Deck 6: Structural Family Therapy

Question 1

A family therapist who begins a session by greeting individual family members by name and asking for each person's view of the problem is demonstrating which strategy?

A) boundary making
B) highlighting the interactions
C) accommodating
D) joining

Answer 1

joining

Question 2

Structural therapists attempt to alter the family's view of reality by

A) heightening emotional experiencing
B) challenging cognitive constructions
C) realigning boundaries between individuals and subsystems
D) accommodating to the viewpoint of the most powerful family member

Answer 2

challenging cognitive constructions

Question 3

The primary treatment goal of structural family therapy is to

A) teach the family problem-solving strategies
B) alter the family structure
C) strengthen boundaries around rigid family subsystems
D) heighten emotional experiencing

Answer 3

alter the family structure

Question 4

Disengaged subsystems are surrounded by ________ boundaries while ________ subsystems have ________ boundaries.

A) rigid, enmeshed, diffuse
B) executive, rigid, enmeshed
C) rigid, executive, diffuse
D) rigid, diffuse, enmeshed

Question 5

Structural family therapists use ________ to observe and then change transactions that make up family structure.

A) genograms
B) paradoxical directives
C) double-binds
D) enactments

Question 6

In order to discern a family's structure two things are necessary: a theoretical system that explains structure and

A) family members' self-reports
B) live observation
C) a structured assessment interview
D) none of these choices

Question 7

Minuchin's term for psychological isolation that results from overly rigid boundaries around individuals and subsystems in a family is

A) enmeshment
B) differentiation
C) emotional cutoff
D) disengagement

Question 8

When two people marry, they must learn to negotiate the nature of the boundary between them, as well as the boundary separating them from the outside. This structural requirement is known as

A) accommodation
B) complementarity
C) disengagement
D) differentiation

Question 9

The goal in structural family therapy when working with enmeshed families is to

A) establish reinforcement reciprocity by teaching methods of positive control
B) differentiate individuals and subsystems by strengthening the boundaries around them
C) increase interaction by making boundaries more permeable
D) all of these choices

Question 10

Structuralists believe the family must first accept the therapist, in a process called ________, which allows the therapist to increase stress and unbalance the family homeostasis, thus opening the way for structural transformation in the family.

A) detouring
B) taking an "I" position
C) restructuring
D) joining

Question 11

When parents are unable to resolve the conflicts between them, a common pattern is to continue to argue through the children. When father says mother is too permissive, she says he's too strict. He may in turn withdraw, and she responds to the child with excessive concern and devotion. The structural term which best describes the resulting family structure is

A) diffuse boundaries between husband and wife
B) a cross-generational coalition between mother and child
C) overinvolvement between father and child
D) a pathological triangle

Question 12

An interaction stimulated in structural family therapy in order to observe and then change transactions which make up family structure is called

A) a positive connotation
B) a spontaneous behavior exchange
C) a reframing
D) an enactment

Question 13

During which phase of structural family therapy does assessment occur?

A) opening
B) mapping underlying structure
C) transformation of family structure
D) structural therapists do not use assessments

Question 14

________ is another method of modifying interactions, which structural therapists use to help family members employ more functional alternatives already in their repertoire of skills.

A) Positive connotations
B) Shaping competence
C) Detriangling
D) Operant conditioning

Question 15

Minuchin, Rosman, and Baker (1978) reported a 90% improvement rate in the results of their treatment study of structural family therapy in treating

A) drug addiction
B) anxiety disorders
C) depression
D) anorexia

Question 16

Why are "enactments" used in structural therapy?

Question 17

Discuss the pros and cons of the argument that structural family therapy (as practiced by Minuchin) is not a collaborative model.

Question 18

A child from enmeshed family is brought into treatment for school phobia. Demonstrate your knowledge of family structure by describing how this presenting problem may be understood as the sign of an enmeshed family. How might members of an enmeshed family system contribute to the maintenance of such a problem?

Question 19

List and describe the three overlapping phases in the process of structural family therapy. Describe the specific strategies that structural therapists employ in each phase. Use a case example for illustration.

Question 20

Compare and contrast structural family therapy to the early communications therapy practiced by Don Jackson and colleagues. Consider theoretical adequacy, specificity of constructs, strategies and techniques, roles of the therapist, and types of client problems best suited for each approach.

Question 21

What are "boundaries" and why are they important in understanding the problems of a newly married couple?

Question 22

What is family structure and how do families become structured?

Question 23

Describe and explain the four steps in the Minuchin, Nichols, and Lee assessment model.