Ch 13 Structural Family Therapy

Question 1

11 Disequilibrium Techniques of Structural Family Therapy

Answer 1

Reframing 
Punctuation 
Unbalancing 
Enactment 
Working with spontaneous interaction 
Boundary making 
Intensity 
Restructuring
Shaping competence 
Diagnosing 
Adding cognitive constructions

Question 2

accommodation

Answer 2

a process of joining in which the therapist makes personal adjustments to achieve a therapeutic alliance with a family.

Question 3

adding cognitive constructions

Answer 3

the verbal component of structural family therapy, which consists of advice, information, pragmatic fictions, and paradox.

Question 4

alignments

Answer 4

the ways in which family members join together or oppose one another in carrying out a family activity.

Question 5

clear boundaries

Answer 5

rules and habits that allow and encourage dialogue and thus help family members to enhance their communication and relationships with one another.

Question 6

coalition

Answer 6

an alliance between specific family members against a third member.

Question 7

complementarity

Answer 7

the degree of harmony or reciprocity in the meshing of family roles

Question 8

confirmation of a family member

Answer 8

a process that uses a feeling word to reflect an expressed or unexpressed feeling of that family member or a nonjudgmental description of the behavior of the individual.

Question 9

cross-generational alliance (coalition)

Answer 9

an inappropriate family alliance that contains members of two different generations within it—for example, a parent and child.

Question 10

detouring coalition

Answer 10

a coalition in which a pair holds a third family member responsible for their difficulties or conflicts with one another.

Question 11

diffuse boundaries

Answer 11

arrangements that do not allow enough separation between family members, resulting in some members becoming fused and dependent on other members.

Question 12

dysfunctional sets

Answer 12

the family reactions, developed in response to stress, that are repeated without modification whenever there is family conflict.

Question 13

family structure

Answer 13

“the invisible set of functional demands that organizes the ways in which family members interact” (Minuchin, 1974, p. 51).

Question 14

Institute for Family Counseling

Answer 14

an early intervention program at the Philadelphia Child Guidance Center for community paraprofessionals that proved to be highly effective in providing mental health services to the poor.

Question 15

intensity

Answer 15

the structural method of changing maladaptive transactions by having the therapist use strong affect, repeated intervention, or prolonged pressure with a family.

Question 16

mimesis

Answer 16

a way of joining in which the therapist becomes like the family in the manner or content of their communications—for example, when a therapist jokes with a jovial family.

Question 17

parental subsystem

Answer 17

the subsystem made up of those responsible for the care, protection, and socialization of children.

Question 18

pragmatic fictions

Answer 18

pronouncements that help families and family members change, such as when a therapist tells children that they are acting younger than their years.

Question 19

punctuation

Answer 19

the way a person describes a situation, that is, beginning and ending a sentence, due to a selective per-ception or emotional involvement in an event.

Question 20

restructuring

Answer 20

changing the structure of the family. The rationale behind restructuring is to make the family more functional by altering the existing hierarchy and interaction patterns.

Question 21

rigid boundaries

Answer 21

inflexible rules and habits that keep family members separated from each other.

Question 22

shaping competence

Answer 22

the procedure in which structural family therapists help families and family members become more functional by highlighting positive behaviors.

Question 23

sibling subsystem

Answer 23

the unit within the family whose members are of the same generation, for example, brothers and sisters. The concept of sibling position is important in both Adlerian and Bowen family therapy.

Question 24

spousal subsystem

Answer 24

the subsystem composed of marriage partners.

Question 25

stable coalition

Answer 25

a fixed and inflexible union (such as that of a mother and son) that becomes a dominant part of a family’s everyday functioning.

Question 26

subsystems

Answer 26

smaller units of the system as a whole, usually composed of members in a family who because of age or function are logically grouped together, such as parents. They exist to carry out various family tasks.

Question 27

triangulation

Answer 27

projection of interpersonal dyadic difficulties onto a third person or object (i.e., a scapegoat).

Question 28

unbalancing

Answer 28

therapeutically allying with a subsystem. In this procedure, the therapist supports an individual or sub-system against the rest of the family.

Question 29

working with spontaneous interaction

Answer 29

the spotlighting by a therapist of attention on some particular disruptive or dysfunctional behavior. On such occasions, therapists can point out the dynamics and sequencing of behaviors and focus on the process. Such occasions are used to help families recognize patterns of interaction and what changes they might make to bring about modification.