Table 3.

Summaries of the different schools of therapies

School of therapy	Key elements	Remarks
Psychodynamic therapy	Based on psychoanalysis; emphasis on conscious and unconscious processes; the past issues are still dynamic in the current setting; early life experiences are significant; intrapersonal and interpersonal processes are entangled	Change is steady; requires long-term investment (20-40 sessions); psychological mindedness of client required
Behavioral methods	Maladaptive behaviors, not underlying causes, should be the targets of change; not required to treat the entire family; the therapist is the expert, teacher, collaborator, and coach	Parent-skills training and behavioral treatment of sexual dysfunctions are examples; treatment is short term
Structural family therapy	Symptoms are understood in terms of family interaction patterns, family organization must change before symptom reduction; emphasis on the whole family and its subunits; therapist joins, maps out, and helps transform family	Especially useful with juvenile delinquents, alcohol use and anorexia, low SES families, and cross-cultural populations
Strategic technique	Not helpful to tell families what they are doing wrong; behavior change must precede other changes; directives from therapist are instructions given to family, necessary to make changes within the first three sessions	Short-term treatment; techniques are very innovative; useful in eating disorders and substance use

SES – Socioeconomic status