Family Therapies and Group Therapies Flashcards
Milan systemic family therapists use circular questions to help family members:
A. recognize differences in perceptions that may be contributing to family problems.
B. externalize the current problem so that it can be perceived more objectively.
C. identify times when the family problem was not present.
D. identify and reflect on internal (unconscious) causes of problematic behaviors.
Answer A is correct. Circular questioning involves asking each family member the same question to identify differences in perceptions about events and relationships and uncover family communication patterns.
As defined by Bowen, the intrapersonal aspect of differentiation refers to a person’s ability to separate:
A. needs from desires.
B. the past from the present.
C. thinking from feeling.
D. him/herself from others.
Answer C is correct. The intrapersonal aspect of differentiation 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 family therapist describes a patient’s depression and anxiety as loneliness. The technique being used by this therapist is referred to as:
A. prescribing the symptom.
B. a therapeutic double-bind.
C. positioning.
D. reframing.
Answer D is correct. Reframing is used to help clients view a symptom from a different perspective that makes change seem more possible.
Anna, age 21, has just received a diagnosis of bulimia nervosa. Her therapist is a practitioner of strategic family therapy and, to reduce Anna’s binge-eating, he tells her that, on each day that she binges, she must set her alarm for 4 a.m. and get up and do 30 minutes of abdominal exercises. This intervention is an example of which of the following?
A. prescribing the symptom
B. an ordeal
C. reframing
D. an enactment
Answer B is correct. An ordeal is an unpleasant task that a client is asked to perform whenever he or she engages in the undesirable behavior.
Yalom and Leszcz’s (2005) third formative stage of group therapy is characterized by which of the following?
A. hostility toward the therapist.
B. advice giving and seeking.
C. the development of group cohesion.
D. concerns and anxiety about termination.
Answer C is correct. Yalom and Leszcz identify three formative stages of group therapy. Their third stage is characterized by the development of group cohesiveness which leads to greater self-disclosure in the group and increased concern when a member is absent from a session or drops out of therapy.
For practitioners of narrative family therapy, a unique outcome is best described as:
A. the dominant narrative.
B. a positive connotation.
C. an enactment.
D. an exceptional circumstance.
Answer D is correct. Unique outcomes are exceptions – i.e., experiences that are not predicted by or consistent with problem-saturated narratives and can be used to help develop alternative narratives.
Whenever the parents of 12-year-old Raymond argue, each parent tries to get Raymond to side with him or her. A structural family therapist would identify this as an example of which of the following?
A. stable coalition
B. detouring
C. unstable coalition
D. reframing
Answer C is correct. An unstable coalition is also known as triangulation and occurs when each parent demands that the child side with him or her against the other parent.
A primary goal of Satir’s conjoint family therapy is to:
A. foster congruent communication between family members.
B. increase the differentiation of each family member.
C. create clear boundaries between family members.
D. heighten and restructure the emotional experiences of family members.
Answer A is correct. Satir described four dysfunctional and one functional communication style. Congruent communication is the functional style, and a goal of therapy is to increase congruent communication between family members. Answer B is a goal of Bowen’s extended family systems therapy. Answer C is a goal of Minuchin’s structural family therapy. Answer D is a goal of emotionally focused therapy.
As described by cybernetic theory, a negative feedback loop:
A. helps a system maintain or restore a state of stability.
B. causes a disruption in a system’s status quo.
C. always produces disastrous consequences for the system.
D. is characterized by complementary communication patterns.
Answer A is correct. Negative feedback loops resist change and help a system restore or maintain stability when its stability is disrupted by an internal or external event.
Emotionally focused therapy (EFT) was originally developed as an intervention for:
A. at-risk adolescents and their families.
B. individuals with bipolar disorder.
C. single parents.
D. distressed couples.
Answer D is correct. EFT was originally developed and evaluated in the 1980s by Johnson and Greenberg as an approach for working with emotionally distressed couples and was subsequently applied to families and individuals.
