Two large well-controlled trials have been conducted to compare CBT and psychodynamic therapy for depression. The first was the Treatment of Depression Collaborative Research Project (TDCRP) conducted in the 1980s. This study compared the efficacy of CBT, interpersonal psychotherapy, and pharmacotherapy for depression. Outcomes for CBT and interpersonal therapy were generally equivalent (Elkin et al., 1989), although CBT did not fare as well as IPT or antidepressant medication among the more severely depressed patients in this study. In the 1990s, Shapiro et al. conducted a major study comparing the efficacy of CBT and psychodynamic-interpersonal (PIT) for depression. This study also experimentally manipulated the duration of treatment (8 sessions
