Exploring Three Approaches to Psychotherapy
Purchase: Amazon or American Psychological Association
Greenberg, L. S., McWilliams, N., & Wenzel, A. (2014). Exploring Three Approaches to Psychotherapy. Washington, DC: APA Books
Exploring Three Approaches to Psychotherapy is an American Psychological Association Books volume co-authored by three leading psychotherapists: Leslie S. Greenberg, Nancy McWilliams, and Amy Wenzel. Published in 2014, it gives graduate students, clinical trainees, and practicing clinicians a comparative view of how cognitive, emotion-focused, and psychodynamic approaches work in real therapy sessions.
The book draws directly on the APA therapy demonstration programs and is designed to be read independently or alongside those video resources.
Book Details at a Glance
Exploring Three Approaches to Psychotherapy was authored by Leslie S. Greenberg, Nancy McWilliams, and Amy Wenzel and published by the American Psychological Association through APA Books in 2014. The 221-page book examines cognitive, emotion-focused, and psychodynamic/psychoanalytic approaches to psychotherapy.
Publisher: American Psychological Association / APA Books
Publication year: 2014
Pages: 221
Approaches covered: Cognitive, emotion-focused, psychodynamic/psychoanalytic
Best for: Graduate students, clinical trainees, instructors, supervisors, practicing psychotherapists
Formats: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle
What the Book Covers
Most psychotherapy training resources teach one model in depth. Exploring Three Approaches to Psychotherapy takes a different path. It places three distinct theoretical frameworks side by side, showing how each shapes a therapist's moment-to-moment clinical decision-making.
Each co-author explains the theory and principal techniques of their own model. They then analyze how those techniques play out in actual therapy demonstrations recorded for the APA video program. This structure gives readers something that textbook descriptions rarely provide: direct access to the reasoning of experienced clinicians as they observe and reflect on real sessions.
Readers gain new insight into how a therapist using cognitive therapy thinks differently from one working from a psychodynamic frame, and where emotion-focused therapy fits in relation to both. The book covers the theoretical foundations of each approach, the techniques associated with each, the similarities and differences that emerge in practice, and the clinical rationale behind specific in-session choices.
This kind of comparative, demonstration-grounded analysis is valuable because research consistently shows that no single approach holds a decisive clinical edge over the others. A 2025 randomized controlled trial published in BMC Psychiatry found comparable effects between short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy and cognitive behavioral therapy for major depression in psychiatric outpatient settings.
Understanding the distinctions between these models, rather than committing to one without examination, supports more flexible and individualized clinical practice.
The Three Psychotherapy Approaches Compared
Cognitive Therapy
Amy Wenzel presents the cognitive therapy approach. Cognitive therapy, rooted in the work of Aaron Beck, holds that distorted or unhelpful patterns of thinking contribute directly to emotional distress. The therapist and client work together to identify these patterns, examine the evidence for and against them, and develop more balanced ways of thinking and responding.
In the APA therapy demonstrations, the cognitive approach is structured and goal-directed. Sessions tend to follow a clear agenda. Homework assignments extend the work between sessions. The therapist is active, collaborative, and transparent about the rationale for each intervention. Wenzel's commentary traces how those techniques unfold in real time and explains the reasoning that guides each clinical choice.
Emotion-Focused Therapy
Leslie S. Greenberg developed emotion-focused therapy (EFT), and his chapter explains both its foundations and its in-session application. EFT holds that emotional processing is central to psychological change. Rather than examining thought patterns, the therapist helps the client access, explore, and transform emotional experience.
Greenberg's approach pays close attention to moment-to-moment shifts in a client's emotional state. The therapist tracks these shifts and uses specific tasks and interventions to deepen emotional engagement at clinically meaningful moments.
A 2025 study published in Psychotherapy Research found that clients in emotion-focused therapy described change as involving a wider range of personality-level shifts compared to clients in CBT, who described it as more skills-based. Greenberg's chapter in Exploring Three Approaches to Psychotherapy grounds those differences in observable clinical practice.
Psychodynamic Therapy
Nancy McWilliams presents the psychodynamic approach. Psychodynamic therapy draws on a long tradition of psychoanalytic thought and focuses on the ways unconscious processes, early relational experiences, and internalized patterns shape a person's current functioning. McWilliams is a recognized authority in this tradition, known for her writing on psychoanalytic diagnosis and case formulation.
Her commentary in the book shows how the psychodynamic therapist listens differently, attends to relational dynamics in the room, and works with meaning and depth rather than symptom reduction alone.
NIH's StatPearls notes that psychodynamic therapy retains clinical relevance, particularly for complex and chronic presentations, a point McWilliams' chapter addresses through the lens of the demonstration sessions.
How the Book Connects to the APA Therapy Demonstrations
Exploring Three Approaches to Psychotherapy was written to accompany two APA video programs: Three Approaches to Psychotherapy With a Female Client and Three Approaches to Psychotherapy With a Male Client, both part of the APA Psychotherapy Video Series.
These programs are the modern successor to a landmark training film. In 1965, psychologist Everett Shostrum produced Three Approaches to Psychotherapy, commonly called the Gloria tapes. That film showed Carl Rogers, Frederick Perls, and Albert Ellis each working with a single client named Gloria. For decades, it served as a primary training resource in counseling and psychology programs.
The APA Next Generation series revisits that concept with contemporary master therapists. Greenberg demonstrates emotion-focused therapy, McWilliams demonstrates psychodynamic therapy, and Wenzel demonstrates cognitive therapy, each working with the same client.
The book can be read independently of the DVDs. It stands on its own as a comparative guide to the three approaches. When used alongside the video programs, it provides the theoretical grounding and therapist commentary needed to connect what viewers see on screen with the clinical reasoning behind each intervention. Together, they offer a layered learning experience that suits both initial training and advanced clinical development.
Who Should Read This Book?
This book serves a wide range of clinical and educational readers:
Graduate students in clinical, counseling, or applied psychology programs who need grounding in major theoretical orientations
Psychotherapy instructors and program faculty teaching survey courses or comparative psychotherapy
Clinical trainees and practicum students working to develop case conceptualization skills across frameworks
Clinical supervisors using the APA demonstrations as a training tool
Practicing psychotherapists and psychologists who want to deepen their understanding of approaches outside their primary training
Integrative therapists interested in how cognitive, emotion-focused, and psychodynamic models intersect and diverge
The book assumes no prior specialization in any single orientation. It is accessible to readers newer to the field while remaining substantive enough for experienced clinicians.
Praise for Exploring Three Approaches to Psychotherapy
Bruce E. Wampold, Ph.D., ABPP, Patricia L. Wolleat Professor of Counseling Psychology and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, described the book as a must-read for those who want to understand how three different therapies are effective in very different ways.
Paul L. Wachtel, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor at the Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology at City College of CUNY, praised the book for challenging any view of therapists as mere technicians. He described the master therapists in these sessions as models of the clinical skillfulness needed to genuinely benefit the people who seek help.
Stanley B. Messer, Ph.D., Dean and Distinguished Professor at the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers University, called the book a unique learning experience for both novice and seasoned therapists.
Related Books by Dr. Amy Wenzel
Dr. Wenzel has authored and co-authored an extensive body of work in cognitive behavioral therapy and psychotherapy. Explore her full books by Dr. Amy Wenzel’s library, or see related titles below:
Handbook of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: A comprehensive reference covering CBT theory, research, and practice across presentations.
Strategic Decision Making in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: A practical guide to clinical decision-making within the CBT framework, relevant to any reader who wants to understand how cognitive therapists make in-session choices.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Techniques and Strategies: A skills-focused resource for clinicians building or refining a CBT practice.
To learn more about Dr. Wenzel's cognitive behavioral therapy background, credentials, and clinical contributions, visit her biography.
If you are exploring evidence-based psychotherapy at the Center for CBT in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, you are welcome to reach out through the contact page to learn more about individualized, research-informed treatment.
