Adjunctive Supportive Psychotherapy with Pharmacotherapy for Women with Bipolar Affective Disorder: A Case Series

Abstract

Supportive psychotherapy as a therapeutic approach focuses on enhancement of coping skills, and providing emotional support, encouragement, and guidance to the client, based on a strong therapeutic relationship. The present study aims to explore the efficacy of SP, otherwise considered a second-rate therapy. We present three cases where Supportive Psychotherapy was applied as an adjunct to pharmacotherapy in the treatment of women with Bipolar affective disorder (BPAD) with psychotic features, in an in-patient, rehabilitative setting. The cases illustrated how each patient benefited from symptom relief and had improvements in emotional and social well-being. The integration of SP with medication was suggested to be a highly effective treatment model.