns with similar principles found habits. Despite her concerns about her self-image, she
[14]
in systematic treatment selection, an empirically based remarked, “There is nothing she can do to change that.” She
procedure for identifying effective treatment strategies and also reported experiencing a loss of energy and sleeping
[15]
interventions . Furthermore, the foundational principles difficulties, with only 4 h of sleep per day. According to
of the ICP approach are rooted in dynamic systems her, “mornings are accompanied by desperate thoughts and
theories , which consider that systems are strongly unpleasant memories,” leaving her feeling worthless. She
[16]
interrelated and mutually influential. Recent evidence attributed these feelings to her decision to quit university
from a qualitative study indicates that ICP is an effective and the 4-year tenure in her current job. These feelings of
[17]
approach for treating clients with affective disorders. worthlessness were linked to poor communication with
her family, as well as her low self-esteem. Recently, she also
2. Case presentation reported unhappiness with her marriage and a notable lack

2.1. Case history of sexual desire.
In this case report, the client is a 26-year-old Albanian Before her first visit to the clinic, she experienced
woman from Kosovo, residing with her husband, to feelings of hopelessness and had suicidal ideation. Given
whom she married 3 years ago, and his parents. She is that these symptoms had persisted for a duration of
the youngest of four siblings and was raised in a family 8 months, the client met the DSM-V criteria for a diagnosis
that faced several economic challenges. Before our initial of major depressive disorder. Moreover, with a Beck’s
meeting, she quit her bachelor’s studies for the second depression inventory scale (BDI-II) score of 46, it can be
time (arts studies), having previously left her economics concluded that ventricular fibrillation was experiencing
studies 4 years ago. Over the past 4 years, she has been severe depression. However, it should be mentioned that
employed in a full-time job as a waitress. She has not had this marked her first episode of depression, and there were
any prior hospitalizations for health-related issues, nor no indications of any psychotic episodes.
has she undergone any pharmacological interventions 2.3. Intervention process
for her depression. Moreover, our session marks her
first experience with psychotherapy sessions. She was The ICP intervention process for the client includes several
recommended to undergo psychotherapy by her husband stages, as detailed in the following sections (selected parts
and willingly consented to participate in psychotherapy from the psychotherapy session with the client, reflecting
sessions following the ICP approach. She gave her the use of different ICP techniques and strategies can be
informed consent after perusing a document outlining found in Appendix):

Volume 2 Issue 2 (2024) 2 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcbp.1336