Chapter 1 3 Postmodern Approaches Flashcards
The story that develops in
counseling in contradiction to the dominant
story that is embedded in a client’s problem.
Alternative story
The process by which both therapist
and client share responsibility for the development
of alternative stories.
Co-authoring
The exploration of meaning
by taking apart, or unpacking, the taken-forgranted
categories and assumptions underlying
social practices that pose as truth.
Deconstruction
A way of understanding a situation
that has been so widely accepted within
a culture that it appears to represent “reality.”Growing out of conversations in a social and cultural
context, dominant stories shape reality in
that they construct and constitute what people
see, feel, and do.
Dominant story
Solution-focused therapists
inquire about those times in clients’ lives
when the problems they identify have not been
problematic. Exploring these exceptions reminds
clients that problems are not all-powerful
and have not existed forever.
Exception questions
Past experiences in a client’s life
when it would be reasonable to have expected
the problem to occur, but somehow it did not.
Exceptions
A way of speaking
in which the problem may be spoken of as if it is
a distinct entity that is separate from the person.
Externalizing conversation
A form of homework
a therapist might give clients to complete between
their fi rst and second therapy sessions. Clients are
asked to simply observe what is happening in their
lives that they want to continue happening.
Formula fi rst session task
A series of
questions asked about a problem that a client has
internalized as a means of understanding the relationship
between the person and the problem.
Mapping-the-infl uence questions
A solution-focused technique
that asks clients to imagine how their life
would be different if they woke up tomorrow
and they no longer had their problem.
Miracle question
A social constructionist conceptualization
of how people create “storied” meaning
in their lives.
Narrative
A postmodern approach to
therapy that is based on the therapist’s personal
characteristics that allow for creating a climate
that encourages clients to see their stories from
different perspectives. Grounded in a philosophical
framework, narrative practices assist clients
in fi nding new meanings and new possibilities in
their lives.
Narrative therapy
A therapist’s stance
that invites clients to become the experts who
are informing the therapist about the signifi cant
narratives of their lives.
Not-knowing position
An approach that concentrates
on what is right and what is working
for people rather than dwelling on defi cits, weaknesses,
and problems.
Positive psychology
A philosophical movement
across a variety of disciples that has aimed at
critically examining many of the assumptions
that are part of the established truths of society.
The postmodern worldview acknowledges the
complexity, relativity, and intersubjectivity of all
human experience.
Postmodernism
A believer in subjective realities
that cannot exist independently of the observational
processes used. Problems exist when
people agree that there is a problem that needs
to be addressed.
Postmodernist
At the first therapy session,
solution-focused therapists often inquire
about presession improvements, or anything clients
have done since scheduling the appointment
that has made a difference in their problems.
Pretherapy change
People often come
to therapy feeling overwhelmed by their problems
to which they are fused. Narrative therapists
assist clients in understanding that they do
not have to be reduced by these totalizing descriptions
of their identity.
Problem-saturated story
A process in narrative therapy in
which client and therapist jointly create an alternative
life story.
Re-authoring
A solution-focused technique
that asks clients to observe changes in
feelings, moods, thoughts, and behaviors. On a
scale of zero to 10, clients are asked to rate some
change in their experiences.
Scaling questions
A therapeutic perspective
within a postmodern worldview that
stresses the client’s reality without disputing the
accuracy or validity of this reality. Social constructionism
emphasizes the ways in which people
make meaning in social relationships.
Social constructionism
A postmodern
approach to therapy that provides a context
whereby individuals focus on recovering and
creating solutions rather than talking about their
problems.
Solution-focused brief therapy
A categorical description
of people that constricts them to a single dimension
that purports to capture their identity.
Totalizing descriptions
Aspects of lived experience
that lie outside the realm of dominant stories
or in contradiction to the problem-saturated
story.
Unique outcome
- Narrative therapists believe new
stories take hold only when there is
an audience to appreciate and support
such stories.
t
T F 2. One of the functions of a narrative therapist is to ask questions of the client and, based on the answers, generate further questions. s specifi c strategies for underst
t
T F 3. Narrative therapy is a relational and
anti-individualistic practice.
t
T F 4. Narrative practitioners encourage
clients to avoid being reduced
by totalizing descriptions of their
identity.
t
T F 5. Narrative therapists pay more attention
to a client’s past than they
do to the client’s present and future.
f
T F 6. In solution-focused therapy, gathering extensive information about a problem is a necessary step in helping clients fi nd a solution to the problem.
f
T F 7. Solution-focused therapists assist
clients in paying attention to the exceptions
to their problem patterns.
t
T F 8. Solution-focused therapists use
questions that presuppose change,
posit multiple answers, and remain
goal-directed and future-oriented.
t
T F 9. In solution-focused therapy, the
role of the client is to create solutions
based on his or her internal
resources.
t
T F 10. Because solution-focused therapy is
designed to be brief, it is essential
that therapists teach clientanding their
problems.
f
11. Which of the following is true of narrative therapy and solutionfocused therapy? a. The client is an expert on his or her own life. b. The therapeutic relationship should be hierarchical. c. The therapist is the expert on a client’s life. d. Clients should adjust to social and cultural norms. e. For change to occur, clients must fi rst acquire insight into their problems.
a
- A major goal of narrative therapy is to
a. shift from problem-talk to
solution-talk.
b. assist clients in designing creative
solutions to their problems.
c. invite clients to describe their experience
in new and fresh language,
and in doing this open up a new
vision of what is possible.
d. uncover a client’s self-defeating
cognitions.
e. enable clients to gain clarity
about the ways their family of
origin still affect them today.
c
13. All of the following are true of narrative therapy except for a. viewing problems in a sociopolitical and cultural context. b. assisting clients in developing an alternative life story. c. accepting the premise that diagnosis is a basic prerequisite for effective treatment. d. creating a therapeutic relationship that is collaborative e. recognizing that clients know what is best for their life and are experts in their own life.
c
14. Which of the following interventions is least likely to be used by a narrative therapist? a. externalizing conversations b. mapping the infl uence of a problem c. power analysis and intervention d. the search for unique outcomes e. documenting the evidence
c
15. Which of these techniques is not used in solution-focused therapy? a. a lifestyle assessment b. scaling questions c. the miracle question d. formula fi rst session task e. exception questions
a
16. A major strength of both solutionfocused and narrative therapies is the a. empirical evidence that has been collected on both approaches. b. attention given to how one’s early history sheds light on understanding current problems. c. history-taking procedure used during the intake interview. d. use of questioning.
d
17. Two of the major founders of solution- focused brief therapy are a. Michael White and David Epston. b. Insoo Kim Berg and Steve de Shazer. c. Harlene Anderson and Harold Goolishian. d. Tom Andersen and Bill O’Hanlon. e. John Walter and Jane Peller.
b
18. Two of the major founders of narrative therapy are a. Michael White and David Epston. b. Insoo Kim Berg and Steve de Shazer. c. Marlene Anderson and Harold Goolishian. d. Tom Andersen and Bill O’Hanlon. e. John Walter and Jane Peller.
a
19. The therapeutic process in solutionfocused brief therapy involves all of the following except for the notion a. of creating collaborative therapeutic relationships. b. of asking clients about those times when their problems were not present or when the problems were less severe. c. that clients are the experts on their own lives. d. that solutions evolve out of therapeutic conversations and dialogues. e. that therapists are experts in assessment and diagnosis.
e
20. Which of the following is not a basic assumption guiding the practice of solution-focused brief therapy? a. Individuals who come to therapy have the ability to effectively cope with their problems. b. There are advantages to a positive focus on solutions and on the future. c. Clients want to change, have the capacity to change, and are doing their best to make change happen. d. Using techniques in therapy is a way of discounting a client’s capacity to fi nd his or her own way.
d
21. In solution-focused therapy, which kind of relationship is characterized by the client and therapist jointly identifying a problem and a solution to work toward? a. customer-type relationship b. the complainant c. a visitor d. a compliant client
a
22. Pretherapy change is a solutionfocused therapy technique that a. is arrived at by asking clients about exceptions to their problems. b. asks clients to address changes that have taken place from the time they made an appointment to the fi rst therapy session. c. is based on a series of tests that the client takes prior to beginning therapy to get baseline data. d. involves the therapist offering clients ways they can change their perspective on the problems that brought them to therapy.
b
23. Which of these solution-focused therapy techniques involves asking clients to describe life without the problem? a. pretherapy change b. the miracle question c. exception questions d. scaling e. formula fi rst session task
b
24. In narrative therapy, the process of finding evidence to bolster a new view of the person as competent enough to have stood up to or defeated the dominance or oppression of the problem refers to a. the initial assessment. b. exploring problem-saturated stories. c. objectifying the problem. d. the search for unique outcomes.
d
25. Which of the following statements about creating alternative stories is not true? a. Constructing new stories goes hand in hand with deconstructing problem-saturated narratives. b. The narrative therapist analyzes and interprets the meaning of a client’s story. c. The therapist works with clients collaboratively by helping them construct more coherent and comprehensive stories that they live by. d. The development of alternative stories is an enactment of ultimate hope. e. The narrative therapist listens for openings to new stories
b
