Chapter 15 - Family & Marriage Counselling

Question 1

What changes in form has family life undergone

Answer 1

Prior to wwII, nuclear family, husband, wife, kids & Multigenerational family (grandparents, parents, children)

After WWII - divorce rates went up. Single parent family, remarried/blended family, Dual career family, childless family, aging family, lgbtq family, multicultural family

Question 2

What 3 other trends besides definition of family happened after WWII

Answer 2

1) sharp rise in divorce
2) changing role of women
3) expanded life span

Question 3

Nathan Ackerman

Answer 3

introduced psychoanalysis on families. Before this it had been purposely excluded

Question 4

double bind

Answer 4

person receives two contradictory messages at the same time and unable to follow both, develops physical and psychological symptoms as a way to lesson tension and to escape

Question 5

systems theory

Answer 5

a generic term for conceptualizing a group of related elements (i.e people) that interact as a whole entity (i.e. family).

a way of thinking more than a theory

Question 6

What distinguishes systems theory from other counselling approaches

Answer 6

1) Causality is interpersonal
2) psychosocial systems are best understood as repeated patterns of interpersonal interaction
3) symptomatic behaviours must be understood from an interactional viewpoint

Question 7

circular causality

Answer 7

Main concept of systems theory, idea that events are related through a series of interacting feedback loops. (helps rule out scapegoating and linear causality)

Question 8

scapegoating

Answer 8

one person is singled out as the cause of a problem

Question 9

linear causality

Answer 9

one action is see as the cause of another

Question 10

Family life cycle

Answer 10

the name given to the stages a family goes through as it evolves over the years.

Question 11

Becvar and Becvar’s 9 stage family life cycle (dominant white heterosexual family)

Answer 11

1) Unattached adult
2) Newly Married
3) Childbearing
4) preschool age child
5) school age child
6) Teenage child
7) Launching centre
8) Middle age adult
9) Retirement

Question 12

family adaptability

Answer 12

ability to be flexble and change

Question 13

family cohesion

Answer 13

emotional bonding

Question 14

enmeshment

Answer 14

family environment in which members are overly dependent on each other or are undifferentiated

Question 15

triangulation

Answer 15

describes family fusion situations in which the other members of the triangle pull a person in two different directions.

Question 16

non-summativity

Answer 16

the family is greater than the sum of its parts. examine the patterns within the family rather than the actions of any specific member alone

Question 17

Equifinality

Answer 17

same origin may lead to different outcomes and the same outcome may come from different origins. Therefore disaster can make a family stronger or weaker - so examine the family patterns rather than the event.

Question 18

communication

Answer 18

all behaviour is communicative.

2 parts
content - factual information
relationship - how message is understood

Question 19

Family rules

Answer 19

family’s functioning is based on explicit and implicit rules.

Question 20

redundancy principle

Answer 20

families operated on a small set of predictable rules

Question 21

Morphogenesis

Answer 21

ability of a family to modify its functioning to meet the changing demands of internal and external factors - usually requires a second order change

Question 22

second order change

Answer 22

ability to make an entirely new response

Question 23

first order change

Answer 23

continuing to do more of the same things that have worked previously

Question 24

homeostasis

Answer 24

remain steady in equilibrium unless otherwise forced to change. when a family member unbalances the family through his or her actions, other members quickly try to rectify the situation through negative feedback.

Question 25

Premise for working with families

Answer 25

1) individuals conducting the counselling are psychologically healthy and understand their own families of origin well
2) Counsellors will not overemphasize or underemphasize possible aspects or interventions - counsellors balance what they do
3) Counsellor to win the battle for structure, letting the family win the battle for initiative
4) counsellors need to be able to see the couple or family difficulties in the context in which they are occuring.

Question 26

battle for structure

Answer 26

establishing the parameters under which counselling is conducted

Question 27

battle for initiative

Answer 27

motivation to make needed changes

Question 28

working alliance

Answer 28

the counsellor establishes rapport with each person attending and the couple or family unit as a whole. Created through:

maintenance, tracking, mimesis

Question 29

maintenance:

Answer 29

where the counsellor confirms or supports a couple’s or family members position

Question 30

tracking

Answer 30

where a counsellor through a series of clarifying questions tracks or follows a sequence of events

Question 31

mimesis

Answer 31

counsellor adopts a family’s style or tempo of communication, such as being jovial or light-hearted or serious

Question 32

frame

Answer 32

gaining a perspective on how individuals view the presenting problem or situation.

Question 33

family dance

Answer 33

the way a family typically interacts on either a verbal or nonverbal level. The family will repeat itself. .. watch if some are being scapegoated

Question 34

circular questions

Answer 34

questions that focus attention on family connections and highlight differences among members.. e.g. the father might be asked how the daughter responds when she is verbally attacked by the mother.

Question 35

psychoeducational assignments

Answer 35

reading a book or viewing a video to complete together so literally learning more and interacting together

Question 36

long-term goals

Answer 36

an aspect of termination - creating long term goals such as “Creating a calm household where members are open to one another)

Question 37

predicting setbacks

Answer 37

part of the termination process. - helps couples/families not be upset when they fail to achieve their goals

Question 38

follow -up

Answer 38

another part of termination. checking in on the couple/family after a period of time (often 3 months).

Question 39

Bowen Systems Theory

Answer 39

counsellors coach teach clients to be more cognitive in their dealings.

multigenerational genogram

Question 40

content based questions

Answer 40

Bowen systems theory technique.
Asking content based questions to understand what happened without any emotional overlay.

Question 41

Structural Family Counselling

Answer 41

advocate for structural changes in the organization in the family unit. Establish clear boundaries among family members

Question 42

family interaction

Answer 42

technique in Structural Family counselling - family members repeat nonproductive sequences of behaviour, the counsellor will rearrange the physical environment so they act in a different way. (i.e. may have them face each other).

Question 43

Strategic Brief Counselling

Answer 43

focus on the process rather than on the content. Get people to to try new behaviour because the old behaviour isn’t working.

Question 44

spill over effect -

Answer 44

if a behaviour is modified it will help other behaviours change too (Strategic counselling)

Question 45

relabelling

Answer 45

strategic brief counselling technique - giving new perspective to a behaviour. .. i.e john repeatedly asks for second piece of pie. relabelled as assertive rather than rude.

Question 46

paradoxing

Answer 46

Strategic technique: insisting on just the opposite of what one wants

Question 47

Emotion Focused Couples and Family Therapy

Answer 47

90% of couples show improvement - focuses on creating stronger and healthier emotional bonds between partners and family members.

Anger is a secondary emotion, masking fear, shame, sadness, abandonment, invalidation, violation etc.