Comparing Family Therapy Models: CBT, Psychoanalytic & More
This paper examines and compares four major therapeutic models: psychoanalytic family therapy, experiential family therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and strategic family therapy. Each approach is defined, its core techniques and goals outlined, and its relative focus on the individual versus the family system explored. The paper then compares the models across key dimensions — historical versus present focus, active versus verbal techniques, and individual versus family orientation. Finally, it considers how these therapy models can be applied to address poverty and intergenerational trauma, arguing that family-based therapies offer a broader lens for identifying and resolving deep-rooted pathogenic patterns.
- Introduction to Psychoanalytic Therapy and Family Therapy: Defines psychoanalytic and family therapy foundations
- Experiential Family Therapy: Active, multisensory techniques in family context
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): Present-focused, individual cognitive-behavioral approach
- Strategic Family Therapy: Brief, problem-solving family hierarchy model
- Comparing the Therapy Models: Similarities and differences across all four models
- Applying Therapy Models to Poverty and Trauma: Using therapies to address generational poverty and trauma
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What makes this paper effective
- Clearly defines each therapy model before comparing them, giving readers a solid conceptual foundation for the comparative analysis that follows.
- Uses direct citation of primary and secondary sources (Kempler, Pittman, Kingdon & Mander) to ground each definition, lending academic credibility to the survey.
- Concludes with a practical application section that connects abstract therapeutic models to real-world social problems — poverty and intergenerational trauma — demonstrating applied analytical thinking.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates comparative synthesis across multiple frameworks. Rather than treating each therapy in isolation, it systematically identifies points of similarity and divergence — for example, contrasting CBT's individual focus with the family-systems orientation of psychoanalytic, experiential, and strategic therapies. This technique of building a comparison matrix across sources is a core undergraduate-level research skill.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with definitions of psychoanalytic therapy and psychoanalytic family therapy, then moves through experiential family therapy, CBT, and strategic family therapy in turn. A dedicated comparison section synthesizes the preceding definitions, and a final section applies all four models to the social problems of poverty and trauma. This classic "define, compare, apply" structure is well-suited to a survey paper in therapeutic studies.
Introduction to Psychoanalytic Therapy and Family Therapy
Psychoanalytic therapy is an in-depth conversational therapy whose objective is to bring deep and unconscious feelings and thoughts into a person's conscious mind (Altman, 2012, pp. 39–86). The aim is to ensure that repressed emotions and experiences — often associated with childhood — are highlighted and evaluated. The client, alongside their therapist, works to understand how early repressed memories affect the client's behavior, relationships, and thinking in adulthood (Psychology Today, 2019, p. 1).
Psychoanalytic family therapy is founded on the reasoning that any group of people who consider themselves a family, in any culture, has some level of interdependence existing between the individual units that make up that family. This is based on the generational hierarchy and role distribution within that hierarchy (Gale, 2005, p. 1). The family also has a degree of subjective interdependence within it. The motivation behind the introduction of psychoanalytic family therapy was the difficulties therapists encountered when treating certain patients. Therapists became interested in the families from which these individuals came. The families were considered pathogenic. The therapist examined the mental patient and the family as a unit and highlighted their specific functioning modes (Gale, 2005, p. 1).
References
Altman, N. (2012). Psychoanalytic therapy. In Contemporary Psychotherapies for a Diverse World: First Revised Edition (pp. 39–86). Taylor and Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203802045
Gale, T. (2005). Psychoanalytic family therapy. Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved March 22, 2019, from https://www.encyclopedia.com/psychology/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/psychoanalytic-family-therapy
Kempler, W. (1965). Experiential family therapy. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 15, 57–71. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00207284.1965.11642807
Kingdon, D., & Mander, H. (2015). Cognitive behavioral therapy. In International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences: Second Edition (pp. 30–32). Elsevier Inc. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-097086-8.27011-6
NHS. (2017). Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/cognitive-behavioural-therapy-cbt/
Pittman, F. S. (2004). Strategic family therapy. Family Process, 20(4), 457–459.
Psychology Today. (2019). Psychoanalytic therapy. Retrieved March 22, 2019, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapy-types/psychoanalytic-therapy
Tuttle, L. C. (1998). Experiential family therapy: An innovative approach to the resolution of family conflict in genetic counseling. Journal of Genetic Counseling.
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