MFT Practice1 fall 2012

Question 1

Black Box Hypothesis

Answer 1

the idea is it is not necessary to know what’s occurring inside of any part of the system (individual). The system has a life of its own…independent of the parts (other people). The parts (the group/family) action is independent of what’s occurring. Therefore, members of the family are unimportant to the extend that the therapist employs the Black Box Hypothesis. The individual psychology of family members is not relevant. i.e., the Social Security Administration….it’s the system/organization that’s unpleasant….not it’s individual members

Question 2

Cybernetics

Answer 2

a model of feedback mechanisms
that systems regulate by getting feedback from the outside world. i.e., information. These self-regulating systems then use the feedback to maintain their stability. i.e., a thermostat that regulates itself to maintain its steady temperature.

Question 3

Positive Feedback Loop

Answer 3

a process in which the effects of a disturbance on a system confirms and reinforces the direction a system is taking. It is this process that tends to cause continued system instability. i.e., a skidding car that made worse by a person turning the wheel the wrong making the skidding worse. inputs are added that make the system become further out of balance.

Question 4

Negative Feedback Loop

Answer 4

the process by which a system self-corrects due to the effects of fluctuations in order to maintain stability by getting itself back on course.

Question 5

Homeostasis

Answer 5

the self-regulation process that keeps systems in a state of dynamic balance.

Question 6

Social Constructions

Answer 6

relating to our world on the basis of our own interpretations as those interpretations are shaped by the social context in which we live. i.e., we absorb attitudes and opinions from such influences as TV and work that we carry into our families.

Question 7

Insecure Attachments

Answer 7

1. Anxious attachment: a disorder in which there is a clingy fear of separation, knowing that the end is coming soon. for example: insecurity about emotional attachment to another person.

Question 8

Insecure Attachments

Answer 8

2. Avoidance Attachment: a defense against attachment. In this disorder, the person doesn’t seem to need others at all. For example, a child consistently uninterested in their parents. the child doesn’t mold/cling themselves to the caregiver.

Question 9

Insecure Attachments

Answer 9

3. Ambivalent Attachment: a disorder in which a person alternates between anxious and avoidance attachments.

Question 10

Collective Unconscious

Answer 10

a set of knowledge beliefs and experiences shared by all humans.

Question 11

Archetypes

Answer 11

Patterns of common elements of human experience that exist in the collective unconscious. They are forms that don’t have particular content. i.e., the feminine (anima) and masculine (animus) principles. Other archetypes: Puer/Puella….the eternal boy/the eternal girl.

Question 12

Differentiation of Self

Answer 12

not negatively reacting emotionally to pressures, internal or external. It is the ability to be flexible and act wisely, even in the face of anxiety.

Question 13

Genogram

Answer 13

a diagram listing family members and their relationships to one another. It also includes a depiction of a family’s history of relationship conflicts, cutoffs, and triangles.

Question 14

Triangles

Answer 14

two-party relationships in which a third person is included in response to anxiety stemming from unresolved conflict(s) of the two-party individuals. By shifting the focus to a third person, anxiety is diminished because it is spread throughout the three-party relationship. However, the source of the anxiety is not properly addressed. i.e., a wife upset with her husband’s distance may increase her involvement with one of the children. What makes this a triangle is diverting energy that might otherwise go into resolution of unresolved issues of the two-party relationship.

Question 15

Family Projection Process/ Multigenerational Transmission

Answer 15

the primary way parents transmit their emotional problems to a child(s). It is this projection process in the family that is a major influence on the child’s/children’s ability to adapt to other factors which can then increase their vulnerability to clinical symptoms. Multigenerational Transmission is repetitive projection process to future generations. Examples: the more a mother focuses her anxiety on a child, the more the child’s functioning is stunted. When the child becomes an adult and repeats this pattern with its child(s), then there is multigenerational transmission.

Question 16

Sibling Position

Answer 16

The belief that children develop personality characteristics based on their position in the family.

Question 17

Emotional Cutoff

Answer 17

how people manage their unresolved emotional issues with parents, siblings, and other family members by reducing or totally cutting off emotional contact with them. i.e., people moving away from their families and rarely going home, or it can be reduced by people staying in physical contact with their families but avoiding sensitive issues.

Question 18

Process vs Content

Answer 18

Process focuses on how people talk, whereas content focuses on what people talk about. i.e., they way in which a family attempts to resolve a problem vs what the problem is.