Clinical Psychology (Family Therapies)

Question 1

A family therapist has been seeing a mother, father, and their two children in therapy for three months. Two days after a therapy session, the father calls the therapist to talk about a conflict he is having with his wife and tries to get the therapist to side with him. The next day, the wife calls the therapist and tries to get him to see things from her point of view. From the perspective of structural family therapy, this situation can be considered an example of:

Answer 1

Triangulation

Question 2

As defined by Murray Bowen, an “emotional triangle” serves which of the following functions?

Answer 2

It reduces anxiety and tension between family members.

Question 3

A structural family therapist would most likely use what technique when working with a family consisting of a mother and father who constantly argue, a teenage son who is overly dependent on his mother, and a 9-year-old daughter who has asthma and other physical symptoms?

Answer 3

blending with the family by adopting its language, behaviors, and style

Question 4

Bateson and his colleagues (1956) described double-bind communication as a cause of which of the following?

Answer 4

Schizophrenia

Question 5

During a family therapy session, the therapist tells the wife that her husband’s constant criticism of her and the children is actually an expression of his love for them. This is an example of which of the following?

Answer 5

Reframing

Question 6

During an argument, a husband and wife keep trying to outdo one another in terms of insults. This is one of the possible outcomes of:

Answer 6

symmetrical communication

Question 7

What is one negative outcome of symmetrical communication?

Answer 7

the communicators have equal status, but at times, this may escalate into a “one-upsmanship” game.

Question 8

What is reframing?

Answer 8

Reframing involves describing a problematic behavior in a way so that it can be viewed as positive or functional which, in turn, fosters a different response to that behavior.

Question 9

What does “Joining” entail?

Answer 9

blending with the family by adopting its language, behaviors, style, etc.

Question 10

What is triangulation?

Answer 10

Though originally defined as involving parents and a child, triangulation can also refer to any triad in which two parties attempt to involve a third party in their conflict and demand the third party’s loyalty.

Question 11

negative feedback loop

Answer 11

provides the family system with information that helps it maintain the status quo

Question 12

who is known as the “grandfather of family therapy?”

Answer 12

Ackerman

Question 13

How do practitioners of structural family therapy view maladaptive behaviour?

Answer 13

Maladaptive behaviour is related to boundaries that are either too rigid or overly diffuse

Question 14

What is a stable coalition?

Answer 14

occurs when a parent and child consistently “gang up” against the other parent

Question 15

The various models of family therapy have been influenced by general systems theory and view the family as primarily an _____ system that receives input from and discharges output to the environment

Answer 15

open

Question 16

A ______ feedback loop provides the family with information that helps it maintain the status quo

Answer 16

negative

Question 17

Family therapies are consistent with a Kantian tradition and reflect a _____ view of causality and a relational, contextual, relativistic perspective

Answer 17

reciprocal

Question 18

The earliests contributors of family therapy include _____, who was a child psychiatrist who eventually became known as the “grandfather of family therapy” and gregory Bateson who is frequently cited for his work on the role of _____ communication in the development of schizophrenia

Answer 18

Ackerman; double-bind

Question 19

Family therapists using the communication/interaction approach distinguish between two types of communication patterns. In symmetrical communication, participants are _____, while in _______ communication, participants are unequal and the differences between them are maximized

Answer 19

equal; complementary

Question 20

Differentiation of self is a key concept in Bowen’s extended family systems therapy: When family members have low levels of differentiation, they easily ______ with other family members, which can result in an undifferentiated family ego mass

Answer 20

fuse

Question 21

the emotional triangle develops when a two-person system recruits another person into the system in order to increase stability and reduce ______

Answer 21

tension

Question 22

For Bowenians, the assessment of a family often includes construction of a _____, which depicts the relationships between family members

Answer 22

genogram

Question 23

Practitioners of structural family therapy view maladaptive behaviour as being related to boudaries that are too rigid or, at the other extreme, overly diffuse. In the former situation, family members are disengaged; in the latter they are ______

Answer 23

enmeshed

Question 24

Minuchin distinguished between three chronic boundary distrubances, or rigid triads. For example, ____ is occurring when a parent and child consistently “gang up” against the other parent.

Answer 24

a stable coalition

Question 25

A first step in structural family therapy is _____, which entails “blending” with the family by adopting it’s style

Answer 25

joining

Question 26

Strategic family therapy emphasizes the role of ______ in maladaptive behaviour and, in particular, how it is used to control one’s relationships

Answer 26

communication

Question 27

Strategic family therapists use a variety of techniques including paradoxical interventions, which are designed to use a client’s ______ in a constructive way. For instance, a ______ is an unpleasant task that a client must perform when he/she engages in symptomatic behaviour, while _____ involves relabeling a symptom to give it a more positive meaning

Answer 27

resistance; ordeal; reframing

Question 28

Milan systemic family therapists utilize several techniques including hypothesizing, neutrality, and circular questions, which are used to help family members recognize differences in their _________

Answer 28

perceptions

Question 29

Behavioural family therapies make use of the principles of operant conditioning, social learning theory, and social exchange theory to alter the ______ that are maintaining problematic behaviours

Answer 29

antecedents and consequences

Question 30

systemic and behavioural family therapies primary focus is the ________ skills of family members

Answer 30

communication and problem-solving

Question 31

for object-relations family therapists, maladaptive behaviour is the result of both _____ factors, and a goal of therapy is to resolve each family member’s attachment to family

Answer 31

introjects