Deck 18: Family and Couples Therapy

Question 1

Which of the following statements is true of most types of family therapy?

A)It is short term.
B)Family therapy focuses on solutions.
C)It focuses on family relationships in the here and now.
D)All of the above.

Answer 1

All of the above.

Question 2

When working with a family, the clinician must establish a therapeutic alliance with

A)the identified patient.
B)the person who initially sought counseling for the family.
C)each person in the family equally.
D)the adults in the family only.

Answer 2

each person in the family equally.

Question 3

Ludwig von Bertalanffy developed systems theory

A)as an organizational system through which all living organisms and social groups could be understood.
B)as a type of family therapy.
C)to understand interactions between units and subunits of a system.
D)to study the pathology of the mind.

Answer 3

as an organizational system through which all living organisms and social groups could be understood.

Question 4

Which of the following is not a key concept of Bowenian family systems theory?

A)multigenerational transmission process
B)emotional cut off
C)societal regression
D)centering

Question 5

Of the five communication stances outlined by Virginia Satir, only the ___________stance is healthy and leads to communications and connections between people.

A)placating
B)irrelevant
C)congruent
D)super-reasonable

Question 6

In structural family therapy, which of the following is not a common problem, based on the theory developed by Salvator Minuchin?

A)Alliances across generations can result in parentification of a child.
B)Families can become either enmeshed and chaotic or disengaged and isolated.
C)Parents forget their role in the family (e.g., mother, father)and cross boundaries into another subsystem (e.g., aunt/uncle, or sister/brother).
D)The therapist joins with the family to make a positive therapeutic alliance.

Question 7

Which of the following is not an intervention typically used in structural family therapy as developed by Salvator Minuchin?

A)experiments
B)reframing
C)mapping
D)reenactment

Question 8

Which of the following developed a theory of family therapy that does not focus on emotions?

A)Jay Haley
B)Virginia Satir
C)Susan Johnson
D)Carl Whitaker

Question 9

Which of the following interventions is completed in Phase I of Emotion-Focused Couples Therapy?

A)identifying the negative interactional cycle
B)de-escalation
C)asking the couple to go deeper
D)encouraging positive interactions

Question 10

Patterson operationalized many of the theoretical concepts of Bandura's social learning theory. Which of the following is not an intervention in behavioral therapy?

A)token economies
B)use of narrative
C)contingency contracting
D)time out

Question 11

Which of the following is not congruent with post-modern family systems theory?

A)the therapist's role is viewed as a director
B)reality is considered to be subjective
C)belief in cultural relativism
D)ideas are generated through language

Question 12

Strategic family therapy developed by Jay Haley and others teaches therapists to:

A)look behind symptoms for possible secondary gains
B)develop paradoxical directives
C)propose experiments that may seem punishing or absurd
D)all of the above

Question 13

Which of the following is not true of solution-focused brief family therapy?

A)Therapy is generally completed in 5 to 12 sessions.
B)SFBFT is a complex model, including a complicated series of interventions.
C)Rather than changing problem behavior, SFBFT focuses on changing the dysfunctional interaction pattern that has developed.
D)It is a positive therapy that focuses on resilience, coping skills, and looking for exceptions to problems.

Question 14

Family therapists differ from individual therapists because:

A)they should be culturally competent and sensitive to issues of race, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and sexual orientation.
B)family therapists take a systemic perspective.
C)harm can result if the family therapist is not competent.
D)improvement is more likely in family therapy than individual therapy.

Question 15

Some drawbacks associated with family therapy include all except which one of the following?

A)Family therapy requires the presence of a co-therapist.
B)Scheduling appointments can be difficult when multiple people are involved.
C)Additional recordkeeping and paperwork is necessary.
D)Increased noise results from mulltiple people talking.

Question 16

Adler has been credited with being the first psychoanalyst to stress the importance of family relationships in the treatment of the individual.

Question 17

Family mapping was created by Murray Bowen as a way to document multigenerational relationships within the family.

Question 18

Emotion-focused couples therapy combines attachment theory with an experiential and systemic approach.

Question 19

Behavioral therapy has no place in family systems theory.

Question 20

Behavioral therapists generally work with one family member individually (usually a parent) to teach the parent skills to manage the child's problem.

Question 21

When working with a family, Jay Haley would sometimes declare the situation was hopeless.

Question 22

Circular questioning is a fundamental strategy developed by the Milan School in Italy.

Question 23

Most family therapists today use eclectic or integrated approaches to treating family systems.

Question 24

Any family systems theory must focus on the pathology within the family to be truly effective.

Question 25

Regardless of which model of family systems theory used, it is important for the clinician to remain the observer and allow the family to work out its own problems.

Question 26

React to and explain the following statement. "Good therapy is fundamentally disciplined improvisation." Do you agree or disagree? Defend your answer.

Question 27

Families come from a variety of backgrounds, religions, cultures, socioeconomic conditions, marital status, gender and sexual identities, and educational backgrounds. Some families have a history of substance abuse, trauma, domestic violence, depression, anxiety, and other stressors. Consider some of the families that you are likely to work with. Choose the model of family therapy discussed in this chapter that seems to fit best with the population you have chosen. Explain why you chose this model and how you would work with the family.

Question 28

Describe Murray Bowen's theory of multigenerational family therapy, including a discussion of genograms, multigenerational transmission process, differentiation of self, sibling position, and societal regression. Explain how you think this theory holds up today with smaller families, greater distances between family members, and multiple marriages.

Question 29

Choose five of the following terms and describe them.
●boundaries
●emotional cut-off
●enmeshed
●feedback loops
●first order change
●joining
●ordeal therapy
●symbiotic
●tracking

Question 30

Describe each word in the following pairs, then give an example to show how they are different, similar, or the same.
●coalition vs. triangulation
●differentiation of self vs. disengagement
●genogram vs. family mapping
●scapegoat vs. identified patient
●paradoxical intervention vs. relabeling