Skip to main content

Unified Psychotherapy

  • Chapter

Abstract

Unified therapy (Allen, 1988, 1991) is an eight-stage approach to the treatment of neurologically intact adults between the ages of 21 and late midlife who exhibit repetitive self-destructive behavior, chronic affective symptomatology, or long-term overt family discord. These three phenomena are seen as three separate manifestations of the same underlying process. All three are assumed to be present and occurring simultaneously, even if one or two of them are covert and/or unacknowledged at the time patients first present themselves for therapy. Therapy is done with one individual, but aims to impact both the individual and his or her family system in such a way as to make any divergence between the interests of the two converge. The theory behind unified therapy can be adapted for use in family and couples therapy, as well as for other age groups; that will not be discussed here.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Allen, D. (1988). Unifying individual and family therapies. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allen, D. (1991). Deciphering motivation in psychotherapy. New York: Plenum Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Basseches, M. (1986). Dialectical thinking and young adult cognitive development. In R. Mines and K. Kitchener (Eds.), Adult cognitive development (pp. 33–56). New York: Praeger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowen, M. (1978). Family therapy in clinical practice. New York: Jason Aronson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edelman, G. (1989). The remembered present. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellis, A., & Grieger, R. (1977). Handbook of rational emotive therapy. New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fromm, E. (1969). Escape from freedom. New York: Avon Books. (Originally published 1941.)

    Google Scholar 

  • Ivey, A. (1986). Developmental therapy. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kerr, M., & Bowen, M. (1988). Family evaluation. New York, W.W. Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kohut, H. (1977). The restoration of the self. New York: International Universities Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGoldrick, M., & Gerson, R. (1985). Genograms in family assessment. New York: W. W. Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Slipp, S. (1984). Object relations: A dynamic bridge between individual and family treatment. New York, Jason Aronson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weston, D. (1985). Self and society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Watzlawick, P., Beavin, J., & Jackson, D. (1967). Pragmatics of human communication. New York: Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wile, D. (1981). Couples therapy: A nontraditional approach. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1993 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Allen, D.M. (1993). Unified Psychotherapy. In: Stricker, G., Gold, J.R. (eds) Comprehensive Handbook of Psychotherapy Integration. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9782-4_10

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9782-4_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-9784-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-9782-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics