Developments related to psychotherapy and psychological assessments of depressive disorders are reviewed.Results of several more recent studies of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) have yielded relatively unimpressive results. Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT), on the other hand, was both comparable with nortriptyline and significantly more effective than a treatment as usual comparison group in a well-controlled study conducted in primary care clinics. Some evidence is accumulating to suggest that both CBT and IBT are less effective when patients manifest neurobiologic disturbances suggestive of CNS hyperarousal. Studies utilizing measures of therapeutic alliance and patients personality characteristics and interpersonal difficulties also better define the boundaries to psychotherapy response in the depressive disorders.