The purpose of this paper is to take four of the eight dimensions suggested by Goldenberg and Goldenberg (1991) for use as a frame of reference in understanding both the similarities and differences between theories of family therapy and use them to compare and contrast three theories of family therapy. The four dimensions selected for review are: the role of unconscious processes; the goals of treatment; the major time frame; and the unit of analysis. The selected theories of family therapy are: (1) the behavioral model; (2) the psychodynamic model; and (3) the experimental/humanistic model.
Comparison 1: Role of the Unconscious
The "Role of the Unconscious" dimension in Goldenberg and Goldenberg's (1991) frame of reference, refers to the extent to which a particular theory of marriage and family therapy emphasizes unconscious forces or processes as being involved in the production of dysfunctional family functioning. Of the three theoretical views selected for analyses (behavioral, psychodynamic, experimental/humanistic), the one which most strongly attributes dysfunctional family interaction to unconscious forces is the psychodynamic theory of marriage and family therapy.
Indeed, the psychodynamic theory holds that unresolved past conflicts (usually childhood conflicts with parents or significant others) have been suppressed from awareness but that these conflicts nonetheless influence current function. It is as if instead of reacting to the true members of one's family, he or she is reacting to the people encased in these old memories of difficult parents or others. The influence exerted by these suppressed memories is in a negative direction which is to say that it produces dysfunction.
The theory of family therapy which least emphasizes the unconscious is the behavioral model. The behavioral model holds that family dysfunction is not an outgrowth of the unconscious but rather only a learned behavior. It is...