IMPORTANT NOTICE:
SECURE TEST BANK
Mastering Competencies in Family Therapy
Chapter 7: Intergenerational and Psychoanalytic Family Therapies
1. Object relations family therapy, family-of-origin therapy, and contextual therapy share
several key concepts and practices. They include each of the following EXCEPT?
a. Examine a client’s early relationships to understand present functioning.
b. Trace transgenerational and extended family dynamics to understand a client’s
complaints.
c. Promote insight into extended family dynamics to facilitate change.
d. Focus on the nature of being human rather than families or family therapy.
2. A key concept in Bowen’s intergenerational theory is the therapist’s use of which of the
following?
a. Techniques
b. Self
c. Interventions
d. Coaching
3. Differentiation is one of the most useful concepts for understanding interpersonal
relationships. Which of the following statements is true?
a. Differentiation refers to a person’s ability to separate intrapersonal and
interpersonal distress.
b. Differentiation is the ability to balance two life forces: the need for togetherness
and the need for autonomy.
c. Differentiation is a lifelong journey that is colloquially referred to as “maturity” in
the broadest sense.
d. All of the above
4. Which of the following does NOT accurately describe a differentiated person?
a. A person who is differentiated is better able to handle ups and downs of life.
b. A person who is differentiated has the ability to separate feelings and self from
others.
c. A person who is differentiated lacks emotion or emotional expression in
emotional situations.
d. A person who is differentiated does not immediately react in emotional situations.
5. What is a genogram?
a. A genealogy covering the complete history of a family
b. A type of self report and discovery of family secrets
c. A type of family tree that specifically maps key multigenerational processes
d. A complete medical history of a family
6. In the hands of an intergenerational therapist, the genogram is used simultaneously as:
a. a way to help the family implement new patterns individually and as a family.
b. a way to map out family medical complications and how each affected the family.
c. an assessment instrument and intervention.
d. an intervention and tool for the closing phase of therapy.
7. Intergenerational therapists focus on developing a therapeutic relationship that
encourages all parties to further their differentiation process. What does this mean?
a. Intergenerational therapists believe that clients are in charge of the therapeutic
process.
b. Intergenerational therapists believe that clients can only differentiate as much as
their therapists have differentiated.
c. Intergenerational therapists believe that the differentiation of the client is the
technique.
d. Intergenerational therapists believe that they must take sides with the most
differentiated family member.
8. When an intergenerational therapist maintains an emotionally engaged stance that is
nonreactive — meaning that the therapist does not react to attacks, “bad” news, and so
forth without careful reflection — this is known as which of the following?
a. A detached presence
b. A non-caring presence
c. An emotional presence
d. A non-anxious presence
9. The greater the therapist’s level of differentiation, the better able the therapist is to
maintain a nonanxious presence with clients. A nonanxious presence refers to which of
the following?
a. A therapist who does not overreact to strong emotion and is able to reflect before
reacting
b. A therapist who is free and clear from any and all mental problems
c. A therapist who works better when his/her own emotions run high and who is
aware of any countertransference
d. A therapist who maintains a cold and detached stance that allows the clients to
fully explore themselves without the influence of the therapist
10. Intergenerational therapists focus squarely on a family’s unique __________ rather than
on environmental or general cultural factors, and they seek to identify the rules that
structure the particular system.
a. interactive system
b. external system
c. self-esteem system
d. emotional system
11. When a family lacks sufficient differentiation, it may become emotionally fused, an
undifferentiated family __________.
a. ego mass
b. mess
c. cell
d. nucleus
12. When working with a family, an intergenerational therapist can only accurately “see”
what is going on in the family or clearly conceptualize family dynamics if they are what?
a. Anxious
b. Differentiated
c. Emotionally distant
d. Disengaged
13. Jordin, an intergenerational therapist, is working with a mom and daughter in therapy.
The mom feels extremely guilty about her daughter’s lack of social success in college.
The mom, therefore remains very involved and emotionally reactive in her daughter’s
life, even though her daughter is living in the dorms in another town. How might Jordin
view the mother’s reactivity?
a. As low self-esteem
b. As chronic anxiety
c. As a paradox
d. As healthy
14. Differentiation is measured along a continuum that ranges from 1 to 100, with lower
levels of differentiation represented by lower numbers. Bowen believed that the average
person or people rarely reached higher than what on this scale?
a. 50
b. 95
c. 70
d. 65
15. From the perspective of an intergenerational therapist, which of the following is NOT
true of a triangle?
a. A triangle is a stabilizing unit for the primary dyad.
b. A triangle is a process in which a dyad draws in a third person or thing.
c. A triangle is a healthy way to relieve tension.
d. A triangle is a fundamental process in natural systems.
16. The father of a family in therapy complains that his wife is so involved with their
children — always running them back and forth to school, sports practices, dance recitals,
and attending PTA meetings — that he never sees her. When he does see his wife, they
fight. According to a Bowen intergenerational therapist, this might be considered a
classic example of which of the following?
a. Differentiation
b. Emotional triangle
c. Emotional cutoff
d. Regression
17. Which of the following refers to situations in which a person no longer emotionally
engages with another in order to manage anxiety?
a. Differentiation
b. Emotional triangle
c. Emotional cutoff
d. Regression
18. Like any theory with a definition of health, intergenerational therapy has clearly-defined,
long-term therapeutic goals that can be used with all clients. Which one of the following
fits for this theory?
a. Congruent communication for all family members
b. Effective parental hierarchy and the severing of cross-generational coalitions
c. Promote personal growth: support the completion of developmental tasks for all
family members
d. Increase each person’s level of differentiation (in specific contexts)
19. Which of the following statements is TRUE about the intergenerational therapy goal to
decrease emotional reactivity to chronic anxiety in the system?
a. As differentiation increases, anxiety decreases.
b. As anxiety increases, differentiation increases.
c. As emotional cutoff increases, differentiation increases.
d. As emotional cutoff increases, anxiety decreases.
20. A Bowen therapist asks a client, “How do the struggles you are experiencing with your
wife now compare to the struggles your own parents had? Are they similar or different?”
The therapist is asking which type of questions?
a. Projection questions
b. Protection questions
c. Process questions
d. Proactive questions
21. Whether working with an individual, couple, or family, most therapists at some point will
be “invited” by clients to triangulate with them against a third party who may or may not
be present in the room. To be effective, the therapist must maintain therapeutic neutrality
in order to interrupt a client’s attempt to involve the therapist or someone else in a
triangle. This ability to be neutral is also known as what?
a. Chronic anxiety
b. Regression
c. Differentiation
d. Validation
22. Which intervention is designed to interrupt triangulation by increasing direct
communication between the dyad experiencing problems or to reverse pursuer-distancer
dynamics?
a. Relational experiments
b. Communication experiments
c. Acting “as if” experiments
d. Family attachment experiments
23. Nathan and Alexander, a couple who have been in a relationship for 7 years, complain of
a lack of communication and a dissatisfying intimate life. Nathan says he wants more
emotional and physical intimacy with Alexander, but that Alexander is happy with
cuddling on the couch or doing activities such as gardening together. Alexander
complains that their closeness is never enough for Nathan and that he often feels
pressured to do more to make Nathan happy. David, a Bowenian therapist, might use
which type of intervention with this couple to promote Nathan and Alexander
differentiating more and taking responsibility for their individual needs?
a. Teaching each person to self-soothe rather than demand the other to change
b. Hugging to relax and working with the couple to be “seen” by the other
c. Creating a genogram to identify patterns and alternative ways for relating to each
other
d. All of the above
24. According to Boszormenyi-Nagy, families use which system to maintain trustworthiness,
fairness, and loyalty between family members (its breakdown results inindividual and/or
relational symptoms)?
a. Mechanical
b. Ethical
c. Electrical
d. Debt
25. Which classic psychoanalytic concept refers to when a client projects onto the therapist
attributes that stem from unresolved issues with primary caregivers (therapists use the
immediacy of these interactions to promote client insight)?
a. Countertransference
b. Transference
c. Protection
d. Centered holding
26. Which of the following statements is TRUE about the nature of the therapeutic
relationship in contextual family therapy?
a. Therapists are viewed as neutral blank screens.
b. Therapists keep their own feelings and expressions of empathy at bay.
c. Therapists are relationally focused, creating a relationship they call the holding
environment.
d. Therapists do not handle therapy arrangements; they leave that to the receptionist.
27. What does the concept of multidirected partiality in contextual family therapy mean?
a. The therapist must be accountable to extended family members not in the therapy
room.
b. The therapist must be accountable to monstrous family members.
c. The therapist must be accountable to the youngest family members.
d. All of the above
28. A therapist works with a couple where partner A sees partner B as “perfect” in the early
parts of the relationship. When partner B no longer conforms to expectations, however,
partner B becomes the enemy. The therapist might call this what?
a. Interlocking pathologies
b. Self-object relating
c. Splitting
d. Projective identification
29. According to Framo, what are parental interjects?
a. The internalized negative aspects of parents
b. When clients defend against anxiety by projecting certain split-off or unwanted
parts of themselves onto another person
c. Anxiety that is repressed when a child experiences separation from their primary
caregiver
d. Transference from one family member to another family member
30. Which of the following would NOT be considered a goal in psychoanalytic therapy?
a. Increase autonomy and ego-directed action by making conscious processes
unconscious
b. Decrease interactions based on projections or a revolving slate of entitlements
c. Increase capacity for intimacy without loss of self (fusion with object)
d. Develop reciprocal commitments that include a fair balance of entitlements and
indebtedness
31. In psychoanalytic family therapy, when the therapist dismisses the symptomatic child
from therapy and proceeds to work with the couple to address the issues that created the
need for the child’s symptoms, the therapist is doing what type of intervention?
a. Interpreting
b. Detriangulating
c. Working through
d. Eliciting
32. Which therapist developed a three-stage model for working with couples that involved
couples therapy, couples group therapy, and family-of-origin therapy?
a. Boszormenyi-Nagy
b. Framo
c. Ackerman
d. Sharff
33. The Women’s Project was developed to promote a greater awareness of women’s issues
in the field of family therapy. Which of the following is one suggestion for how family
therapists can reduce sexism in their work with couples and families?
a. Openly discuss the gender role expectations of each partner and parent and point
out areas where the couple or family should increase those traditional roles.
b. Encourage men to take time for themselves to avoid losing their individual
identity to the roles of husband and father.
c. Use the self-of–the-therapist to model an attitude of gender equality.
d. Push women to take on equal responsibility in family relationships and the
household, as well as for scheduling therapy, attending therapy with children,
and/or arranging for babysitting for couples sessions.
34. Minority groups who prefer action and concrete suggestions from therapists may have
difficulty with Bowen intergenerational and psychoanalytic therapies. Which one of the
following reasons FALSELY reflects the risks?
a. These therapies are aimed at “thinking” — or psychologically-minded — clients,
which minority groups are not.
b. The therapist may use inappropriate cultural norms to analyze family dynamics,
thereby imposing a set of values and beliefs that are at odds with the minority
clients’ culture.
c. The therapist will assume that attachment in all cultures looks the same and the
minority client may be inaccurately and unfairly evaluated.
d. The therapist may expect minority clients to conform to common cultural norms.
35. Which of the following statements is TRUE about research and the evidence-base for
Bowenian and psychoanalytic therapies?
a. Research is needed on the outcomes and effectiveness of Bowen and
psychoanalytic family therapies so that these models can be refined and further
developed.
b. Research shows support for Bowen’s assumption that people marry a person with
a similar level of differentiation.
c. Research does not support the relation between differentiation and (a) chronic
anxiety, (b) marital satisfaction, and (c) psychological distress.
d. Research does not support the therapeutic alliance and therapeutic outcome from
the therapist’s relationship with his or her parents, discrediting the Bowenian
emphasis on the self-of-the-therapist.