Chapter 13– Postmodern Approaches
MULTIPLE-CHOICE TEST ITEMS
1. A solution-focused brief therapist believes: (p. 375-378)
a. The client is an expert on his or her own life.
b. The client is inherently competent.
c. The therapist is the expert on a client’s life.
d. both (a) and (b)
e. For change to occur, clients must first acquire insight into the cause of their problems.
2. The postmodern view incorporates all of the following concepts except for the notion that:
(p. 375)
a. reality is objectively defined.
b. reality is based on the use of language.
c. reality is socially constructed.
d. each individual experiences their own unique reality.
3. All of the following are ways narrative therapy differs from traditional therapy except for:
(p. 390)
a. viewing problems in a sociopolitical and cultural context.
b. assisting clients in developing an alternative life story.
c. accepting the premise that diagnosis is a basic prerequisite for effective treatment.
d. creating a therapeutic relationship that is collaborative.
e. recognition that clients know what is best for their life and are experts in their own life.
4. In the view of the postmodern therapist, the most essential element of therapy is: (p. 376)
a. assessment.
b. the collaborative therapeutic relationship.
c. diagnosis.
d. brief course of treatment.
e. skilled use of techniques.
5. All of the following are techniques used in solution-focused therapy except for: (p. 383-384)
a. using the reflecting team
b. scaling questions
c. the miracle question
d. formula first session task
e. exception questions
6. All of the following are characteristics shared by the postmodern and person-centered approaches
except: (p. 377)
a. the high value of the therapeutic relationship.
b. the belief that are capable of solving their problems.
c. the importance of using specific techniques in therapy.
d. the therapist’s sense of caring and respect for their client.
e. the importance of the client defining the goals for therapy.
7. All are true of solution-focused brief therapists except that they: (p. 378)
a. have little interest in a client exploring past problems.
b. focus on the client’s early childhood experiences.
c. believe that the cause of a problem is not necessarily related to its solution.
d. expect that two clients may have different solutions to the same problem.
e. both (a) and (b)
8. The positive orientation of solution focused brief therapy suggests that: (p. 378)
a. problem-focused clients often have deterministic attitudes that keep them stuck.
b. clients have the resolve to face life’s challenges.
c. the essence of therapy lies in creating hope and positive expectations for clients.
d. all of the above
e. all but (a)
9. The therapeutic process in solution-focused brief therapy involves: (p. 380)
a. the premise that to some degree clients already know the solutions to their problems.
b. asking clients about those times when their problems were not present or when the problems
were less severe.
c. believing that clients are the experts on their own lives.
d. trusting that solutions evolve out of therapeutic conversations and dialogues.
e. all of the above
10. Which of the following is false as it applies to the practice of solution-focused brief therapy?
(p. 382)
a. Individuals who come to therapy have the ability to effectively cope with their problems.
b. There are advantages to a positive focus on solutions and on the future.
c. Clients want to change, have the capacity to change, and are doing their best to make change
happen.
d. Using techniques in therapy is a way of discounting a client’s capacity to find his or her own
way.
11. Regarding multicultural counseling, narrative therapy has been found to be particularly
effective because: (p. 397)
a. it was founded in a sociocultural context.
b. it allows clients to tell their unique stories form their perspective.
c. defines mental health within a social, political and relational context.
d. all of the above
12. The role of the leader in solution focused therapy groups is not: (p. 386)
a. to set the tone of focusing on solutions.
b. to provide clients with simple solutions to their problems.
c. to create a setting where the client feels resourceful and capable.
d. to skillfully ask questions to guide clients to finding solutions to their problems.
e. to encourage clients to act in the manner they did when their problem was not present.
13. Which of these solution-focused therapy techniques involves asking clients to describe times in their
lives they were able to solve their problem or when their problem was less severe?
(p. 384)
a. pre-therapy change
b. the miracle question
c. exception questions
d. scaling
e. formula first session task
14. Solution-focused group therapy is: (p. 386-387)
a. designed to be brief.
b. focused on identifying problems members share in common.
c. applied effectively in school settings.
d. all of the above
e. both (a) and (c) are true
15. Which of the following statements about creating alternative stories is not true? (p. 395)
a. Constructing new stories goes hand in hand with deconstructing problem-saturated narratives.
b. The narrative therapist analyzes and interprets the meaning of a client’s story.
c. The therapist works with clients collaboratively by helping them construct more coherent and
comprehensive stories that they live by.
d. The development of alternative stories is an enactment of ultimate hope.
e. The narrative therapist listens for openings to new stories.
16. From a social constructionist perspective, change begins with: (p. 376)
a. deconstructing the power of cultural narratives.
b. understanding the roots of a problem.
c. the therapist’s skill in using confrontational techniques.
d. understanding and accepting objective reality.
17. Of the following, what is an interest that social constructionists tend to share? (p. 376)
a. helping clients better understand objective reality
b. using paradoxical techniques
c. using a genogram to teach families about conflicts
d. generating new meaning in the lives of individuals
18. The techniques of externalization and developing unique events are associated primarily with:
(p. 392)
a. solution-oriented therapy.
b. the linguistic approach.
c. the narrative approach.
d. the reflecting team.
19. Narrative therapists attempt to: (p. 390)
a. engage people in deconstructing problem-saturated stories.
b. discover preferred directions and new possibilities.
c. create new stories.
d. all of the above
e. none of the above
20. Narrative therapists pay attention to “sparkling events.” These are: (p. 393)
a. moments when the client feels exhilarated.
b. events that contradict problem-saturated narratives.
c. times when significant other give the client unconditional love.
d. events characterized by a striving to overcome barriers.
e. none of the above
21. Regarding empirical support for SFBT: (p. 402)
a. studies show promise for group treatment of domestic violence offenders.
b. well-controlled treatment outcome studies are lacking.
c. the approach is considered evidence-based.
d. both (a) and (b)
e. none of the above
22. A limitation of the postmodern approaches is: (p. 403)
a. therapists require extensive training in providing brief therapy.
b. inexperienced therapists may over rely on techniques and appear mechanistic.
c. the use of open-ended questioning.
d. its lack of applicability to group counseling.
23. Major contribution(s) of the postmodern approaches include: (p. 401)
a. the non-pathologizing stance.
b. the optimistic orientation.
c. the course of treatment is quite short compared to other approaches.
d. research on the approach is considered empirically generalizable.
e. all but (d)
24. The founder(s) of solution-focused brief therapy is (are): (p. 374)
a. Michael White and David Epston.
b. Insoo Kim Berg and Steve de Shazer.
c. Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck.
d. Donald Meichenbaum.
e. Albert Bandura.
25. The founder(s) of narrative therapy is (are): (p. 374)
a. Michael White and David Epston.
b. Insoo Kim Berg and Steve de Shazer.
c. Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck.
d. Donald Meichenbaum.
e. Albert Bandura.
ANSWER KEY FOR CHAPTER 13
MULTIPLE-CHOICE TEST QUESTIONS
TRUE/FALSE ITEMS
1. Narrative therapy has been effectively applied in school settings.
2. The postmodern philosophy suggests that reality and truth are objective and clearly defined.
3. The use of techniques is fundamental in narrative therapy.
4. Narrative therapy is not well-suited to multicultural counseling.
5. Narrative therapists pay significant attention to a client’s past as it helps them understand the origins
of client’s stories.
6. In solution-focused therapy, exceptions represent instances when a particular problem in a client’s life
was not prominent,
7. The solution-focused approach was originally designed as a brief model of psychotherapy.
8. The therapist “not–knowing” position is a key concept in both solution focused brief therapy and
narrative therapy.
9. In narrative therapy, the role of the client is to create, explore, and co-author his or her evolving story.
10. While there are few studies of SFBT, brief therapies in have been shown to be effective.
11. Solution-oriented therapy differs from both strategic and traditional models by eschewing the past in
favor of focusing on the future.
12. Assessment and therapy technique are more important than empathy to a social constructionist.
13. In postmodern thinking, language and the use of language in stories create meaning.
14. The linguistic approach stresses the expert role of the therapist in suggesting solutions to a family’s
problems.
15. The narrative approach is part of the social construction model.
16. According to feminist therapists, gender equality permeates most narratives about normal human
development.
17. Solution-focused therapists often use scaling questions.
18. Social constructionists differ from many early family therapists in believing that it is neither the
person nor the family that is the problem.
19. The narrative approach utilizes the technique of externalizing one’s problems.
20. In social constructionism, the therapist assumes the role of expert, rather than adopting a
collaborative or consultative stance.
ANSWER KEY FOR CHAPTER 13
TRUE–FALSE TEST QUESTIONS