Clinical Psychology Prepjet Flashcards
Goal of Freudian psychoanalysis
The main goals of Freudian psychoanalysis are “to make the unconscious conscious and to strengthen the ego so that behavior is based more on reality and less on instinctual cravings and irrational guilt” (Corey, 2016, p. 26).
Primary techniques of psychoanalysis
The primary technique of psychoanalysis is analysis of the client’s free associations, dreams, resistance, and transference, and the process of analysis consists of four steps (Greenson, 2016): (1) Confrontation involves helping clients recognize behaviors they’ve been unaware of and their possible cause. (2) Clarification brings the cause of behaviors into sharper focus by separating important details from extraneous material. (3) Interpretation involves explicitly linking conscious behaviors to unconscious processes. (4) Repeated interpretation leads to catharsis (the experience of repressed emotions) and insight into the connection between unconscious material and current behavior and then to working through, which is a gradual process during which the client accepts and integrates new insights into his/her life.
Jungs psychoanalytical theory and the unconscious
Jung believed that behavior is driven by both positive and negative forces, that personality continues to develop throughout the lifespan, and that behavior is affected by the past and the future. Jung also divided the unconscious aspect of the psyche into the personal and collective unconscious: The personal unconscious consists of a person’s own forgotten or repressed memories, while the collective unconscious consists of memories that are shared by all people and are passed down from one generation to the next. The collective unconscious contains archetypes, which are universal thoughts and images that predispose people to act in similar ways in certain circumstances. They’re expressed in myths, symbols, and dreams and include the persona, shadow, hero, and anima and animus.
What’s the primary goals of Jungian Analytical psychotherapy?
The primary goal of analytical psychotherapy is to bring unconscious material into consciousness to facilitate the process of individuation, which occurs primarily during the second half of life and is “the process by which a person becomes a psychological ‘in-dividual,’ that is, a separate, indivisible unity or whole” (Jung, 1968, p. 275). Techniques used to achieve this goal include dream interpretation and the analysis of transference, which Jung viewed as being due to the projection of elements of the personal and collective unconscious.
Adler and individual psychology
He also proposed that people are motivated by feelings of inferiority that arise during childhood in response to real or imagined inadequacies and by a striving for superiority to overcome inferiority feelings. Adler used the term style of life to describe the ways in which a person strives for superiority and proposed that a person’s style of life develops during early childhood. According to Adler, people have adopted a healthy style of life when their goals reflect not only concerns for personal achievement but also for the well-being of others. In contrast, they’ve adopted a mistaken (unhealthy) style of life when their goals focus on overcompensating for feelings of inferiority and reflect a lack of concern about the well-being of others. From this perspective, neurosis, psychosis, addiction, and other problems are manifestations of a mistaken style of life.
Goal of Adlers psychotherapy
The primary goal of Adlerian psychotherapy is to replace the client’s mistaken style of life with a healthier, more adaptive one by helping the client overcome feelings of inferiority and develop a stronger social interest. Strategies used to achieve this goal include identifying early recollections, dream analysis, and having clients act “as if” they’re already the people they want to be.
Object relegations theory and OBJECT CONSTANCY, what is it?
An important concept in object relations theory is object constancy, which refers to the development of mental representations (introjects) of the self and objects that allow the individual to value an object for reasons other than its ability to satisfy the individual’s needs. According to Mahler (Mahler, Pine, & Bergman, 1975), the development of object constancy takes place during three stages: The normal autistic stage occurs during the first few weeks of life. During this stage, infants are totally self-absorbed and unaware of the external environment. This is followed by the normal symbiotic stage during which infants become aware of the external environment but are unable to differentiate themselves from their caregivers. Finally, the separation-individuation stage begins at about five months of age and continues until the child is about three years old. It consists of four substages during which object constancy gradually develops: differentiation, practicing, rapprochement, and beginning of object constancy. According to Mahler and other object relations theorists, narcissism, borderline personality disorder, and other psychiatric disorders are often due to problems during the separation-individuation process that cause a pervasive failure of object constancy.
Freudian Psychoanalysis: what is the ID, EGO, AND SUPEREGO?
It also assumes that these conflicts cause anxiety and are the result of the divergent demands of the three aspects of personality – the id, ego, and superego: (a) The id is present at birth, and its life (sexual) and death (aggression) instincts are the primary source of psychic energy. It operates according to the pleasure principle and seeks immediate gratification of its instinctual needs using unconscious irrational means. (b) The ego develops at about six months of age and operates according to the reality principle. Although it also seeks to at least partially gratify the id’s instincts, it attempts to do so in realistic rational ways. (c) The superego is the last aspect of personality to develop. It represents the internalization of society’s values and standards and acts as the conscience. It attempts to permanently block (rather than gratify) the id’s instincts.
Describe Freduian defense mechanisms
Repression is the basis of all other defense mechanisms, is involuntary, and involves keeping undesirable thoughts and urges out of conscious awareness. Denial is an immature defense mechanism that involves refusing to acknowledge distressing aspects of reality. Methods of denial include ignoring, distorting, and rejecting reality. Reaction formation involves defending against an unacceptable impulse by expressing its opposite, projection involves attributing an unacceptable impulse to another person, and sublimation involves channeling an unacceptable impulse into a socially desirable (and often admirable) endeavor. The occasional use of defense mechanisms is adaptive, but repeated reliance on them keeps a person from resolving the conflicts that are causing anxiety.
Difference between existential and humanistic psychotherapy?
In terms of differences, humanistic therapies emphasize acceptance and growth and help clients become more fully-functioning and self-actualizing. In contrast, existential therapies emphasize freedom and responsibility and “help clients confront the anxieties that arise from the awareness of one’s existential condition … [and cultivate] authentic engagement with one’s world” (Winston, 2019, p. 45).
What is the primary objective of Person-centered therapy?
Rogers’s person-centered therapy is also known as client-centered therapy and is based on the assumption that all people have an innate drive toward self-actualization, which motivates them to achieve their full potential. According to Rogers, the drive toward self-actualization can be thwarted when a person experiences incongruence between his/her self-concept and experience. Conditions of worth are one source of incongruence and occur, for example, when parents provide a child with love and acceptance only when the child behaves in certain ways. According to Rogers, people often react to incongruence defensively by distorting or denying their experiences which, in turn, leads to psychological maladjustment.
The primary goal of person-centered therapy is to help the client become a “fully functioning person” who is not defensive, is open to new experiences, and is engaged in the process of self-actualization. To achieve this goal, person-centered therapists provide clients with three facilitative (core) conditions: empathy, unconditional positive regard, and congruence. Empathy involves understanding the client’s perspective and communicating that understanding to the client, unconditional positive regard involves valuing and accepting the client as a person, and congruence involves being genuine, authentic, and honest.
Describe boundary disturbances (4) in Gestalt therapy?
Boundary disturbances include the following: Introjection occurs when people adopt the beliefs, standards, and values of others without evaluation or awareness, while projection occurs when people attribute undesirable aspects of themselves to other people. Retroflection occurs when people do to themselves what they’d like to do to others; deflection occurs when people avoid contact with the environment; and confluence occurs when people blur the distinction between themselves and others.
Goal of Gestalt Therapy?
Gestalt therapists consider gaining awareness of one’s current thoughts, feelings, and actions to be the curative factor in therapy.
How do Existential therapists view psychological disturbances and what is the goal in therapy?
Existential therapists view psychological disturbances as the result of an inability to resolve conflicts that arise when facing four ultimate concerns of existence: death, freedom, isolation, and meaningless (Yalom, 1980). They also distinguish between two types of anxiety (May, 1950): Normal (existential) anxiety is in proportion to an objective threat, does not involve repression, and can be used constructively to identify and confront the conditions that elicited it and motivate positive change. In contrast, neurotic anxiety is disproportionate to an objective threat, involves repression, and keeps people from reaching their full potential. The primary goal of therapy is “to help clients lead more authentic lives … by assisting them in taking charge of their life, helping them choose for themselves the values and purposes that will define and guide their existence, and supporting them in actions that express these values and purposes” (Corey, 2004, p. 84).
What is Reality Therapy? and what is the purpose of the therapy?
Glasser’s (1965) reality therapy is based on choice theory, which proposes that people have five basic innate needs (love and belonging, power, fun, freedom, and survival) and that the ways a person chooses to fulfill his or her needs determine whether he/she has a success or failure identity: When a person chooses to fulfill his/her needs responsibly (in positive, constructive ways that don’t infringe on the rights of others), the person has adopted a success identity. In contrast, when a person chooses to fulfill his/her needs irresponsibly (in negative, destructive ways that infringe on the rights of others and do not always help the person get what he/she wants), the person has adopted a failure identity.
The primary goal of reality therapy is to replace the client’s failure identity with a success identity by helping the client assume responsibility for his or her actions and adopt more appropriate ways to fulfill his or her needs. Strategies used by reality therapists are summarized by Wubbolding’s (1998) WDEP system: Therapists ask clients about their wants and needs, determine what the client is currently doing to foster awareness of his/her behaviors, encourage the client evaluate his/her own behaviors, and help the client create a plan of action.
What’s positive psychology and what is its goal?
As described by Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi (2000), positive psychology “is about valued subjective experiences: well-being, contentment, and satisfaction (in the past); hope and optimism (for the future); and flow and happiness (in the present)” (p. 5). An important characteristic of positive psychology is its emphasis on using the scientific method to evaluate its theories, concepts, and interventions. For example, researchers have investigated positive emotions by evaluating the effectiveness of interventions aimed at increasing happiness and have investigated positive health by studying how positive emotions contribute to and sustain physical health.
An important component of positive psychology is Seligman’s (2011) PERMA model, which describes the five essential elements of well-being: Positive emotions (P) refers to experiencing pleasure, hope, gratitude, love, and other positive emotions. Engagement (E) refers to being truly engaged in situations or tasks and is characterized by being in a state of “flow” – i.e., a state of being totally immersed in an activity accompanied by a high level of joy and sense of fulfillment. Relationships (R) refers to having positive and meaningful interpersonal relationships. Meaning (M) refers to being dedicated to a cause that’s bigger than oneself. And accomplishment-achievement (A) refers to striving to better oneself and accomplish one’s goals.
Who came up with Persona Construct therapy and what is its purpose?
Kelly’s (1963) personal construct therapy focuses on how people construe (perceive, interpret, and anticipate) events. It proposes that there are alternative ways of doing so and that people can change the way they construe events to alleviate undesirable behaviors and outcomes. According to Kelly, construing involves the use of personal constructs, which are bipolar dimensions of meaning (e.g., fair/unfair, friend/enemy, relevant/irrelevant) that arise from a person’s experiences and may operate on an unconscious or conscious level.
Practitioners of personal construct therapy consider the therapist and client to be partners who work together to help the client identify and replace maladaptive personal constructs. For example, Kelly developed fixed-role therapy to help clients try out alternative personal constructs. It involves having the client role-play a fictional character that is described by the therapist and construes events in alternative ways.
Interpersonal therapy, whats the primary objective and whats the three stages?
Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) focuses on the interpersonal factors that contribute to a client’s current symptoms. It’s based on the medical model and views depression and other mental disorders as treatable medical illnesses, and its primary goals are symptom relief and improved interpersonal functioning. Although IPT was originally developed by Klerman and Weissman (Klerman, Weissman, Rounsaville, & Chevron, 1984) as a treatment for acute depression, it has been modified to treat bipolar disorder, eating disorders, and several other disorders.
Therapy involves three stages: (a) During the initial stage, the therapist determines the client’s diagnosis and the interpersonal context of the client’s symptoms. This information is then used to identify the primary problem area that will be the focus of treatment. For depression, the problem areas are interpersonal role disputes, interpersonal role transitions, interpersonal deficits, and grief. During this stage, clients are assigned the “sick role” in order to allow them to be ill without blaming themselves for their symptoms and to view their illnesses as temporary and treatable. (b) During the middle phase, the therapist uses a variety of strategies to address the problem area identified in the initial stage. Commonly used strategies include encouragement of affect, role-playing, communication analysis, and decision analysis. (c) During the final stage, the therapist addresses issues related to termination and relapse prevention.
Solution Focused Therapy, whats the primary objective and what are the types of questions used?
Solution focused therapy (de Shazer, 1991) focuses on solutions to problems instead of the etiology and nature of problems. Solution-focused therapists adopt a goal-directed collaborative approach and use several types of questions to help clients identify treatment goals and personal strengths and resources that will help them achieve those goals: (a) The miracle question is used to help establish the focus of treatment as the future (rather than the past or present) and identify treatment goals. Example: If a miracle happened during the night and your problem was solved, how would you know that a miracle occurred? (b) Exception questions are used to help clients identify times when their problems did not exist or were less intense. Example: Can you think of a time in the past two weeks when you and your partner did not argue? (c) Scaling questions help clients evaluate their current status or their progress toward achieving their goals. Example: On a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being totally relaxed and 10 being the most stressed you’ve ever been, how stressed are you now?
Transtheoretical Model, what are the stages and who came up with it?
The transtheoretical model (Prochaska & DiClemente, 1983) integrates concepts and strategies from multiple therapeutic approaches and is based on the assumption that strategies are most effective when they match the person’s stage of change. It distinguishes between six stages of change, and the primary goal of the first five stages is to help the client advance to the next stage:
(a) Precontemplation: Clients in the precontemplation stage have no intention of taking action to change their behaviors in the next six months. They may be in denial about their problems or may have made multiple unsuccessful attempts to change and believe that change is impossible. These individuals are likely to resist advice or change interventions but may benefit from consciousness raising, dramatic relief (experiencing and expressing emotions), and environmental reevaluation (examining how the environment affects their behavior).
(b) Contemplation: Clients in this stage plan to change in the next six months but they’re ambivalent about changing, which may make it difficult for them to transition to the next stage. These individuals benefit from self-reevaluation (evaluating how they feel about the situation) in addition to the strategies that are useful for individuals in the precontemplation stage.
(c) Preparation: Clients in the preparation stage plan to take action within the next month. Useful strategies for these individuals support their decision to change and include self-reevaluation and self-liberation (believing that change is possible and making a commitment to change).
(d) Action: Clients in the action stage are taking action to change their behaviors. Effective strategies for these individuals include contingency management, stimulus control, and counterconditioning.
(e) Maintenance: Clients transition to the maintenance stage when they have maintained the desired behavior change for six months. The primary focus of treatment for individuals in this stage is relapse prevention which involves the same strategies useful for individuals in the action stage.
(f) Termination: Clients in this stage are confident that their risk for relapse is low.
According to this model, motivation to change is affected by three factors – decisional balance, self-efficacy, and temptation. Decisional balance is the strength of the person’s beliefs about the pros and cons of changing and is most important as a determinant of motivation during the contemplation stage. Self-efficacy refers to the confidence the person has about his/her ability to change and avoid relapse. It’s an important determinant of whether a person transitions from the contemplation to the preparation stage and then from the preparation to the action stage. Temptation is the intensity of the urge to engage in the undesirable behavior and is usually strongest during the first few stages of change.
Motivational Interviewing: what stages its used and what are the primary techniques involved?
The primary techniques of motivational interviewing are expressing empathy, supporting self-efficacy, developing a discrepancy (helping clients see the difference between their behaviors and goals), and rolling with resistance (decreasing client resistance by avoiding arguments and power struggles). A distinctive characteristic of motivational interviewing is the use of questions, reflections, affirmations, and other strategies to elicit and reinforce a client’s “change talk” – i.e., statements that move the client toward making positive changes in behavior.
Bowen and Extended Families Therapy: Why was it developed?
Bowen’s extended family systems therapy is also known as intergenerational and transgenerational family therapy. Bowen derived his approach from work with children with schizophrenia and their families, which led to his conclusion that the transmission of certain emotional processes from one generation to the next is responsible for the development of schizophrenia in a family member.
What are the different terms for Bowen’s Extended Family Therapy?
(a) Differentiation: Differentiation is both intra- and interpersonal. The intrapersonal aspect is a person’s ability to distinguish between his or her own feelings and thoughts. This ability makes it possible for the person to separate his or her own emotional and intellectual functioning from the functioning of others, which is the interpersonal aspect of differentiation. A person with a low level of differentiation becomes “emotionally fused” with other family members.
(b) Emotional Triangles: According to Bowen, when a family dyad experiences tension, it may recruit a third family member to form an emotional triangle which helps alleviate tension and increase stability. For example, a husband and wife may reduce the conflict between them by becoming overinvolved with one of their children. The likelihood that an emotional triangle will develop increases as the levels of differentiation of family members decrease.
(c) Family Projection Process: The family projection process refers to the parents’ projection of their emotional immaturity onto their children, which causes the children to have lower levels of differentiation.
(d) Multigenerational Transmission Process: The multigenerational transmission process is an extension of the family projection process and refers to the transmission of emotional immaturity from one generation to the next. It occurs when the child most involved in the family’s emotional system becomes the least differentiated family member and, as an adult, chooses a spouse or partner who has a similar level of differentiation. This couple then transmits an even lower level of differentiation to one of its children. This process continues in subsequent generations and eventually results in the development of severe symptoms in a child.
What is the goal of Bowenien Extended Family Systems Therapy?
Bowen believed that increasing differentiation in one family member facilitates greater differentiation in other family members. Consequently, Bowenian therapists often see only two family members in therapy – usually the parents – or the individual family member who is most capable of increasing his or her level of differentiation. The primary goal of therapy is to increase each family member’s differentiation, and several strategies are used to achieve this goal: Therapy begins with an assessment that includes constructing a genogram that depicts family relationships and important life events for at least three generations and is used to help family members understand intergenerational patterns of functioning. During therapy, Bowenian therapists ask questions that are designed to defuse emotions and help family members identify how they contribute to family problems. They also teach family members how to interact with their families-of-origin in ways that alter triangulated relationships. Bowenian therapists assume the role of coach and stay connected with family members but remain neutral and avoid becoming involved in the family’s emotional processes. To reduce emotional reactivity, they have family members talk directly to them rather than to each other.
Explain the SUBSYSTEMS AND BOUNDARIES in Minuchin’s STRUCTURAL FAMILY THERAPY?
Remember Chin-Struck!
Structural Family Therapy: Minuchin’s structural family therapy is based on the assumption that a family member’s symptoms are related to problems in the family’s structure, and identifies subsystems and boundaries as important aspects of a family’s structure: Subsystems are smaller units of the entire family system that are responsible for carrying out specific tasks. For instance, the parental subsystem consists of family members who are responsible for caring for the children.
Boundaries are implicit and explicit rules that determine the amount of contact that family members have with each other. Boundaries differ in terms of degree of permeability and exist on a continuum: At one end of the continuum are boundaries that are overly diffuse and lead to enmeshed relationships; at the other end are boundaries that are overly rigid and lead to disengaged relationships. Midway between the two are clear boundaries that let family members have close relationships while allowing each member to maintain a sense of personal identity.
What are Minuchin’s 4 rigid family triads which are boundary problems?
Minuchin identified four rigid family triads, which are boundary problems that help parents obscure or deny their conflicts: (a) A stable coalition occurs when one parent and a child form an inflexible alliance against the other parent. (b) An unstable coalition is also known as triangulation and occurs when each parent demands that the child side with him or her. (c) A detouring-attack coalition occurs when parents avoid the conflict between them by blaming the child for their problems. (d) A detouring-support coalition occurs when parents avoid their own conflict by overprotecting the child.
Whats the goal of Minuchin’s Structural Family Therapy?
For practitioners of structural family therapy, maladaptive behaviors are due to a dysfunctional family structure that causes the family to repeatedly respond inappropriately to developmental and situational stress. The primary goals of therapy are to alleviate current symptoms and change the family structure by altering coalitions and creating clear boundaries. Therapy focuses on promoting behavior change rather than insight and consists of three overlapping phases – joining, evaluating, and intervening: (a) Joining is used by a therapist to establish a therapeutic alliance with the family and relies on three techniques: Mimesis involves adopting the family’s affective, behavioral, and communication style; tracking involves adopting the content of the family’s communications; and maintenance entails providing family members with support. (b) A therapist’s next task is to evaluate the family’s structure to make a structural diagnosis and identify appropriate interventions. Evaluation includes constructing a family map that depicts the family’s subsystems, boundaries, and other aspects of the family’s structure. (c) The therapist then uses reframing, unbalancing, boundary making, enactment, and other interventions to achieve therapy goals: Reframing involves relabeling a problematic behavior so it can be viewed in a more constructive way. Unbalancing is used to alter hierarchical relationships and occurs when the therapist aligns with a family member whose level of power needs to be increased. Boundary making is used to alter the degree of proximity between family members. And enactment involves asking family members to role-play a problematic interaction so the therapist can obtain information about the interaction and then encourage family members to interact in an alternative way.
Haley’s Strategic Family Therapy: what is the premise of it?
Think of STraw HAt!
Haley’s strategic family therapy is based on the assumptions that struggles for power and control in relationships are core features of family functioning and that “a symptom is a strategy that is adaptive to a current social situation for controlling a relationship when all other strategies have failed (Goldenberg & Goldenberg, 2013, p. 317). It also assumes that power and control are determined primarily by hierarchies within a family and that maladaptive family functioning is often related to unclear or inappropriate hierarchies.
What is the primary goal for Haley’s Strategic family therapy?
The primary goal of therapy is to alter family interactions that are maintaining its symptoms. To achieve this goal, strategic family therapists assume an active role and use a variety of strategies that are aimed at changing behavior rather than instilling insight. The initial session is highly structured and consists of four stages: During a brief social stage, the therapist welcomes the family and observes the family’s interactions. Next is the problem stage, in which the therapist elicits each family member’s view of the family problem and its causes. In the interactional stage, family members discuss their different views of the family’s problem, and the therapist observes how family members interact when addressing the problem. In the final goal-setting stage, the therapist helps family members agree on a definition of the family’s problem and concrete therapy goals that target the problem.
What is Milan Systemic Family therapy and its goals:
Milan systemic family therapy is based on the assumption that “the family as a whole protects itself from change through homeostatic rules and patterns of communication” (Browning & Green, 2003, p. 69). Patterns of communication are referred to as family games, and family games associated with problematic behaviors are rigid, involve power struggles between family members, and are known as “dirty games.” Leading contributors to systemic family therapy include Salvini-Palazzoli, Boscolo, Ceechin, and Prata.
The primary goal of therapy is to alter the family rules and communication patterns that are maintaining problematic behavior. This involves providing the family with information that challenges family games and helps family members develop communication patterns that increase the family’s ability to adapt to change. Milan systemic family therapy is distinguished from other family therapies by its use of a therapeutic team and five-part therapy sessions (pre-session, session, intersession, intervention, and post-session) and gaps between therapy sessions of four to six weeks. Strategies include hypothesizing, neutrality, circular questioning, positive connotation, and family rituals: Hypothesizing is “a continual interactive process of speculating and making assumptions about the family situation” (Adams, 2003, p. 125). The first hypotheses are based on information obtained in the initial telephone interview, and hypotheses are modified during therapy as new information about the family’s functioning is acquired. Neutrality refers to the therapist’s interest in the family’s situation and acceptance of each family member’s perception of the problem. Circular questioning involves asking each family member the same question to identify differences in perceptions about events and relationships and uncover family communication patterns. For example, a therapist might ask each member, “When mom is depressed, what does Dad do?” Positive connotation is a type of reframing that helps family members view a symptom as beneficial because it maintains the family’s cohesion and well-being. Its purpose is to change the family’s perception of a symptom from an individual family member’s illness to, instead, a behavior that’s voluntarily controlled and well-intentioned and involves the entire family system. Family rituals are activities that are carried out by family members between sessions and are designed to alter problematic family games. For example, when parents are competitive in their control of children’s behaviors or family events, the therapist might instruct the mother to make all family decisions on odd-numbered days and the father to make all family decisions on even-numbered days.
What is Conjoint Family Therapy and what are its four stages?
Conjoint Family Therapy: Satir’s (1983, 1988) conjoint family therapy is also known as the human validation process model and was influenced by humanistic psychology and communication and experiential approaches to family therapy. According to Satir, family systems seek a state of balance, with family problems arising when balance is maintained by unrealistic expectations, inappropriate rules and roles, and dysfunctional communication.
With regard to the latter, Satir distinguished between four dysfunctional communication styles:
Placating involves agreeing with or capitulating to others due to fear, dependency, and a desire to be loved and accepted.
Blaming involves accusing, judging, and bullying others to avoid taking responsibility and to hide feelings of vulnerability and worthlessness.
Computing involves taking an overly intellectual and rational (super-reasonable) approach to avoid becoming emotionally engaged with others.
Distracting involves changing the subject and making inappropriate jokes to distract attention and avoid conflict. Satir also identified a congruent (or leveling) style, which is a functional style that’s characterized by congruence between verbal and nonverbal messages, directness and authenticity, and emotional engagement with others.
Whats the goal of conjoint family therapy and what is the most important tool or it?
The primary goal of conjoint family therapy is to enhance the growth potential of family members by increasing their self-esteem, strengthening their problem-solving skills, and helping them communicate congruently. Satir viewed the therapist’s “use of the self” as the most important therapeutic tool and proposed that therapists have multiple roles when working with clients, including facilitator, mediator, advocate, educator, and role model. She also used several techniques to achieve therapy goals, including family sculpting (which involves having each family member take a turn positioning other family members in ways that depict his/her view of family relationships) and family reconstruction (which is a type of psychodrama that involves role-playing three generations of the family to explore unresolved family issues and events).
What is Narrative Therapy and what is its goals?
Practitioners of narrative family therapy consider a person’s problems “as arising from, and being maintained by, oppressive stories which dominate the person’s life” (Carr, 2012, p. 141), and they view these stories as being socially constructed. They also assume that the problem – not the person – is the problem. In other words, the problem is not internal to the person but is something that exists outside the person. For example, instead of saying that a family member is depressed, a narrative family therapist would say that depression sometimes causes problems for the person. The leading contributors to narrative family therapy include White and Epston.
The primary goal of narrative family therapy is to replace problem-saturated stories with alternative stories that support more satisfying and preferred outcomes. The process of therapy varies somewhat among practitioners but generally involves the following stages (Gehart, 2014): (a) Meeting family members involves getting to know them separate from their problems by asking them about their interests and everyday activities. (b) Listening involves paying attention to what family members say to identify dominant discourses and unique outcomes, which are also known as “sparkling moments” and are experiences that are not consistent with problem-saturated stories. (c) Separating family members from their problems involves externalizing the problems. (d) Enacting preferred narratives involves identifying alternative stories that lead to more satisfying realities and identities. (e) Solidifying involves strengthening alternative stories by, for example, writing letters of support to family members and expanding the family’s network of social relationships to include individuals who will support its new stories.
What is emotionally focused therapy and what are its goals?
Emotionally focused therapy (EFT) is a brief evidence-based treatment that integrates principles of attachment theory, humanistic-experiential approaches, and systems theory. It was originally developed by Greenburg and Johnson (1988) as a treatment for couples but has since been applied to families and individuals. (Note that the terms “emotionally focused therapy” and “emotion-focused therapy” are sometimes used interchangeably but that the two differ, with the latter referring to various therapies that emphasize emotion as the target of change.)
EFT is based on the assumptions that (a) emotions are essential to the organization of attachment behaviors and influence how people experience themselves and their partners in intimate relationships, (b) the attachment needs of partners are essentially healthy and adaptive but problems arise when needs are enacted in the context of attachment-related insecurities, and (c) relationship distress is maintained by the ways in which interactions between partners are organized and by the dominant emotional experiences of each partner (Johnson & Denton, 2002). Practitioners of EFT assume that helping partners express and deal with their emotions is the fastest and most effective way to solve problems, and the primary goal of therapy is to expand and restructure the emotional experiences partners have with each other so they can develop new interactional patterns and experience attachment security within their current relationship. Therapy involves three stages: assessment and cycle de-escalation, changing interactional positions and creating new bonding events, and consolidation and integration.
