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Mastering Competencies in Family Therapy
Chapter 3: Philosophical Foundations of Family Therapy Theories
1. To some degree or another, all schools of family therapy have been influenced by which
two closely related philosophical traditions?
a. Systems theory and Freudian psychology
b. Systems theory and social constructionism
c. Freudian psychology and social constructionism
d. Rogerian ideology and social constructionism
2. The Macy Conferences gave birth to which two theories that ultimately describe how
biological, social, and mechanical systems operate?
a. Intergenerational theory and external-generational theory
b. Negative feedback theory and cybernetic systems theory
c. General systems theory and cybernetic systems theory
d. Postmodern theory and cognitive theory
3. The term “cybernetic” hints at the functional principles of cybernetic systems, which are
_________________ and able to “steer” their own course.
a. self-destructing
b. self-directive
c. self-correcting
d. none of the above
4. The unique set of behavioral, emotional, and interactional norms that create stability for
the family or other social group is known as which of the following?
a. Dependence
b. Balance
c. Dynamic
d. Homeostasis
5. The idea that no new information — or “more of the same” feedback — is in the system
refers to which of the following?
a. Negative feedback
b. Positive feedback
c. Universal feedback
d. General feedback
6. New information or news experienced in a system is referred to as which of the
following?
a. Negative feedback
b. Positive feedback
c. Universal feedback
d. General feedback
7. Which of the following statements is FALSE regarding positive feedback?
a. Positive feedback is news that things are within expected parameters.
b. Positive feedback can be experienced as a problem or crisis.
c. Positive feedback can be experienced as good news.
d. Positive feedback can result in a return to former homeostasis or create a new
homeostasis.
8. During the early stages of counseling, shifts in family structure that seem like radical
change, but the underlying family rules remain the same refer to what?
a. Radical change
b. Expected change
c. First-order change
d. Second-order change
9. In therapy, you are working with parents and their 11-year-old daughter. In the
beginning, both parents want their daughter to take more responsibility for getting her
homework and chores done; however, their daughter does not want to give up her
childhood assume personal responsibility. In the early stages of therapy, a shift occurs,
and suddenly you notice the daughter pulling away from her parents and doing more
things on her own while her parents begin lamenting the days when their daughter needed
them more. This is an example of what?
a. Radical Change
b. Expected change
c. First-order change
d. Second-order change
10. Which of the following terms describes the process of a system restructuring its
homeostasis in response to positive feedback?
a. Cybernetics
b. Feedback loop
c. Second-order change
d. Systemic response
11. The phrase “one cannot not communicate” refers to which of the following concepts?
a. “We do not want to communicate.”
b. “We just cannot communicate.”
c. “We are always communicating.”
d. “We lovingly communicate.”
12. The elements of a communicated message include __________ (content) and
__________ (relationship).
a. stories and truths
b. definitions and data
c. primary and secondary
d. report and command
13. Each of the following statements about metacommunication is TRUE EXCEPT?
a. Metacommunication is the literal meaning of the statement.
b. Metacommunication is the communication about how to interpret the
communication.
c. Metacommunication helps to define the relationship between two people.
d. In therapy, it often helps to move the discussion directly to the
metacommunication level.
14. Bateson’s double-bind theory of schizophrenia reconceptualized psychotic behavior as a
family’s attempt to meaningfully respond in a family system characterized by double–
bind communications. Which of the following is required for a double-bind
communication?
a. Two people are in an intense relationship.
b. A primary injunction and a simultaneous, contradictory secondary injunction.
c. The receiver of the injunction cannot escape the contradictions without
threatening the relationship.
d. All of the above.
15. A child commands “play with me” to her sister, and when her sister sits down to play, the
child will not share her toys. This is an example of which of the following?
a. Command
b. Double bind
c. Feedback loop
d. Self-correction
16. Which of the following is an accurate reflection of a symmetrical relationship?
a. Partners have an unequal relationship in the system.
b. Partners have evenly distributed abilities and roles in the system.
c. Partners have distinct, separate roles that balance the system.
d. Partners have roles that result in a hierarchy for the system.
17. Select the best example of common complementary dynamics.
a. Visionary/planner
b. Apple/oranges
c. Pursuer/distancer
d. Cooker/baker
18. Which of the following statements is TRUE when viewing the family as a system?
a. One single person in the family orchestrates the interactional patterns.
b. One single person can be blamed for family distress.
c. All behavior makes sense in context.
d. Personal characteristics are independent of the system.
19. __________ is the study of knowledge and the process of knowing.
a. Systems theory
b. Epistemology
c. Cybernetics
d. Complementarity
20. Family therapists pay careful attention to the family’s epistemology. What does this
mean?
a. Understanding the operating premises that underlie family actions and cognitions.
b. Assuming that what families believe to be true is true.
c. Disregarding how the observer and the observed reciprocally affect each other.
d. Relying on assumptions to understand families.
21. In second-order cybernetics, which of the following statements about the therapist
involved with the client system is TRUE?
a. The therapist can be neutral.
b. The therapist is an unbiased observer.
c. The therapist remains outside the client system as an observer.
d. The therapist becomes an active participant in creating what is observed.
22. Systemic counselors view the presenting problem not as an individual problem but a
__________one, specifically an interactional one, even if the counselor is working with
an individual.
a. relational
b. pathological
c. independent
d. dysfunctional
23. Of the various postmodern schools, which of the following philosophies were family
therapists the first to embrace?
a. Constructivist
b. Social constructionist
c. Structuralist
d. Poststructuralist
24. It is said that systemic and postmodern therapies have more shared views than
differences. Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE about their shared
assumptions?
a. A person’s lived reality is relationally constructed.
b. Personal identity and an individual’s symptoms are related to the social systems
of which they are a part.
c. Changing one’s language and descriptions of a problem alters how it is
experienced.
d. An objective outsider perspective is the only way to determine truths.
25. According to postmodernism, the construction of reality is a complex process that
involves four levels including which one of the following levels?
a. Linguine Level
b. Professional Level
c. Rational Level
d. Societal Level
26. According to postmodern therapists, the meaning a person gives to a particular behavior,
haircut, job, sex act, or religious view is developed through __________.
a. language
b. relationships
c. action
d. construction
27. When a group of people coordinate meanings and values to coordinate social action or to
get along with each other, this is referred to as what?
a. Culture
b. Interaction
c. Chaos
d. Relationships
28. Postmodern philosophy heightens awareness of diversity issues. How so?
a. Postmodernists define what is normal.
b. Postmodernists accept singular truths.
c. Postmodernists see multiple realties and multiple truths.
d. Postmodernists know what a “good” life is for their clients.
29. Which of the following descriptions best captures the postmodern spirit?
a. When a couple comes in for therapy with entirely different perspectives of the
same problem, the therapist works to weave the stories together.
b. When a couple comes in for therapy with entirely different perspectives of the
same problem, the therapist works to figure out who is right.
c. When a couple comes in for therapy with entirely different perspectives of the
same problem, the therapist works to build a hierarchy.
d. When a couple comes in for therapy with entirely different perspectives of the
same problem, the therapist is interested in figuring out who is wrong.
30. According to the author of the textbook, philosophical foundations of family therapies are
divided into four main categories including each of the following EXCEPT?
a. Modernist
b. Humanistic
c. Systemic
d. Realistic
31. __________ is founded on the assumption that there is an external and knowable “Truth.”
a. Modernism
b. Humanism
c. Systems
d. Postmodernism
32. Which of the following family therapies illustrates a humanistic philosophical stance?
a. Cognitive behavioral therapy
b. Satir’s communication approach
c. Strategic therapy
d. Narrative therapy
33. Which of the following statements most accurately reflects humanistic assumptions?
a. All people naturally tend toward growth and strive for self-actualization, a process
of becoming authentically human.
b. The therapist is an expert who assumes the primary responsibility for identifying
pathology, problems, and goals, often assuming the role of teacher or mentor.
c. An individual’s behavior and symptoms always make sense in the person’s
broader relational contexts.
d. What a person experiences as “real” and believes to be “true” is shaped primarily
through language and relationships.
34. “No one individual unilaterally controls behavior in a system. Thus, no one person can be
blamed for problems in a couple or family relationship; instead, problematic behavior is
viewed as emerging from the interactions between members of the system.” This
statement fits with which philosophical stance?
a. Modernist
b. Humanistic
c. Systemic
d. Postmodernist
35. __________ therapies are based on the premise that objective truth can never be fully
known because it must always pass through subjective and intersubjective filters.
a. Modernist
b. Humanistic
c. Systemic
d. Postmodernist
36. As you master one theoretical approach and deepen your understanding of its underlying
__________ assumptions, you are able to understand other theories at a greater depth as
well as effectively incorporate a wider range of practices within a coherent approach to
therapy.
a. dark
b. truthful
c. philosophical
d. false