Deck 14: Family Systems Therapy

Question 1

is based on the subjective descriptions that family members use to define themselves and the interactions that occur in everyday life.

A) Problem solution
B) Family directive
C) Assessment
D) Reframing

Answer 1

C

Question 2

We create, maintain, and live by often that we hope will keep the family and each of its members) functional.

A) the use of bibliotherapy
B) differentiation of the self
C) agreed upon rules
D) unspoken rules and routines

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Adler introduced to our understanding of the family system or family constellation).

A) the power structure
B) cultural context
C) balance of leadership
D) phenomenology

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Family therapy perspectives call for a conceptual shift from evaluating individuals to focusing on:

A) system dynamics.
B) individual symptoms.
C) the identified client only.
D) an individual's reactions.

Question 5

In the assessment process, questions a family therapist might ask include all of the following, except:

A) What does each family member bring to the session?
B) How can I give voice to my own impulses and fantasies?
C) Who makes decisions? How are conflicts resolved or problems handled?
D) Are the parents effective leaders of the family, and is the process of leadership balanced or imbalanced?

Question 6

From the family systems perspective, symptoms are often viewed as:

A) an expression of a set of habits and patterns within a family.
B) evidence of psychopathology.
C) a sign of weakness.
D) a result of cognitive distortions.

Question 7

In structural-strategic family therapy, must occur in a family before an individual's symptoms can be reduced or eliminated.

A) solution-oriented changes
B) therapist directions
C) focus on the present
D) structural changes

Question 8

The concept of triangulation is most associated with:

A) Virginia Satir.
B) Murray Bowen.
C) Salvador Minuchin.
D) Rudolf Dreikurs.

Question 9

Which approach to family therapy suggests that a person's current family problems will not significantly change until relationship patterns in the family of origin are understood and directly challenged?

A) Bowenian family therapy
B) Human validation process model
C) Structural family therapy
D) Strategic family therapy

Question 10

Alfred Adler and Rudolf Dreikurs and their associates were the first known practitioners of family therapy, often using a model now called:

A) closed-forum family counselling.
B) closed-forum individual counselling.
C) open-forum family counselling.
D) open-forum individual counselling.

Question 11

What is the technique in family therapy that casts a new light on a problem and provides a different interpretation for a problematic situation?

A) Reorganisation
B) Family mapping
C) Restructuring
D) Reframing

Question 12

Satir's human validation process model emphasises:

A) family rules.
B) functional versus dysfunctional communication patterns.
C) family roles and triads.
D) communication and emotional experiencing.

Question 13

A major contribution of Bowen's theory is the notion of:

A) birth order as a determinant of personality.
B) differentiation of the self.
C) family rules and communication patterns.
D) spontaneity, creativity, and play as therapeutic factors in family therapy.

Question 14

A tool for collecting and organising key relationships in a three-generational extended family is a:

A) lifestyle assessment.
B) family sketch.
C) genogram.
D) projective test.

Question 15

The systems perspective implies:

A) individuals are autonomous and independent of their families.
B) the external environment is the most powerful influence on an individual's development.
C) individuals are best understood through the context of their role in their family.
D) systematic intervention is required to deconstruct an unhealthy family interaction pattern.

Question 16

When occurs, a ripple effect flows throughout the family system.

A) change
B) an argument
C) a negative behaviour
D) tradition

Question 17

Feminism, multiculturalism, and postmodern social constructionism have all entered the family therapy field. These models are more collaborative, treating clients as:

A) passive participants in their journey.
B) the experts in their own lives.
C) needing an expert.
D) an individual without the ability to make decisions.

Question 18

The techniques of joining, boundary setting, unbalancing, reframing, ordeals, enactments, and paradoxical interventions are most likely to be part of which approach to family therapy?

A) Bowenian family therapy
B) Adlerian family therapy
C) Structural-strategic family therapy
D) Strategic family therapy

Question 19

An integrative approach to the practice of family therapy includes guiding principles that help the therapist organise all of the following, except:

A) goals.
B) interactions.
C) observations.
D) medications.

Question 20

The one central principle agreed upon by family therapy practitioners, regardless of their particular approach, is that:

A) the client is connected to living systems.
B) family dysfunction is typically caused by the most dominant family member.
C) lack of differentiation is the primary cause of all family dysfunction.
D) the empty chair technique is the most effective technique.

Question 21

The therapy goals self-esteem and connection, and helping family members achieve congruent communication and interaction are most associated with which theory of family therapy?

A) Bowen's multigenerational family therapy
B) Satir's human validation process model
C) Dreikurs's experiential/symbolic family therapy
D) Minuchin's structural family therapy

Question 22

Structural family therapy includes all of the following goals except for bringing about structural change by:

A) modifying the family's transactional rules.
B) developing more appropriate boundaries.
C) reducing symptoms of dysfunction.
D) the therapist taking a not-knowing stance with a family.

Question 23

Which approach assumes that a family can best be understood when it is analysed from at least a three-generational perspective?

A) Bowenian family therapy
B) Human validation process model
C) Social constructionism
D) Strategic family therapy

Question 24

Abimbola is a Nigerian immigrant who has been separated from her family and friends for over a year since she came to South Africa with her husband. She spends her days taking care of their two young children while he goes to work, and feels increasingly depressed without her support system. It is likely that a family therapist who meets Abimbola would:

A) prescribe her antidepressant medication.
B) be very interested in how her depression affects others in the family and how it influences family process.
C) abandon using a systems approach, and treat her with cognitive behavioural methods.
D) be directive and tell her to convince her husband to go back to Nigeria so she will once again have family support.

Question 25

Which approach suggests that unresolved emotional reactivity to one's family must be addressed if one hopes to achieve a mature and unique personality?

A) Bowenian family therapy
B) Adlerian family therapy
C) Social constructionism
D) Strategic family therapy

Question 26

Therapists begin to form a relationship with clients from the moment of:

A) first contact.
B) complete trust.
C) family introductions.
D) engaging in deep conversation.

Question 27

A limitation of the family systems model is:

A) therapists all too often get lost in their consideration of the 'system'.
B) the systemic perspective can be overwhelming for the therapist.
C) family therapy is not well-suited to working with diverse clients.
D) an emphasis on family systems precludes a focus on emotions.

Question 28

The opposite of a differentiated self is experienced as:

A) emotional reactivity.
B) the integration of one's various parts.
C) movement toward self-actualisation.
D) being in tune with others.

Question 29

In working with a triangulated relationship, Bowen would be inclined to place primary emphasis on:

A) joining the family.
B) engaging in personal self-disclosure to build trust.
C) maintaining a stance of neutrality.
D) siding with one member involved in the triangle.

Question 30

Which approach would be most interested in the interactional patterns, or sequences, in the family?

A) Bowenian family therapy
B) Human validation process model
C) Structural-strategic family therapy
D) Social constructionism

Question 31

To prevent his parents from leaving the house, Musi throws temper tantrums. His parents have given in to his demands and never go out to dinner or to movies anymore. A structural-strategic therapist working with Musi and his parents will probably:

A) have them participate in an enactment during the therapy session.
B) explain the origins of Musi's temper tantrums with a genogram.
C) help Musi's parents to develop differentiated selves.
D) do a lifestyle assessment.

Question 32

The core of the model relied on the power of congruence to help family members communicate with emotional honesty.

A) multigenerational family therapy
B) strategic family therapy
C) social constructionist therapy
D) human validation process

Question 33

A couple directs the focus of their energy toward a problematic son as a way to avoid facing or dealing with their own conflicts. This is an example of:

A) enmeshment.
B) normal love.
C) displacement.
D) triangulation.

Question 34

By the late 1970s, the most used models in family systems therapy were:

A) behavioural approaches.
B) structural-strategic approaches.
C) the family process approach.
D) existential approaches.

Question 35

Techniques are more important to models that see the therapist-as-expert and in charge of making change happen. Collaborative approaches require:

A) planning.
B) individual techniques.
C) individual interventions.
D) isolation.

Question 36

To is to form a set of ideas about people, systems, and situations that focus meaning in a useful way.

A) blame
B) hypothesise
C) placate
D) be irrelevant

Question 37

Roger and his wife are experiencing tension in their relationship because he believes she is far too lenient with their children when they misbehave. This forces him to play the role of 'bad cop' as a parent, which makes him angry. A family therapist working with Roger and his family might:

A) help to modify the family's transactional rules and develop more appropriate boundaries.
B) refer Roger to individual therapy since he clearly needs to work through his unresolved issues that are causing him to feel so angry.
C) take Roger's side and educate his wife about appropriate disciplinary practices.
D) focus on getting the children to stop misbehaving so that Roger and his wife won't experience this tension.

Question 38

If we hope to work therapeutically with an individual, it is critical to consider him or her within the:

A) problematic system.
B) behavioural system.
C) individual system.
D) family system.

Question 39

Which of the following individuals is not associated with family therapy?

A) Alfred Adler
B) Rudolf Dreikurs
C) Fritz Perls
D) Salvador Minuchin

Question 40

Which of the following theorists emphasised the development of a nurturing triad?

A) Minuchin
B) Haley
C) Satir
D) Bowen

Question 41

Because Bowen's multigenerational approach looks at families from a three-generational perspective, the therapist is mainly interested in past happenings and does not pay much attention to present issues.

Question 42

Satir's human validation model focuses on functional versus dysfunctional communication in families.

Question 43

The focus of structural-strategic family therapy is on growth and resolving historical conflicts in a family rather than on dealing with present problems of a family.

Question 44

Structural-strategic family therapy has its foundation in behavioural theory.

Question 45

One of the key contributions of most systemic approaches is that neither the individual nor the family is blamed for a particular dysfunction.

Question 46

The process of differentiation occurs in most cultures, but it takes on a different shape due to cultural norms.

Question 47

Structural-strategic family therapists do not generally deal with the presenting problem; rather, they focus on the underlying symptom of a dysfunctional system.

Question 48

Some family therapists focus primarily on the nuclear family, which is based on Western notions, and this could clearly be a shortcoming in working with clients in extended families.

Question 49

Structural-strategic family therapy deals with boundaries.

Question 50

Minuchin's approach to therapy is focus more on insight, rather than taking action.

Question 51

Interventions used by the structural-strategic approaches include joining, boundary setting, unbalancing, and reframing.

Question 52

Family systems therapy represents a paradigm shift that is sometimes called 'the fourth force'.

Question 53

Minuchin's structural-strategic therapy is based on the notion that an individual's symptoms are best understood by looking at interactional patterns within a family, and that structural changes must occur in a family before an individual's symptoms can be resolved.

Question 54

Bowen's multigenerational approach stresses techniques more than it does theory.

Question 55

The cornerstone of Bowen's theory is differentiation of self.

Question 56

Structural-strategic family therapists limit their interventions to families alone.

Question 57

The goal of structural-strategic family therapy is to break down any hierarchical structure and replace it with equal relationships among all family members.

Question 58

Strategic therapists do not rely on therapy techniques to bring about change but instead give more stress to the therapist's relationship with a family.

Question 59

The goal of Bowen's multigenerational family therapy is to understand one's family of origin issues and to differentiate self within a system.

Question 60

The role of the family therapist involves being in charge of the session.

Question 61

Family systems therapy is represented by a variety of theories and approaches, all of which focus on the relational aspects of human problems.

Question 62

Understanding family process is almost always facilitated by 'how' questions.

Question 63

Assessment is not considered useful in the family systems perspective.

Question 64

Family systems therapy can be used when working with individual clients.

Question 65

There is a trend in the field of family therapy toward rejecting an integrative model of practice.

Question 66

Families are multilayered systems that both affect and are affected by the larger systems in which they are embedded.

Question 67

Minuchin and other structural family therapists initiated their work with wealthy suburban clients.

Question 68

Feminist, multicultural, and postmodern therapists are extremely aware of the power they have entering into already established systems, and they work to promote understanding through curiosity and interest rather than through formal assessments.

Question 69

Family therapists are wise to consider Western models of family functioning universal.

Question 70

Bowenian therapists function in ways to bring about change through action-oriented directives and paradoxical interventions.