IMPORTANT NOTICE:
SECURE TEST BANK
Mastering Competencies in Family Therapy
Chapter 11: Evidence-Based Treatments in Couple and Family Therapy
1. Which of the following statements about evidence-based treatments is TRUE?
a. In the age of evidence, we do not need theory anymore.
b. Evidence-based treatments are rigid and robotic.
c. Therapists can bring their own personal style and philosophy to the evidence-
base.
d. Cognitive-behavioral therapy is the only evidence-based treatment.
2. Emotion focused therapy, created by Sue Johnson and Les Greenberg, uses an integration
of all of the following theories EXCEPT?
a. Attachment theory
b. Experiential theory
c. Systems theory
d. Intergenerational theory
3. Emotion focused therapy is a new paradigm for understanding adult love relationships.
Which of the following statements best reflect that premise?
a. Humans have the need for secure attachment relationships across the lifespan, not
just in infancy and childhood.
b. Humans have the need for secure attachment relationships especially and most
importantly in infancy and childhood.
c. Humans have the need for secure attachment relationships especially and most
importantly in adolescence.
d. Humans have the need for secure attachment relationships across adulthood.
4. There are a finite number of attachment styles. When a secure relationship no longer feels
secure, a person will use one of three typical patterns to defend against the threat to their
secure relationship. Which of the following is NOT an insecure attachment style?
a. Anxious
b. Avoidant
c. Awkward
d. All of the above are insecure attachment styles
5. The EFT therapy process is clearly structured in three stages that include which of the
following?
a. De-escalation of negative cycles; change interactional patterns and creating
engagement; consolidation and integration
b. Creation and maintenance of alliance; assessing and formulating emotion;
restructuring interactions
c. Identifying the negative interaction cycle; restructuring interactions; creation of
an alliance
d. De-escalation of negative cycles; creation of alliances; reframing engagement
6. Emotionally focused therapy focuses on emotions; therefore, the therapist’s ability to
deeply __________ and attune is essential — without it, the therapy will not work.
a. understand
b. critique
c. empathize
d. sympathize
7. In emotion focused therapy, when does the therapist use self-disclosure?
a. To build rapport with the couple
b. Minimally, to maintain focus on the couple
c. Every session, to intensify the emotions in therapy
d. It is not used in emotion focused therapy
8. According to Johnson, which of the following is the therapist’s role in emotion focused
therapy?
a. Coach
b. “Wise creator of insight”
c. Collaborator
d. Strategist
9. Which of the following best describes a primary emotion?
a. They are emotions about the situation.
b. They are initial reactions in a given situation.
c. They allow the person to avoid vulnerability.
d. They are typically the only conscious emotion.
10. Primary emotions refer to emotions that stem from attachment fears and needs. What do
secondary emotions stem from?
a. The individuals own insecurities
b. Unmet attachment needs such as anger, frustration and withdrawal
c. The innate need of all individuals to feel a sense of belonging
d. Poor attachment in previous influential relationships such as parents or siblings
11. Which of the following would be considered a secondary emotion?
a. Anger
b. Helplessness
c. Frustration
d. Withdrawal
12. According to Johnson, couples typically present with one of four basic pursue/withdraw
patterns. They include all of the following EXCEPT?
a. Pursue/withdraw
b. Withdraw/withdraw
c. Withdraw/attack
d. Attack/attack
13. Noreen is an EFT therapist working with a couple in therapy. Jo, one member of the
couple, describes her relationship with her wife like this: “All I want is some help around
the house. I ask Katie almost everyday, several times a day to just help out a little — you
know, to put a load of laundry in the wash, to put the dishes in the dishwasher, to watch a
show with me on television. But she never does any of those things! In fact, she often
doesn’t come home until dinnertime. When I ask her to help me out or to join me for a
show, she just goes upstairs to read or into the other room to play on her computer. I feel
like I have to beg her for any kind of connection or working together. I feel frustrated
with our relationship all the time.” What kind of interaction cycle could this couple be in?
a. Pursue/withdraw
b. Withdraw/withdraw
c. Withdraw/attack
d. Attack/attack
14. When an EFT therapist works with a couple, it is important for them to assess which
relationships in each person’s attachment history?
a. Relationships with parents or caregivers
b. Intimate relationships in adolescence
c. Intimate relationships in adulthood
d. All of the above
15. When an EFT therapist is in the assessment phase, they discover instances in which one
partner was in a moment of high need or vulnerability and the other partner failed to offer
the needed support or nurturance. The therapist might identify this as which of the
following?
a. A punch in the face
b. An attachment injury
c. A normal couple process
d. An impasse in therapy
16. While EFT is an evidence-based practice, it is not for all couples or families. Which of
the following would be a contraindication for EFT?
a. When a couple or family has the same agenda for the relationship
b. When a couple will do anything to prevent separation or divorce
c. When a couple is in a non-abusive relationship
d. When one or both members of the couple have an untreated addiction
17. The overarching goals of EFT are straightforward and focused, providing couple
therapists with consistent direction during what is often a tumultuous adventure. Which
of the following is NOT a goal of EFT?
a. Decrease expression of attachment needs.
b. Create secure attachment for both partners.
c. Develop new interaction patterns that nurture and support each partner.
d. Increase direct expression of emotions.
18. In therapy, a therapist says, “On the surface, you look angry and sure of yourself when
you are arguing with him. Inside, something very different seems like it might be going
on. Inside, it seems you feel more like a sad and lonely little girl who isn’t too sure of
herself … sure if she is good enough or worthy of his love. Is that what is going on
here?” What intervention might the therapist be doing?
a. Empathetic conjecture and interpretation
b. Evocative responding: reflections and questions
c. Tracking interaction patterns and cycles
d. Reflecting primary and secondary emotions
19. When an EFT therapist is heightening in therapy, what is he or she doing?
a. Highlighting key emotions
b. Encouraging key emotions
c. Discouraging key emotions
d. Enacting key emotions
20. Softening of emotions in EFT is used to create emotional bonding, change interactional
positions, and redefine the relationship as safe and connected. How is this accomplished
with couples in therapy?
a. A previously blaming, critical partner asks a newly accessible partner to meet
his/her attachment needs and longings from a position of emotional vulnerability.
b. The more critical partner softens his/her stance and words, allowing the more
vulnerable or anxious partner to reduce emotional reactivity and defensiveness.
c. Partners learn to express their underlying attachment-based fears, including hurt
and disappointment, when discussing conflict areas.
d. All of the above.
21. Functional family therapy is an empirically-validated family therapy treatment for
working with which type of presenting problems?
a. Post traumatic stress disorder
b. Conduct disorder and delinquency
c. Major depressive disorder
d. Childhood disintegrative disorder
22. In FFT, all behavior is viewed as adaptive to serve a particular __________ in the
system.
a. function
b. problem
c. solution
d. focus
23. FFT uses a multisystemic focus. What does this mean?
a. The therapy process addresses individuals only while talking about multiple
systems.
b. The therapy process addresses many family systems in one setting.
c. The therapy process addresses individual, family, peer, and community system
dynamics.
d. The therapy process addresses multiple systems in a group setting.
24. During the early phases of treatment for FFT, the therapist must work to do which of the
following?
a. To transfer blame from the problem child to other systems
b. To transfer blame from the problem child to the parent or responsible caregiver
c. To reduce the child’s’ tendencies to blame the problem on negative parent
characteristics
d. To reduce parents’ tendencies to blame the problem on negative child
characteristics
25. During the middle phases of FFT, the focus tends to be on which of the following?
a. Sibling training
b. Parent training
c. Extended family training
d. Community training
26. In FFT, it is important for family members to see which of the following in order for
therapy to be successful?
a. The therapist has all the answers.
b. Their child is the source of the problem.
c. They must find someone to blame.
d. The family is part of the solution.
27. Many of the youth and families in FFT are mandated clients who may have had painful
and difficult experiences with previous clinical treatment, in school, or with the justice
department. Therefore, it is important for FFT therapists to have what kind of therapeutic
stance with clients?
a. One of power and leadership
b. One of expertise and direction
c. One of respect and collaboration
d. One of knowing and solution
28. What is the key question in functional family therapy?
a. What function does the family serve?
b. What function does the child serve?
c. What function does the symptom serve?
d. What function does the system serve?
29. FFT therapists are quick to identify the various known risk and protective factors for
troubled youth. Which of the following would NOT be considered a protective factor?
a. Strong bond between children and family
b. Parental involvement in child’s life
c. Supportive parenting that meets financial, emotional, cognitive, and social needs
of child
d. Strict and consistent enforcement of discipline
30. When assessing families, FFT therapists carefully attend to which of the following
aspects of the family?
a. Cultural background
b. Ethnic and religious norms
c. Socioeconomic context
d. All of the above
31. In FFT, the therapist works with the family to get which of the following type of problem
description?
a. A blame-focused problem understanding
b. A family-focused problem understanding
c. A child-focused problem understanding
d. A community-focused problem understanding
32. Functional family therapists help parents be more effective based on current scientific
literature on parenting behaviors associated with risk factors and protective factors for
youth behavior problems. FFT focuses on which three areas when working with parents?
a. Regularly revising expectations and rules; active monitoring and supervision;
consistent and enforcement of behavioral contingencies
b. Regularly revising expectations and rules; child self-monitoring and self-
supervision; forced behavioral contingencies
c. Clear expectations and rules; active monitoring and supervision; consistent and
enforcement of behavioral contingencies
d. Clear expectations and rules; child self-monitoring and self-supervision;
consistent and enforcement of behavioral contingencies
33. A functional family therapist is working with a family who often yells. Although the
therapist believes yelling is unhealthy, he first assesses how the yelling functions in the
family — how it creates closeness and distance and determines hierarchy — before
determining whether the yelling needs to change in the family. What is this therapist
doing?
a. Reframing the problem
b. Matching to fit the family
c. Communication skill building
d. Conflict management