The Relation of Psychotherapy Integration to the Established Systems of Psychotherapy

That individuals (and groups) have vested interests is part of the nature of the human condition and is captured in the cognitive theoretical concept “personal domain” (Beck, 1976, p. 56). Of relevance to psychotherapy integration (and consistent with this concept), there are some apparent philosophical differences between advocates of psychotherapy integration and those of the major systems of psychotherapy. In the same manner that the various schools of integrative and eclectic psychotherapy compete with one another (Lazarus & Messer, 1991, p. 144), so too do they contend with the established systems. In this article, we present several issues about which the systems of psychotherapy and the integration movement may differ, and we respond to criticisms of cognitive therapy that have been the focus of previous articles in this journal. Finally, we give examples of how those who research and apply the contemporary systems of psychotherapy can, within those systems, explore possibilities for psychotherapy integration. We conclude that there is probably much that the integration movement and the established systems of psychotherapy can offer each other.