Cognitive-Behavior Family Therapy: Contemporary Myths and Misconceptions

The field of couple and family therapy has grown in the direction of expanding its horizons by looking toward innovative ideas and whatever works to facilitate change. Despite its demonstrated track record with a broad range of behavioral and emotional disorders, the cognitive-behavior therapies (CBT) may have been underutilized by couples and family therapists unlike some of the more traditional and postmodern approaches. This article explores some of the basic tenets of the cognitive-behavioral approach with families and proposes it as both a useful intervention tool as well as a theoretically compatible model to systemic approaches. In addition, a number of contemporary myths and misconceptions are discussed that may be precluding CBT's utilization by therapists in the field.