Behavioral Marriage Therapy: I. A Psychodynamic‐Systems Analysis and Critique

Abstract

After briefly summarizing the major theoretical premises and treatment strategies of Behavioral Marriage Therapy (BMT), five major clusters of implicit assumptions in BMT are identified and critically examined: I. “The Rational Observing Ego Shall Conquer All”; II. “Behavior Should Not Mean, But Be”; III. “What's Sauce for the Goose is Sauce for the Gander”; IV. “Repression Is Good for Your Marital Mental Health”; V. “The Folly of the Therapist as Technician.” Throughout this analysis, the conceptual and clinical limitations of a strictly or predominantly behavioral approach to couples therapy are described, and BMT is reconsidered in the light of object relations theory and communication theory perspectives on marital dysfunction and its treatment.