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Chapter 14- Family Systems Therapy
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MULTIPLE-CHOICE TEST ITEMS
1. Who was the first person of the modern era to do family therapy?
a. Adler
b. Minuchin
c. Bowen
d. Satir
e. Haley
2. Which family therapist made use of innovative interventions such as metaphor, reframing, rules for
interaction, parts party, family reconstructions, family sculpting, and family maps?
a. Bowen
b. Minuchin
c. Satir
d. Whitaker
e. Haley
3. Which of the following statements about strategic family therapy is not true?
a. Therapy is brief, process-focused, and solution-oriented.
b. Change results when the family follows the therapist’s directions and change transactions.
c. The focus is on solving problems in the present.
d. The therapist designs strategies for change.
e. Presenting problems are viewed as being symptomatic of a dysfunction within the system.
4. Alfred Adler was the first to notice that the development of children within family constellations was
heavily influenced by:
a. the power structure within the family.
b. cultural context in which a family resides.
c. balance of leadership between parents.
d. jealousy and rivalry among the children.
e. birth order.
5. Postmodern thought has contributed to family therapy by:
a. minimizing the role of assessment.
b. promoting the therapist’s view of clients as the experts on their own lives.
c. developing an individual therapy application of the family systems approach.
d. introducing the concept of triangulation.
e. promoting the therapist’s role as being directive.
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6. Who was the person who refined Adler’s concepts into a typology of mistaken goals and an organized
approach to family therapy?
a. Virginia Satir
b. Jay Haley
c. Cloe Madanes
d. Carl Whitaker
e. Rudolf Dreikurs
7. The concept of triangulation is most associated with:
a. Virginia Satir.
b. Murray Bowen.
c. Salvador Minuchin.
d. Carl Whitaker.
e. Rudolf Dreikurs.
8. 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.
e. blocked energy.
9. 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. reorganization
b. family mapping
c. restructuring
d. reframing
e. joining
10. 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.
11. 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.
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12. Which is(are) a key role (or roles) of most family therapists?
a. teacher
b. model
c. coach
d. consultant
e. all of these
13. Which of the following techniques is a strategic family therapist least likely to use?
a. asking about attempted solutions to a problem
b. directives
c. family sculpting
d. reframing
e. paradoxical interventions
14. A tool for collecting and organizing key relationships in a three-generational extended family is a:
a. lifestyle assessment.
b. family sketch.
c. genogram.
d. projective test.
e. power analysis.
15. Which of the following roles and functions would be least interesting to a structural family therapist?
a. joining the family in a position of leadership
b. giving voice to the therapist’s own impulses and fantasies
c. mapping the underlying structure of a family
d. intervening in ways designed to transform an ineffective structure of a family
e. being a stage director
16. Which of the following is least associated with Satir’s human validation process model?
a. family rules
b. functional versus dysfunctional communication patterns
c. family roles and triads
d. storied lives and narratives
e. defensive stances in coping with stress
17. 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.
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e. none of these
18. Which approach to family therapy contends that one’s current family problems will not significantly
change until relationship patterns in one’s 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
19. The techniques of joining, accommodating, unbalancing, tracking, and boundary making are most
likely to be part of which approach to family therapy?
a. Bowenian family therapy
b. Adlerian family therapy
c. structural family therapy
d. strategic family therapy
e. experiential/symbolic family therapy
20. A major contribution of Whitaker’s approach to family therapy is:
a. birth order as a determinant of personality.
b. differentiation of the self.
c. genogram work.
d. spontaneity, creativity, and play as therapeutic factors in family therapy.
e. the use of bibliotherapy as an adjunct to treatment.
21. 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.
22. ____________________ views the counselor and therapist as an observer who is outside of the
system, can assess what is going on, and can promote change—all without ever becoming part of
the system.
a. First-order cybernetics
b. Second-order cybernetics
c. Third-order cybernetics
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d. Fourth-order cybernetics
23. Chun Hei is a Korean immigrant who has been separated from her family and friends for over
a year since she came to the U.S. 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 Chun Hei:
a. would prescribe her antidepressant medication.
b. would be very interested in how her depression affects others in the family and how it
influences family process.
c. would abandon using a systems approach, and treat her with cognitive behavioral methods.
d. would be directive and tell her to convince her husband to go back to Korea so she will once
again have family support.
24. Which approach assumes that a family can best be understood when it is analyzed from at least a three-
generational perspective?
a. Bowenian family therapy
b. human validation process model
c. social constructionism
d. strategic family therapy
e. experiential/symbolic family therapy
25. Which approach asserts that emotional fusion 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
e. solution-oriented therapy
26. 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.
e. diffusion.
27. 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.
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c. maintaining a stance of neutrality.
d. siding with one member involved in the triangle.
e. identifying behavioral goals to guide the therapy.
28. 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. creating an effective hierarchical structure.
d. reducing symptoms of dysfunction.
e. the therapist taking a not-knowing stance with a family.
29. The opposite of a differentiated self is experienced as:
a. emotional reactivity.
b. the integration of one’s various parts.
c. movement toward self-actualization.
d. attunement with others.
30. To prevent his parents from leaving the house, Miguel 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 Miguel and his parents will most likely:
a. have them participate in an enactment during the therapy session.
b. explain with a genogram the origins of Miguel’s temper tantrums.
c. help Miguel’s parents to develop differentiated selves.
d. do a lifestyle assessment.
31. Which of the following individuals is not associated with family therapy?
a. Alfred Adler
b. Cloe Madanes
c. Albert Ellis
d. Salvador Minuchin
e. Carl Whitaker
32. Which approach would be most interested in the appropriateness of hierarchical structure in the family?
a. Bowenian family therapy
b. human validation process model
c. structural family therapy
d. social constructionism
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33. Jean-Pierre told the family therapist that his wife loses control of her temper with their
children because of his demanding work schedule and his inability to be there to support her.
Which communication stance has he adopted?
a. blaming
b. placating
c. super reasonable
d. irrelevant
34. Family atmosphere, family constellation, and mistaken goals are key concepts of:
a. Adlerian family therapy.
b. structural family therapy.
c. experiential family therapy.
d. strategic family therapy.
e. the multilayered approach.
35. Yelina seems to ignore the major marital problems that she and her husband Carlos are having
as a result of sharp differences in their viewpoints on political and social issues that are affecting
their native country, Cuba. Whenever a friend points out the tension she observes, Yelina changes
the subject and talks about the weather forecast. Yelina is adopting which of the following
communication stances?
a. blaming
b. placating
c. super reasonable
d. irrelevant
36. Which of the following theorists emphasized the development of a nurturing triad?
a. Minuchin
b. Haley
c. Satir
d. Whitaker
e. Bowen
37. Adlerian family therapy strives to ______ as its goal.
a. establish a hierarchy of power
b. establish and support parents as effective leaders of the family
c. replace automatic (unconscious) negative interactions with a conscious understanding of family
process
d. reduce triangulation
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38. Problem descriptions and goal identification, typical day, the child interview and goal disclosure are
techniques used in:
a. multigenerational family therapy.
b. strategic family therapy.
c. social constructionist therapy.
d. Adlerian family therapy.
e. experiential family therapy.
39. A potential limitation of the family systems model is:
a. a particular family member’s needs may be overshadowed by the needs 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.
40. The therapy goals of promoting growth, 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. Whitaker’s experiential/symbolic family therapy
d. Minuchin’s structural family therapy
e. Haley’s strategic family therapy
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TRUE–FALSE TEST ITEMS
Decide if the following statements are “more true” or “more false” as applied to the perspective of family
systems therapy.
1. Bowen’s multigenerational approach stresses techniques more than it does theory.
2. Family systems therapy represents a paradigm shift that is sometimes called “the fourth force.”
3. Many of the most prominent structural family therapists have dedicated their efforts to working
predominantly with African American and Hispanic families.
4. The focus of Bowen’s multigenerational approach is on dealing with family of origin issues and
detriangulating relationships.
5. The cornerstone of Bowen’s theory is differentiation of self.
6. Carl Whitaker’s style focuses on his own spontaneous reactions and craziness as a way to tap material
that a family keeps secret.
7. Whitaker’s experiential/symbolic approach is based on a well-developed theory of how a family
changes.
8. Satir’s human validation model focuses on functional versus dysfunctional communication in families.
9. 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.
10. Minuchin’s structural therapy is based on the notion that an individual’s symptoms are best understood
from the vantage point of interactional patterns within a family, and that structural changes must occur
in a family before an individual’s symptoms can be resolved.
11. Structural family therapy deals with boundaries.
12. The goal of structural family therapy is to break down any hierarchical structure and replace it with
equal relationships among all family members.
13. Structural family therapists limit their interventions to families alone.
14. Minuchin’s approach to therapy is geared more toward insight, rather than taking action.
15. Strategic family therapy has its foundation in communications theory.
16. Strategic family therapists do not generally deal with the presenting problem; rather, they focus on the
underlying symptom of a dysfunctional system.
17. The focus of strategic family therapy is on growth and resolving historical conflicts in a family rather
than on dealing with present problems of a family.
18. Strategic family therapy stresses some of the same basic concepts as the structural approach to family
therapy.
19. The role of the strategic therapist involves being in charge of the session.
20. 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.
21. Minuchin and other structural family therapists initiated their work with wealthy suburban
clients.
22. 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.
23. Understanding family process is almost always facilitated by “how” questions.
24. Assessment is not considered useful in the family systems perspective.
25. Family therapists are wise to consider Western models of family functioning universal.
26. Families are multilayered systems that both affect and are affected by the larger systems in
which they are embedded.
27. Family systems therapy can be used when working with individual clients.
28. From a family systems perspective, an individual’s dysfunctional behavior grows out of the
interactional unit of the family as well as the larger community and societal systems.
29. There is a trend in the field of family therapy toward rejecting an integrative model of practice.
30. Bowenian therapists function in ways to bring about change through action-oriented directives and
paradoxical interventions.
31. Given the complexity of the multilayered approach to family therapy, the therapist must adopt
the role of “expert.”
32. According to Haley, who the therapist is as a person is far more important than specific intervention
techniques.
33. In Whitaker’s experiential therapy, there is a greater focus on exploring past experiences than on here-
and-now interaction between the family and the therapist.
34. In experiential therapy, techniques are secondary to the relationship that the therapist is able to
establish with the family.
35. Joining, accommodation, and boundary making are techniques likely to be used by structural family
therapists.
36. Strategic therapists emphasize the value of therapist interpretation, exploring unresolved issues from
the past, and insight.
37. Within the field of family therapy, Virginia Satir has been the most influential leader in the
development of both gender and cultural perspectives and frameworks in family practice.
38. Cloé Madanes developed conjoint family therapy.
39. Because an individual is connected to a living system, change in one part of that system will result in
change in the other parts.
40. The main focus of family therapy is on past interactions and past conflicts as the best way to
understand the dynamics of the family system.