Reaction to Family Therapy

Family therapy is described as a theory and treatment technique that provides a means for examining clinical problems based on the context of the transactional patterns in a family. Therefore, this theory and treatment measure represents an intervention through which family members receive help in detecting and transforming difficult, maladaptive, and ongoing patterns of relationship as well as self-restricting and self-defeating belief systems (Goldenberg, Goldenberg & Pelavin, 2014, p.373). There are several family therapeutic approaches that have been used to help in examining clinical problems in the context of transactional patterns in a family. One of these approaches is behavior therapy which is based on the premise that cognitive factors like attitudes, expectations, thoughts, and beliefs impact behavior. This approach has contributed to the emergence of cognitive-behavior therapy as part of ordinary psychotherapy processes.

Behavior therapy is based on the belief that normal and abnormal behavior is learned based on the process of obtaining knowledge, habits, information, and experiences. In essence, the therapy relies on the belief that people develop personality characteristics, which partly influences their behavior. In essence, people's behaviors are not brought by simply responding to situations but through personality development, which takes places through acquisition of knowledge and information as well as formation of habits and experiences. The development of personality is explained through classical and operant conditioning as well as modeling concepts.

While the concept of personality development as a factor in determining is true, behavior therapy seemingly ignores and downplays the significance of nature in this process. A person's personality traits, which influence behavior, is not only a product of experiences and acquisition of knowledge and information, but is also brought by nature i.e. how he/she was born. Some aspects of an individual's attitudes, attributions, and beliefs are shaped by nature though they are largely influenced by experiences and perceptions of things as personality traits develop. Therefore, behavioral family therapists are seemingly wrong in rejecting explanations that demonstrate the development of internal traits in relation to a person's behavior.

However, the search for relationships between observable behavior and observable differences in an individual's environment as a determinant of behavior is correct because of the huge impact of personality development on behavior. In essence, behavior therapists seemingly reject explanations regarding the development of internal traits because of the minimal impact they play in determining a person's behavior as compared to external factors, particularly knowledge and information acquisition.

An individual's thoughts, feelings, and actions, which constitute behavior, are largely driven by perceptions of beliefs, attitudes, and events as well as attributions and expectations of outcomes (Goldenberg, Goldenberg & Pelavin, 2014, p.386). Notably, these factors are in turn influenced by development of personality characteristics through acquiring knowledge and information, experiences, and formation of habits. This essentially means that an individual's environment is crucial in shaping thoughts, feelings, and action that in turn determine behavior and explain the view that problems arise from maladaptive thought processes.