This paper is an examination of several techniques used in family therapy and seen in sample videotaped sessions during class. Seeing a number of different therapeutic approaches in action, rather than simply reading about the theoretical philosophies of different family therapists, has given me the opportunity to clarify and confront my own personal preferences for both the theory and application of this vital method of providing intervention through the involvement of key family members in the patient's treatment program. The videotapes have allowed me to appreciate the advantages of a wide range of approaches, from Salvador Minuchin's confrontational attempts to restructure the existing family schema to Betty Carter's grandmotherly cognitive-behavioral style that focuses on practical problem solving. These two tapes represent for me the extreme ranges of family therapy techniques, and this paper will focus on comparing and contrasting their philosophies, methods, and goals. I will then show how this focus has given me insights into my own style, and I will outline the benefits and pitfalls that I have found in the ways I have been influenced by studying so many different ways of approaching family therapy.
Theoretical analysis is a fascinating endeavor. It allows the student to consider complex issues regarding the human heart from a clean, neat, scientific perspective. I began this course utterly convinced that I knew my own theoretical preferences in psychology, and I was certain that I was a confirmed cognitive-behavioral therapist and would embrace the cognitive-behavioral approach to treating individual patients within the larger context of their families. I believed that I would acquire some useful techniques for working with the interesting dynamic which constitutes a family unit, but I believed that the theoretical approaches that had always seemed the most logical to me and the best suited to my personality and p...