Family Therapy Review: Contrasting Contemporary Models

Anne Rambo, Ph.D., has taught in Nova Southeastern University’s family therapy program for over 20 years and supervised hundreds of students who are now licensed marriage and family therapists (MFTs). She has a strong interest in training and supervision. Charles West, Ph.D., is administrative faculty in the marriage and family therapy program at Northcentral University. He is a past president of the Association of Marital and Family Therapy Regulatory Boards and has extensive clinical and supervision experience. AnnaLynn Schooley, Ph.D., has taught for many years for Capella University, which has the nation’s largest marriage and family therapy program. She has been an agency clinical director as well as an academic and private practitioner, specializing in supervision for licensure. Tommie V. Boyd, Ph.D., is the chair of the family therapy department at Nova Southeastern University and on faculty. She also has over 30 years of clinical and supervision experience and is the recipient of an American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) Leadership Award.

• Section I: Introduction to the Field and Format of the Book. A Brief History of marriage and Family Therapy. Common Foundational Skills and Micro-skills Used in Marriage and Family Therapy. Professional Identity Issues. Section II: Explanation of Format. Common Case. Section III: Models of Family Therapy, Area One: Behavioral. Behavioral Family Therapy. DBT, ABT, and CBT. Trends in 3d Models. Area Two: Psychoanalytic and Experiential Family Therapy. Psychoanalytic and Object Relations Family Therapy. Experiential Family Therapy. Applications to Sex Therapy. Area Three: Intergenerational Family Therapy. Bowen Family Therapy. Contextual Family Therapy. Current Trends. Area Four: Brief Family Therapy. Mental Research Institute. Solution-Focused Therapy. Current Trends. Area Five: Structural/Strategic Family Therapy. Structural Family Therapy. Strategic Family Therapy. Current Trends. Area Six: Language Based Models. Milan Team Therapy. Narrative Therapy. Collaborative Family Therapy. Current Trends. Area Seven: Integrative Models. Functional Family Therapy. Multisystemic Family Therapy. Integrated Strategic University of Miami Model. Section IV: What If It’s a Couple, Not a Family? Applications to Couples Therapy. Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy. Behavioral Marital Therapy. Gottman Marital Therapy. Section V: Contextual Issues. Diversity Issues. Feminist Issues. The Interface between Family Therapy and the Diagnosis/Medical Model. Conclusion.

"Overall, this book is an engaging read which I recommend to anyone interested in the field of FT or couples work and the applications of such work. This ultimately is a book for practitioners by practitioners; it will no doubt be useful to students, also." –Person-Centered Quarterly“The editors of this Family Therapy Review have pulled together an outstanding array of authors to present multiple perspectives and approaches of work with a single case. … This book invites readers to consider their own epistemological stances and to choose or integrate therapeutic approaches that fit best with their thinking and their clientele. …Short overviews of each approach are succinct and apply the approach to the single case – very helpful!” – Thorana Nelson, PhD, Professor Emerita, Utah State University“What a treasure! Students will be delighted with this highly readable tour that elegantly and succinctly makes sense of the complexity and creativity in the field of family therapy today. Even experienced clinicians will appreciate theory made real through up close and personal conversation about Johnny and his parents with an impressive list of leading couple and family therapists. I will be recommending this text to all our students and graduates.” – Carmen Knudson-Martin, PhD, Professor and Director, PhD Program in Marital and Family Therapy, Loma Linda University