Brief Psychoanalytic Therapy Versus Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Major Depressive Disorder

Registry record from ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT07857629). This is a study registration, not published results. Lead sponsor: Istanbul Nisantasi University. Recruitment status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING. Phase: NA. Study type: INTERVENTIONAL. Enrollment: 90 participants (ESTIMATED). Conditions: Major Depressive Disorder (MDD. Interventions: BEHAVIORAL: Brief Psychoanalytic Therapy; BEHAVIORAL: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Primary outcome measures: Change in Depression Severity (HAM-D-17) , Baseline, week 9, and week 18. Brief summary: The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether brief psychoanalytic therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) reduce depressive symptoms in adults aged 18 to 65 who have been diagnosed with major depressive disorder. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Does brief psychoanalytic therapy reduce depression severity more than a waitlist control condition after 18 weeks? * Does CBT reduce depression severity more than a waitlist control condition after 18 weeks? Researchers will also compare brief psychoanalytic therapy with CBT to explore whether one works better than the other, and will examine whether changes in defense mechanisms and automatic negative thoughts explain improvement in each therapy. Participants will: * Be randomly assigned to brief psychoanalytic therapy, CBT, or a waitlist control group (30 participants per group) * In the therapy groups, attend 18 weekly individual therapy sessions of 50 minutes each * In the waitlist group, continue their usual psychiatric care without psychotherapy for 18 weeks, and then be offered one of the therapies * Complete clinical interviews and questionnaires about depression, anxiety, quality of life, thought patterns and coping styles before treatment, at week 9 and at week 18 * In the therapy groups, complete follow-up assessments 6 and 12 months after treatment ends