Clinical Social Work Intervention

Question 1

Abreaction

Answer 1

An emotional release after recalling a painful experience that has been repressed because it was not tolerable to the conscious mind is know as catharsis. A therapeutic effect sometimes occurs through partial or repeated discharge of the painful affect

Question 2

Catharsis (Abreaction)

Answer 2

The healthful (therapeutic) release of ideas through “talking out” conscious material, accompanied by an appropriate emotional reaction. Also, the release into awareness of repressed (forgotten) material from the unconscious

Question 3

Closed Group

Answer 3

Therapy group that begins and ends with the same membership, and usually has a pre-set termination date. Impractical for long-term therapy but commonly used in short-term, task-oriented forms of group work

Question 4

Counterconditioning

Answer 4

In classical conditioning, the elimination of a response by pairing the response or associated stimuli with a stimulus that naturally elicits an incompatible and more desirable response

Question 5

Displacement

Answer 5

A defense mechanism. It involves the transfer of an instinctual drive from its original target to a less threatening target so that the drive can be more safely expressed

Question 6

Enactment

Answer 6

Technique used to create a situation in which you can observe clients’ interactions directly. Generally entails asking clients to recreate a past conflict in your presence but can also involve having clients role-play contrived situations to find out how they interact when engaged in common activities such as planning, parenting, and decision-making

Question 7

Family Map

Answer 7

Associated with structural family therapy; a symbolic representation of the family structure created from the therapist’s observations of a family. Differs from a venogram in that it reflects the arrangement of the family members around issues of concern. Through a series of connected and interrelated frameworks, the map attempts to illustrate coalitions and boundaries and helps with planning the course of therapy. It allows the therapist to keep in mind both the individual’s relationship to the family system and the family system’s relationship to the individual

Question 8

Fixation

Answer 8

In psychoanalysis, the notion that psychosexual development can be arrested at a particular stage such that the personality becomes structured around the unresolved conflict of the stage

Question 9

Homeostasis

Answer 9

The self-maintenance of a system (e.g., a family0 in a state of equilibrium or status quo. Homeostasis is facilitated by negative feedback loops, which provide the system with the information it needs to make appropriate adjustments in its functioning

Question 10

Joining

Answer 10

In structural family therapy, the therapist’s linking (blending) with the family as a group and with each family member by showing that he understands their unique experiences. Includes adopting a family’s behaviors, affective style, and communication patterns

Question 11

Modeling

Answer 11

Describes observational learning, or the process by which learning occurs as the result of observing the behavior of others

Question 12

Operant Conditioning

Answer 12

A type of learning in which behaviors are increased or decreased as the result of the consequences (reinforcements or punishments) that follow them

Question 13

Positive Reinforcement

Answer 13

In operant conditioning, the application of a stimulus following a response with the goal of increasing the occurrence or strength of the response

Question 14

Psychic Determinism

Answer 14

The doctrine that all actions, thoughts, verbalizations, etc. are meaningful and obey the law of cause and effect (e.g., slips of the tongue reflect unconscious material)

Question 15

Reality Therapy

Answer 15

The primary goal of reality therapy is to help clients identify responsible and effective ways to satisfy their needs and thereby to develop a success identity. Reality therapy rejects the medical model and the concept of mental illness; focuses on current behaviors and beliefs; views transference as detrimental to therapy progress; stresses conscious processes; emphasizes value judgments, especially the client’s ability to judge what is right and wrong in his daily life; and teaches clients specific behaviors that will enable them to fulfill their needs.

Question 16

Resocialization Group

Answer 16

A self-help or therapy group that helps members adjust to new social roles (e.g., the members may be newly divorced)

Question 17

Self-Control Procedures

Answer 17

Techniques administered by the client himself and most commonly used to increase behaviors that occur less frequently than desired or to decrease self-injurious behaviors. Include self-monitoring, stimulus control, self-reinforcement, and self-punishment

Question 18

Strategic Family Therapy

Answer 18

Family therapy approach that focuses on transactional patterns and views symptoms as interpersonal events that serve to control relationships; focuses on symptom relief (rather than insight); and involves the use of specific strategies, especially paradoxical techniques and homework assignments. Influenced by structural family therapy, the communication/interaction school, and the work of Milton Erickson

Question 19

Sustainment Interventions

Answer 19

Relationship-building activities used primarily in the initial phases of the change process to reduce a client’s feelings of anxiety or guilt, increase his self-esteem, and instill a sense of hope. Examples include acceptance, reassurance, and encouragement

Question 20

Tracking (Family Therapy)

Answer 20

Structural family therapy technique in which the therapist helps the family elaborate the details of behaviors in order to clarify the nature of its problem. Permits the family a new and expanded version of reality, thereby taking the focus off of the identified or index patient

Question 21

Additive Empathic Responding

Answer 21

Empathic responses that reach beyond the factual aspects and surface feeling of a client’s message to also reflect its implied content and underlying feelings. Because they are interpretive, these responses can increase a client’s awareness of his feeling and new ways of resolving a problem

Question 22

Centrifugal Family

Answer 22

A family in which sources of gratification are seen as existing outside rather than inside the family. Children are expelled from the family in a way that results in premature separation. Centrifugal forces are forces in a family that push the members apart

Question 23

Cognitive Restructuring Techniques

Answer 23

Techniques used to help clients manage their emotional reactions and behave more effectively through modifying their distorted cognitions or errors in logic, particularly their distorted interpretations of reality. The use of these techniques is based on theory underlying the cognitive therapies which assumes that how people interpret and think about an event or experience (their self-talk) gives rise to an emotional reaction, which, in turn, gives rise to behavior

Question 24

Countertransference

Answer 24

A set of conscious or unconscious emotional reactions to a client experienced by a therapist, usually in a clinical setting. Freud considered countertransference to be detrimental to psychoanalysis and believed that a therapist must always be aware of any countertransference feelings to ensure that they do not interfere with the progress of treatment. Current forms of psychotherapy view countertransference as a helpful tool in gaining understanding of a client’s process. Social workers should seek consultation when doing so is necessary to prevent countertransference-related problems, such as a loss of objectivity, from interfering with treatment

Question 25

Double-bind Communication

Answer 25

A set of contradictory or logically inconsistent communications from the same person along with injunction that the receiver of the communications must not comment of their inconsistency. For example, a mother says “ I love you” to her child while pushing the child off her lap

Question 26

Enmeshment Vs. Disengagement

Answer 26

With disengagement, boundaries are too rigid, not allowing adequate communication between subsystems; and with enmeshment, boundaries are overly diffuse, allowing too much communication with other subsystems. In contrast, healthy boundaries are optimally permeable; They protect the integrity of a subsystem while also allowing interaction between subsystems and can adapt to the changing needs of the family system

Question 27

Family Myths

Answer 27

Beliefs shared by all family members with regard to each other and their relative positions in the family. Myths go unchallenged and maintain family homeostasis

Question 28

Flooding

Answer 28

A classical extinction technique that involves exposing the individual in vivo or in imagination to high anxiety-arousing stimuli. The key is exposing a client for long enough that he comes to see that none of the consequences he fears actually take place. When done in vivo, it is also known as in vivo exposure with response prevention

Question 29

I-Statements (I-Messages)

Answer 29

Statements used to send clear and direct messages, thereby reducing the likelihood that the person receiving the message will be put on the defensive. An I-statement consists of a brief, clear description of a behavior by the other person that one is bothered by, the feeling one experienced as a result of that behavior, and description of the tangible impact the behavior has had on oneself or others. During intervention, I-statements made by a social worker are useful for managing situations of confrontation of conflict with a client and turning them into opportunities for the client to grow. The I-statement can also be taught to clients as a method for helping them deal with interpersonal conflict

Question 30

Libido

Answer 30

According to Freud, the psychic energy that is generated by the instinctual drives of the id

Question 31

Narrowing the Focus (Funneling)

Answer 31

A helping skill that involves asking a series of questions designed to help the client describe his concerns or situation with more specificity

Question 32

Paradoxical Interventions (Therapeutic Double-Bind)

Answer 32

Therapeutic interventions in which the therapist deliberately gives the client a directive that the therapist wants the client to resist; the resulting change in the client is then the result of defying the therapist’s directive. Examples include prescribing the symptom and restraining

Question 33

Positive Reinterpretation

Answer 33

A method for reducing resistances. Involves attributing positive intentions to what normally would be regarded as undesirable behavior by a group member or the group

Question 34

Psychodrama

Answer 34

A therapeutic technique that involves having clients dramatically act out (role-play) the conflicts they are having with other people or other situations. Psychodrama involves a protagonist (the client), auxiliary egos ( individuals trained to act out aspects of the client’s situation), and the director (therapist)

Question 35

Reciprocal Inhibition

Answer 35

A form of counterconditioning developed by Wolpe to alleviate anxiety reactions by pairing a stimulus that produces anxiety (CS) with a stimulus that produces relaxation or other incompatible response (US)

Question 36

Response Cost

Answer 36

A form of negative punishment that involves removing a reinforcer (e.g., a specific number of tokens or points) following a behavior in order to reduce that behavior

Question 37

Self-Determination

Answer 37

Principle in social work practice that recognizes clients’ needs and right to make their own decisions and choices

Question 38

Stress Inoculation

Answer 38

A cognitive-behavioral technique used to help individuals cope with stressful and other aversive states by enhancing their coping skills. It includes three stages; cognitive (education), skills acquisition, and application

Question 39

Symmetrical Communication

Answer 39

Communication that occurs between equals and may escalate into a competitive one-upmanship game

Question 40

Transference

Answer 40

A client’s experience of feelings, attitudes, fantasies, etc., toward the therapist, which represent a projection or displacement and repetition of reactions to a significant other person in the client’s past. Freud considered transference to be a form of resistance and the cornerstone of psychoanalysis

Question 41

Behavior Rehearsal

Answer 41

Technique used to help a client learn a new behavior so that he can better cope with a specific interpersonal situation such as a job interview. Relies on role-playing, modeling, and coaching to provide opportunities to practice the new behavior in a protected environment before trying it out in the real world. As a client practices the behavior, the social worker offers feedback and may demonstrate or model the behavior

Question 42

Circular Causality

Answer 42

The non-linear, repetitive nature of interactions in families and other organized systems in which events are related through a series of interacting loops or repeating cycles

Question 43

Confrontation (Challenge)

Answer 43

Respectful and gentle efforts to help a client recognize that he is using distortions, deceptions, denials, avoidance, or manipulations that are getting in the way of desired change. The social worker challenges and invites the client to examine a thought or behavior that is self-defeating or harmful to others and to take action to change it. Efforts to confront a client generally emphasize factors that the social worker believes are contributing to the client’s problems and preventing the client from making progress

Question 44

Denial

Answer 44

A defense mechanism in which an individual admits that an anxiety-evoking impulse, thought, etc., exists but denies that it is personally relevant. A relatively primitive defense mechanism related to a child’s faith in the magical power of thoughts and words

Question 45

Ego

Answer 45

As defined by Freud, the structure of the psyche that attempts to deal with reality in a practical, rational way (secondary process thinking) and that mediates the conflicting demands of the id, the superego, and reality; the “executive function” of the personality. Operates on the basis of the reality principle

Question 46

Existential Therapy

Answer 46

The existential therapies are derived from existential philosophy and share an emphasis on the human conditions of depersonalization, loneliness, and isolation and the assumption that people are not static but, instead, are in a constant state of “becoming”

Question 47

Feedback Loop

Answer 47

In systems theory and cybernetics, the flow of information back into the system. Negative feedback loops minimize change and maintain the system’s status quo (equilibrium), while positive feedback loops alter or disrupt the system’s normal functioning

Question 48

Fusion

Answer 48

Associated with Bowen; the blurring of intellectual and emotional boundaries between the self and others arising out of an overly strong emotional attachment. Fusion is the opposite of differentiation of self

Question 49

Identified Patient

Answer 49

The family member who is identified by the family as bearing the symptom. The IP has typically been labeled by the family as “crazy” or “Sick”

Question 50

Metamemory and Metacognition

Answer 50

Metamemory refers to knowledge about one’s own memory processes. It is one aspect of metacognition, which refers to “knowing about knowing” (i.e., awareness and monitoring of one’s own cognitive state)

Question 51

Networking

Answer 51

Efforts to develop and enhance the social linkages between people by (a) strengthening the quality of existing networks, (b) establishing new networks, (c) creating linkages among various networks to engender more competent support, and (d) mobilizing networks

Question 52

Participant Modeling

Answer 52

A technique based on observational learning theory in which a model demonstrates the desired behavior and then helps the individual to gradually imitate the modeled behavior

Question 53

Projection

Answer 53

A defense mechanism. Involves attributing one’s own unacceptable instinctual needs and drives to another person. Projection is derived from the primitive thought process of egocentrism

Question 54

Pursuer-Distancer

Answer 54

A term used to illustrate the polarity that result in a dyadic (two-person) relationship when the members have opposing responses to anxiety or conflict. The pursuer believes that the solution lies in external action or moving toward another for comfort. The distance avoids anxiety or conflict by withdrawing and moving away from others. The individuals may alter the roles they play but the pattern of interaction remains stable

Question 55

Regression

Answer 55

A defense mechanism. Occurs when a person retreats to an earlier, safer stage of development and behaves in ways characteristic of that stage

Question 56

School Social Work

Answer 56

Social work practice in school settings that emphasizes enabling students to learn and function in the school environment. The school social worker mobilizes all facets of a student’s life situation in an effort to foster a supportive learning environment for the student and serves as a vital link between the student;s school, home, and community. School social workers adopt a strengths-based and empowerment approach to their practice; they seek to identify and build on existing strengths within students and the social systems in which students must function

Question 57

Self-Monitoring (Social Psychology)

Answer 57

The need for and ability to manage the impression that others form of us. High self-monitors are most concerned about their “public self” and, consequently, strive to match their attitudes and behaviors to the situation. Low self-monitors are guided primarily by their own beliefs and values and attempt to alter the situation to match their “private self”

Question 58

Sublimation

Answer 58

A defense mechanism. A type of displacement in which an unacceptable impulse is diverted into a socially acceptable, even admirable, activity. Considered to be a “mature” defense mechanism (i.e., it is common in “healthy” adults)

Question 59

Task-Oriented Group

Answer 59

Group that forms around a task rather than interpersonal relations. Typically short-term and aimed at a specific problem or task

Question 60

Triangulation

Answer 60

According to Minchin, a form of rigid triad involving usually two parents and a child. In triangulation, the two parents avoid conflict by involving the child, thereby stabilizing their own relationship. For example, each parent may demand that the child side with him in a conflict with the other. The child is then paralyzed, for no matter how he responds, he is defined by one of the parents as attacking. Although originally defined by Minuchin and others as it relates to the parents and a child, triangulation can refer to any triad in which the conflict of two individuals involves a third person in a way that immobilizes the third person in a loyalty conflict

Question 61

Behavioral Family Therapy

Answer 61

The behavioral approach to family and marital therapy addresses the following goals: (a) increasing the couple’s recognition and initiation of pleasurable interactions; (b) decreasing the couple’s aversive interactions (negative exchanges); (c) teaching the couple effective problem-solving and communication skills; and (d) teaching the couple to use a contingency contract to resolve persisting problems

Question 62

Circular Questions

Answer 62

Questions designed to help family members identify differences in their perspectives in order to increase their understanding of events or circumstances so they can derive solutions to their own problems

Question 63

Congruent Communication

Answer 63

Communication in which two or more messages are sent via different levels (e.g., verbally and nonverbally) but none of the messages seriously contradicts any of the others

Question 64

Detriangulation

Answer 64

A term used to explain the process of Bowen’s therapy. Bowen believed that when a two-person relationship becomes too intense or too distant, the opposing members seek to join with the same person against the other, forcing this third party to alternate loyalties between the two. Triangulation stabilizes the system and , therefore, perpetuates the family’s pathology. According to Bowen, focusing on this stabilizing process is sometimes more effective for bringing about change than an emphasis on presenting issues

Question 65

Empathy

Answer 65

The ability to perceive, understand, and experience the emotional state of another person (Barker, 1987). Empathy is used throughout the helping process to develop rapport, maintain a working relationship, and enable social workers to move toward confronting a client’s problematic issues. Fundamental to emphatic responding is reflecting an understanding and acceptance of not only the client’s overtly expressed feelings but also his underlying emotions. Can be conveyed through verbal and nonverbal communication

Question 66

Extended Family Systems Therapy

Answer 66

School of family therapy that extends general systems theory beyond the nuclear family. The emphasis is on intellectual and emotional differentiation of individual family members; and key terms include differentiation of self, undifferentiated family ego mass, emotional triangles, and multigenerational transmission process. Therapy often begins with the construction of a venogram. The therapist often sees two members of the family (spouses) and forms a therapeutic triangle in which the therapist comes into emotional contact with the family members but avoids becoming emotionally triangled

Question 67

Feminist Theory

Answer 67

Form of therapy that has its origins in the women’s movement and that is based on the premise that “the personal is political”. Focuses on empowerment and social change and acknowledges and minimizes the power differential inherent in the client-therapist relationship. Feminist therapy must be distinguished from nonsexist therapy, which focuses more on personal causes of behavior and personal change

Question 68

General Systems Theory

Answer 68

The theory that the “whole” can be understood only in terms of the organization and interactions of its components; the theoretical framework underlying family therapy. Systems can be either “open” or “closed”. Open systems receive input from and discharge output to the environment; closed systems have no exchange with the environment. Families are primarily open systems

Question 69

Interpersonal Therapy

Answer 69

Interpersonal therapy (IPT) was originally developed as a treatment for depression but has since been applied to other conditions as well. Although IPT recognizes the contributions of early experience, biological predisposition, and personality to depression, its focus is on one of four areas of interpersonal functioning - grief, interpersonal role disputes, role transitions, and interpersonal deficits

Question 70

Milieu Therapy

Answer 70

Treatment for socially and mentally disordered persons, most often those in institutions, in which the entire environment is considered essential to the treatment process. Treatment does not occur only during therapy sessions but in all aspects of the patient’s environment or milieu. Group meetings are a part of the treatment process

Question 71

Normalizing

Answer 71

A form of information giving used to place a client’s problem in a new context by defining it as expectable or predictable rather than pathological. With the parents of a defiant toddler, for example, a social worker could explain the behaviors that are expected during this developmental stage

Question 72

Person-Centered Therapy

Answer 72

Therapeutic approach based on the assumptions that people possess an inherent ability for growth and self-actualization and that maladaptive behavior occurs when “incongruence between self and experience” disrupts this natural tendency. The therapist’s role in person-centered therapy is to provide the client with three facilitative conditions (empathy, genuineness, and unconditional positive regard), which enable the client to return to his natural tendency for self-actualization

Question 73

Projective Identification

Answer 73

A concept associated with object-relations theories. Consists of three steps; an aspect of the self is projected onto someone else; the projector tries to coerce the other person to identify with what has been projected; and the projector and the recipient of the projection feel a sense of oneness or union. In object-relations family therapy, is considered a common source of dysfunction - i.e., a family member projects old introjects onto another family member and then reacts to that person as though he actually has the projected characteristics or provokes the person to act in ways consistent with the projected characteristics

Question 74

Rationalization

Answer 74

A defense mechanism. Occurs when an individual interprets his behaviors in a way that makes them seem more rational, logical and/or socially acceptable. Rarely appears before adolescence

Question 75

Relabeling/Reframing

Answer 75

In family therapy, relabeling is used to offer family members an alternative way of perceiving and understanding a symptom, behavior, or problem; the idea is that, when family members view the problem from a different perspective, they may begin responding to it in a different, often healthier, way. Reframing is also used to help family members perceive and understand symptoms of behaviors in new light; the goal of reframing, however, is usually to change a family’s understanding of a symptom from one individual’s problem to a family problem

Question 76

Sculpting

Answer 76

An adaptation of psychodrama in which family members position themselves (or objects that represent them) in a way that reflects their relations and roles within the family system. Can be useful for revealing family members’ differing perceptions and feelings

Question 77

Shaping

Answer 77

(A.K.A. the method of “successive approximations”) Behavioral technique that involves teaching a new behavior through prompting and reinforcing behaviors that come closer and closer to the target behavior

Question 78

Subsystem

Answer 78

An element or functional component that, is itself, a system but also plays a specialized role in the operation of a larger system. The family system differentiates and carries out its functions through the subsystems. In a family, subsystems include the individual, spouse, parent, and sibling

Question 79

Therapeutic Paradox

Answer 79

When a therapist uses a therapeutic paradox, he uses an intervention that may seem contradictory to the therapeutic objectives. Yet, the goal of the therapeutic paradox is to bring about desired change that is consistent with the goals of therapy. Prescribing the symptom is an example of a therapeutic paradox

Question 80

Undoing

Answer 80

A defense mechanism. Occurs when a person repeatedly engages in a behavior to undo the effects of a past action that he has found to be unacceptable. The behavior is typically the opposite of the unacceptable action

Question 81

Anxiety (Freud’s View)

Answer 81

For Freud, anxiety is a factor in both normal personality functioning and pathological behavior. He distinguished between three types of anxiety; reality (objective) anxiety, neurotic anxiety, and moral anxiety. All serve to alert the ego to the presence of external or internal threats (e.g., an unresolved conflict between the id and the superego) and involve excitation of the autonomic nervous system

Question 82

Centripetal Family

Answer 82

A family that believes family members hold a greater promise for the fulfillment of crucial relationship needs than the outside world. The outside world appears threatening and separation is, therefore, difficult. This style binds children to the family. Centripetal forces are forces that keep family members together

Question 83

Complementary Communication

Answer 83

Communication occurring between participants who are unequal and that emphasizes their differences (e.g., communication between a dominant and a subordinate participant

Question 84

Defense Mechanisms

Answer 84

For psychoanalysts, mental strategies that operate unconsciously, deny or distort reality, and are employed by the ego to reduce anxiety arising from the discrepant demands of the id, the superego, and reality. Include, among others, repression, reaction formation, and sublimation

Question 85

Eclecticism

Answer 85

A continuing trend in psychotherapy involving increasing integration of therapeutic techniques drawn from several schools of psychotherapy

Question 86

Equifinality

Answer 86

A term associated with family systems therapy that states that no matter where one enters the system, the patterning will be the same. According to this concept, different causes can produce the same results; therefore, a therapist studies patterns of behavior and interaction rather than individual topics

Question 87

Family Rituals

Answer 87

Regular, predictable behaviors of the family that have a sense of rightness about them. The whole collection of observable behaviors that add up to rules. May be conscious or unconscious and may increase family cohesiveness or be seen as burdensome

Question 88

Freudian Psychoanalysis

Answer 88

The goal of psychoanalytic psychotherapy is to reduce or eliminate pathological symptoms by bringing the unconscious into conscious awareness and integrating previously repressed material into the personality. During psychoanalysis, the analysis of free associations, dreams, resistances, and transferences consists of a combination of confrontation, clarification, interpretation, and working through

Question 89

ID

Answer 89

According to Freud, the aspect of the psyche that is present at birth, contains the libido and other instincts, and seeks immediate gratification of its impulses. Operates on the basis of the pleasure principle and relies on primary process thinking

Question 90

Mahler’s Object-Relations Theory

Answer 90

Object-relations approaches emphasize the impact of early relationships with other people (‘objects’) on personality development; for object-relations theorists maladaptive behavior is the result of abnormalities in early object relations. Mahler’s version of this approach stresses events that occur during the separation-individuation process

Question 91

Negative Feedback

Answer 91

A key feature of cybernetics is its concept of the feedback loop through which a system receives information. A negative feedback loop reduces deviation and helps a system maintain its status quo

Question 92

Parentification

Answer 92

Process within a family system in which a spouse, or more typically, a child, is expected to take on a significant parenting role in the family. Represents a subjective distortion of family relationships in which a family member acts as though his spouse or child were actually his parent (e.g., a child assumes excessive responsibility in a pseudo-adult role by emotionally or physically caring for a weak parent or a vulnerable marriage)

Question 93

Premark Principle

Answer 93

An application of positive reinforcement that involves using a high-frequency behavior as a positive reinforcer for a low-frequency behavior

Question 94

Psychodynamic Therapies

Answer 94

(i.e. classical psychoanalysis, the therapeutic approaches of the ego-analysts, the object-relations theorists, and the net-freudians, Adler’s individual psychology, Jung’s analytical psychotherapy) These therapies view human behavior as being motivated largely by unconscious processes, regard early development as having a profound effect on adult functioning, propose that there are general (universal) principles that explain personality development and behavior, and consider insight into unconscious processes to be a key component of psychotherapy. They generally give more attention to clients’ thoughts and feelings than to social and environmental factors and seek to improve clients’ social functioning by helping them understand their conflicting thoughts and feelings

Question 95

Reflection (of Content and Feeling)

Answer 95

An active listening skill that involves restating or repeating something a client has just said with an emphasis on the part of the message that is most helpful. Its key purpose is to build understanding. In reflecting content, a social worker considers what elements of a client’s message are most likely to promote achievement of the interview’s goals and then uses that content in the reflection; a simple reflection of content will then repeat, verbatim, a key word or phrase from the client’s message. In reflecting feeling, a social worker expresses the emotional component of the client’s message; Rather than responding to only the client’s words, the worker also infers from those words, other verbal cues, and nonverbal cues what the client is feeling about the information being disclosed

Question 96

Role Induction

Answer 96

A part of the contracting process with clients when the roles of the client(s) and the social worker are defined. This process tends to reduce the ambiguity of the helping process and the anxiety of clients

Question 97

Self-Help Groups

Answer 97

Groups intended to improve members’ social functioning through a group experience and discussions with others who have, or had, similar problems or concerns. Examples of self-help groups include those through self-help organizations such as Alcoholics Anonymous, Overeaters Anonymous, and Parents Without Partners. Many self-help groups rely on leaders who are also members of the group but some are led by professionals or by members who have received training on how to conduct and lead meetings

Question 98

Structural Family Therapy

Answer 98

Family therapy approach that emphasizes altering the family’s structure (rigid triangles, power hierarchies) in order to change the behavior patterns of family members. Involves joining the family systems, evaluating the family structure, and then restructuring the family using several techniques such as enactment and reframing. Focus is on behavior change rather than achieving insight

Question 99

Symmetrical Relationship

Answer 99

A relationship based on equality or sameness. Differences are minimized, role definitions are similar, and problems seem to stem from competition

Question 100

Transference Neurosis

Answer 100

The “artificial Neurosis” that occurs during the course of psychoanalysis and that involves the development of transference

Question 101

Aversive Counterconditioning (Aversion Therapy)

Answer 101

Behavioral therapy based on counterconditioning that reduces the attractiveness of a stimulus or behavior by repeatedly pairing it with a stimulus that produces an undesirable or unpleasant response. Pairing alcohol consumption with electric shock to reduce alcohol use is an example of aversive counterconditioning. In this situation, the alcohol is the conditioned stimulus (CS) and the electric shock is the unconditioned stimulus (US)

Question 102

Chaining

Answer 102

The process by which a series of related and simple behaviors (responses are tied together to form a more complex behavior - i.e., each response in the series acts as both a secondary reinforcer for the preceding response and a discriminative stimulus for the next response in the chain. Skinner believed that chaining explains the acquisition of complex behaviors

Question 103

Complementary Relationships

Answer 103

Dyadic relationships based on differences that fit together. In other words, the tendency of member A in a relationship is enhanced by the tendency of member B. For example, A’s submissiveness may be complemented by B’s dominance and vice versa

Question 104

Defensiveness (And Defense Mechanisms)

Answer 104

All people use defense mechanisms to cope with anxiety, stress, and problems of living, but defensiveness can interfere with a person’s ability to accurately perceive reality and get along with others. Rigid or excessive use of defenses impedes realistic problem solving, and very high levels of defensiveness and distortions of reality are characteristic of personality disturbances

Question 105

Ecosystem

Answer 105

Concept pertaining to the physical and biological environment and the interaction of all components. Ecosystems theory is used to describe and analyze people and other living systems and their transactions

Question 106

Equipotentiality

Answer 106

The concept in general systems theory that one cause may produce different results

Question 107

Family Rules

Answer 107

Family Rules - either overt of unconscious - illustrate a family’s values and determine the behavior of the members. For example, a family rule may be “nobody challenges father” In this case, the implied rule prevents any members of the family from disagreeing or arguing with father. Thus, the “rule” directs and controls the family’s behavior. Therapists often help a family modify rules that are no longer appropriate and causing difficulties in the family

Question 108

Functional Analysis

Answer 108

In behavioral assessments, an assessment of the environmental variables (i.e., antecedents and consequences) that control a behavior

Question 109

Identification (Freud)

Answer 109

The internalization of the characteristics of the same-sex parent into one’s superego; represents the successful resolution of the Oedipus conflict

Question 110

Metacommunication

Answer 110

Every message has two levels - report and command; metacommunication is the implicit and often nonverbal message (command) commenting on the intent of a verbal statement (report). The metamessage may support the primary statement or contradict it (as in the case of a double-bind)

Question 111

Negative Reinforcement

Answer 111

In operant conditioning, the withdrawal of a stimulus following a behavior in order to increase the likelihood that the behavior will occur again

Question 112

Partialization

Answer 112

The method of temporarily considering a client’s interconnected problems as separate issues so that planning and doing the work toward resolving them can be more manageable, After a client’s problems have been partialized, the social worker and client will ordinarily first deal with those that need immediate attention

Question 113

Prescribing the Symptom

Answer 113

One of the original paradoxical interventions. It forces a patient to either give up the symptom or admit that it is under voluntary control. The prescription of the symptom - for example, telling an overprotective mother to take better care of her child - is thought to create the possibility of unbalancing the family situation, which would make the family more available for change

Question 114

Punishment

Answer 114

In operant conditioning, a method used to decrease a behavior by applying or withdrawing a stimulus following the behavior. A major disadvantage of punishment is that it suppresses rather than eliminates a behavior

Question 115

Reframing

Answer 115

A technique used to help clients change the negative meaning they give to an event, behavior, or life experience through gently persuading them that it can be viewed in a different and more positive light. For example, the social worker may offer a new perspective, encourage a client to come up with a new perspective, or redefine a problem behavior as a positive behavior that has been taken to an extreme

Question 116

Scapegoating

Answer 116

The process by which a family designates a member to be the object of displaced conflict or criticism. This family member is typically the identified patient. Commonly a child may become depressed or engage in delinquent behavior as a way of acting out stress in his parents’ marriage

Question 117

Self-Instructural Training

Answer 117

A cognitive-behavioral technique in which the individual learns to modify maladaptive thoughts and behaviors through the use of covert self-statements. It was originally developed as a way to help impulsive and hyperactive children slow down their behaviors and guide themselves through academic and other types of tasks

Question 118

Structural Social Work

Answer 118

Social work model that views the ineffectiveness of social situation as responsible for an individual’s problems and attempts to help individuals change social circumstances that restrict their functioning. May involve linking clients with resources, changing social structures, etc.

Question 119

Systematic Desensitization

Answer 119

A classical conditioning procedure based on counterconditioning (reciprocal inhibition). It involves pairing hierarchically-arranged anxiety-evoking stimuli with relaxation in order to eliminate the anxiety response

Question 120

Triangling

Answer 120

The process in which a third person is introduced into a dyadic relationship to balance either excessive intimacy or distance and, thereby, provide stability in the system. Associated with the work of Bowen

Question 121

Boundaries (Structural Family Therapy)

Answer 121

The barriers between family members, between subsystems, and between the family and the environment that determine how much contact is permitted. For structural family therapist, family dysfunction is related to boundary problems - i.e., boundaries that are overly rigid (disengaged) or overly permeable (enmeshed)

Question 122

Classical (Respondent) Conditioning

Answer 122

In classical conditioning, a neutral (conditioned) stimulus is repeatedly paired with an unconditional stimulus so that the neutral stimulus alone eventually elicits the response that is naturally produced by the unconditioned stimulus. In Pavlov’s original studies, the meat powder was the unconditioned stimulus (US) and salivation was the unconditioned response (UR). A tone was the conditioned stimulus (CS). As the result of pairing the tone with the meat powder, the tone eventually elicited salivation - the conditioned response (CR)

Question 123

Conjoint Family Therapy

Answer 123

Treatment format in which a social worker (or other therapist) treats a family or couple by meeting with the family members or partners together for regular sessions. Sometimes, conjoint therapy is provided by a team of therapists rather than by only a single therapist

Question 124

Dialectical Behavior Therapy

Answer 124

Linehan’s (1987) dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) was designed as a treatment for borderline personality disorder and incorporates three strategies; (a) group skills training to help clients regulate their emotions and improve their social and coping skills; (b) individual outpatient therapy to strengthen clients’ motivation and newly-acquired skills; and (c) telephone consultations to provide additional support and between-sessions coaching. Research has confirmed that it reduces premature termination from therapy, psychiatric hospitalizations, and parasuicidal behaviors

Question 125

Empirically-Based Practice

Answer 125

Social work intervention that uses research for practice and problem-solving. The social worker collects data to monitor interventions, makes note of problems, methods, and outcomes in terms that can be measured, and assesses the effectiveness of the interventions used. Methods for empirically assessing interventions are integrated into the social worker’s practice and the results are used to guide his interventions. Whereas traditional social work applies existing theory to practice, empirically-based social work generates theories through conclusions that are based on observed empirical relationships

Question 126

Facilitative Conditions (Rogers)

Answer 126

For person-centered therapists, the three core conditions - empathy, genuineness (congruence), and unconditional positive regard - that must be provided to a client in therapy so that he can be steered back onto the path toward growth and self-actualization

Question 127

Field Theory (Lewin)

Answer 127

Lewin’s theory of human behavior that describes is as a product of interdependent factors in the person and his physical and social environment

Question 128

Genogram

Answer 128

An assessment tool used to obtain and record information about a client’s family patterns and history. Provides a schematic diagram of the family system describing at least three generations of family relationships, geographical locations, and significant life events

Question 129

Interpretation (Interpretive Response)

Answer 129

An explanatory statement that responds to something about a client’s thinking or behavior that the client is not aware of with the goal of increasing the client’s self-understanding and understanding of the problem, fostering his insight, and/or helping him make new connections. This helps the client view a problem from a different perspective, which can open the door to new solutions. An interpretive response includes not only what a client has verbalized but also an inference the social worker has drawn from implicit parts of the client’s message

Question 130

Mimesis

Answer 130

Literally means imitation. A family therapist uses mimesis to accommodate to a family’s style, tempo, and affective range; he joins the family by imitating the style of content of its communication. Like other methods that allow the therapist to join a family, mimesis establishes a common base with the family from which the therapist may intervene. Associated with structural family therapy

Question 131

Norms (Groups)

Answer 131

The standard rules of conduct used by groups to maintain uniformity of behavior among group members. Norms may be formal (codified or written) or informal (unwritten but “understood” by group members) Norms do not govern all aspects of behavior, only those considered by the group to be important for effective group functioning. In addition, norms usually apply to behavior not to personal feelings and thoughts

Question 132

Pleasure Principle

Answer 132

According to Freud, the function of the id that reduces tension by gratification of instinctual needs without regard for logic, reality or morality

Question 133

Pseudohostility

Answer 133

Superficial bickering in a family that serves to blur both underlying issues of intimacy and affection that are anxiety producing and destructive elements in family interaction. Maintains the status-quo of vulnerable relationships in a mixed form.

Question 134

Reaction Formation

Answer 134

A defense mechanism in which a person avoids an anxiety-evoking instinct by actively expressing its opposite

Question 135

Repression

Answer 135

A defense mechanism. Occurs when the id’s drives and needs are excluded from conscious awareness by maintaining them in the unconscious. Considered the most “basic” defense mechanism because it is also the goal of all other defense mechanisms and the foundation of all neuroses

Question 136

Second Order Change

Answer 136

Basic changes in the structure and functioning of a system that alter its fundamental organization. A symptomatic family can be said to undergo second order change when a therapeutic intervention fundamentally disrupts the pattern of symptomatic interaction so that it ceases

Question 137

Social Group Work

Answer 137

Method of social work intervention involving small numbers of people with common interests or problems who meet regularly and engage in activities designed to achieve mutual goals. Unlike in group psychotherapy, the group’s goals do not necessarily include the treatment of emotional problems. Goals may include information exchange, skill development, values clarification, etc. Techniques usually include discussion and may also include education, recreational activities, art etc.

Question 138

Summarization

Answer 138

A verbal message from a social worker that ties together functionally related elements that occur at different times in the helping process

Question 139

Thinning versus Fading

Answer 139

Thinning refers to the process of reducing the proportion of reinforcements. Fading refers to the gradual removal of prompts

Question 140

Universalization

Answer 140

A form of reassurance that involves explaining to the client that his thoughts, feelings, or behavior are similar to those of other people in similar circumstances. The purpose is to counteract the client’s perception that his feelings or behaviors are strange or abnormal

Question 141

Career Counseling

Answer 141

The provision of counsel, support information, and linkage of resources to individuals deciding on a career or wishing to make changes in their current employment. Offers individuals help in recognizing their strengths and weaknesses and gives information about available opportunities. Is offered by social workers, personnel and guidance counselors, and other professionals

Question 142

Classical Extinction

Answer 142

The gradual elimination of a classically conditioned response by repeatedly presenting the conditioned stimulus without the unconditioned stimulus. Often, an extinguished response shows spontaneous recovery (i.e., it recurs following extinction)

Question 143

Contingency Contract

Answer 143

A type of contingency management that involves a formal written agreement between two or more people (e.g., between therapist and client, parent and child, teacher and students) that clearly defines the behaviors that are to be modified and the rewards and punishments that will follow performance of those behaviors. Behavioral change may be required by one or all parties to the contract

Question 144

Differentiation (of Self)

Answer 144

For extended family systems (Bowenian) therapists, the seperation of an individual’s intellectual and emotional functioning from that of his family members. Allows the individual to resist being overwhelmed by the family’s emotional states

Question 145

Empty Chair Technique

Answer 145

(A.K.A. Double-chair technique) A technique used to help clients understand their feelings about themselves or a significant other. Is useful for clarifying issues involved in an interpersonal conflict so that clients can view the conflict in a different light and gain insight into the reasons underlying their own behavior. Using the technique involves placing an empty chair opposite the client, asking the client to explain to the chair (which represents the other person or the situation) his perceptions and/or feelings, and then asking the client to sit on the chair (to assume the role of the other person or the situation) and respond to what was just said. The social worker uses interviewing skills to explore the dialogue as it develops

Question 146

Fading

Answer 146

Fading refers to (a) the gradual withdrawal of prompts when teaching a new response and (b) a procedure used to eliminate an inappropriate stimulus-response connection by gradually replacing the inappropriate stimulus with appropriate stimuli so that the response becomes associated with the latter

Question 147

First Order Change

Answer 147

Changes in a system that are superficial and leave unaltered the fundamental organization of the system. Changes may look dramatic, but the system itself remains the same in terms of process and dynamics. In therapy, a family can be said to undergo first order change whenever it adapts but does not cease its symptomatic functioning. The family may previously have been symptomatic in “that” way but now it is symptomatic in “this” way

Question 148

Gestalt Therapy

Answer 148

A humanistic therapeutic technique based on the concepts of Gestalt psychology (“the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”) Gestalt therapy adopts a here-and-now approach, views “awareness” as the primary goal of treatment, and defines neurosis as a “growth disorder” reflecting certain “boundary disturbances” (e.g., introjection) and involving an abandonment of the self for the self image

Question 149

Introjection

Answer 149

A defense mechanism. Involves ascribing the thoughts and behaviors of others to oneself to better control one’s affective responses to those thoughts and behaviors. Typically operative at a very early age

Question 150

Mobilizer

Answer 150

A role of social workers. As a mobilizer, a social worker identifies and brings together community members and resources and makes them responsive to unmet community needs. The goal may be to match resources to needs in the community, to make services more accessible to residents who need them, or to initiate and develop services to meet needs that previously have been unmet. This role applies in communities only

Question 151

Open Group (Open-Ended Group)

Answer 151

Therapy group in which members join and leave the group at different times. Also identified as a group without a pre-set number of sessions or ending date

Question 152

Positive Feedback

Answer 152

A key feature of cybernetics is its concept of the feedback loop through which a system receives information. A positive feedback loop amplifies deviation or change and therapy disrupts the system

Question 153

Pseudomutuality

Answer 153

A pretense of family harmony that masks both underlying splits and deeper affections and frustrates further examination and exploration - individuals in the family are absorbed in fitting together at the expense of differentiating their personal identities. Family members view individuation and any change of role structures as threatening to the family structure

Question 154

Reality Principle

Answer 154

According to Freud, the ego function that gratifies id needs in a manner consistent with the realistic demands of the environment

Question 155

Resistance (Psychoanalysis)

Answer 155

The client’s reluctance to bring into conscious awareness repressed, threatening unconscious material. May be manifested as missed appointments, silence during free association, or hostility toward the therapist. Interpretation of a client’s resistance leads to insight

Question 156

Seeking Concreteness

Answer 156

Interview technique used to determine the specific meaning of vague words that a client has used or to elicit specific information that might not otherwise be revealed. Having a client define or explain certain words helps the social worker understand the problem and prevents the worker from making assumptions

Question 157

Solution-Focused Therapy

Answer 157

Solution-focused therapists believe that understanding the etiology or attributes of problem (maladaptive) behavior is irrelevant and focus, instead, on solutions to problems. In therapy, the client is viewed as the “expert”, while the therapist acts as a consultant/collaborator who poses questions designed to assist the client in recognizing and using his strengths and resources to achieve specific goals (e.g., the miracle question, exception questions, scaling questions)

Question 158

Superego

Answer 158

For Freud, the structure of the psyche that represents society’s standards of right and wrong (the conscience) and the individual’s own aims and aspirations (ego ideal). Develops at age 4 or 5 years, primarily as the result of identification with one’s parents

Question 159

Time-out

Answer 159

A form of negative punishment in which the individual is removed from all opportunities for reinforcement for a prespecified period of time following a misbehavior in order to decrease the occurrence of that behavior.

Question 160

Ventilation Procedures

Answer 160

Techniques used to assist clients to identify and appropriately express their feelings (e.g., techniques that encourage verbalization). Effective for establishing a foundation for self-exploration and rational discussion in work with a client because, once verbalized, a client’s emotions become more accessible to support and reassurance from the social worker