AMFTRB MFT EXAM SCRIPT VERIFIED
QUESTIONS WITH ACCURATE ANSWERS
●● "flight into health"
Answer: When a previously depressed or suicidal patient suddenly stops
stating suicidal intention and/or appears calm and happy in a very quick
time period. This may be a warning sign that the patient has decided to
complete suicide. Defense against lessening/lifting repression. Client
states they are "all better."
●● "stuck family" (Adlerian)
Answer: parents assume roles based on their expectations of the children
●● (Kaplan) A sexual disorder that is NOT considered a disturbance in
the genital-vascongestive phase is...
Answer: premature ejaculation
●● 2 Essential Theme's of Bowen's theory
Answer: 1) Individuality
2) Togetherness
●● 4 interlocking dimensions of relationships developed by Nagy,
Contextual Family Therapy
,Answer: 1) Facts - those that are unavoidable, such as ethnicity, gender,
illness, etc, and those that are avoidable, such as the family's "created
reality," understanding and choices;
2) Psychology - each individual's emotional development, cognitions
and meanings;
3) Transactions - communication sequences, roles, structure and power
alignments between individuals and
4) Relational Ethics - fairness, trust, reliability, loyalty and reciprocity
(the "ledger").
●● 4 main components of Rogerian technique
Answer: 1) empathy
2) congruence
3) acceptance
4) concreteness
●● 5 steps to motivational interviewing
Answer: 1. Expressing empathy for the client;
2. Developing discrepancy between where the client is at in his/her life
and where they would like to be in their lives-and how substances
interfere with them moving forward.
3. Avoiding argument about the addict's possible lack of readiness for
change.
,4. Rolling with the resistance, which is accepting and understanding the
client's fear to change.
5. Supporting self-efficacy by trying to instill hope that the client can
make positive changes in his/her life.
●● 6 characteristic of a double bind
Answer: 1) Communication involves 2 or more people who are involved
in an important emotional relationship.
2) The pattern of communication and the relationship is a repeated
experience.
3) The communication involves a primary negative injunction--or a
command not to do (some act) or not to NOT do (some act), either of
which come with a threat of punishment.
4) A second abstract injunction is given that contradicts the primary
injunction but at a more abstract level and is usually nonverbal. This also
occurs under the threat of punishment.
5) A third negative injunction both demands a response and prevents
escape, effectively binding the recipient to the environment in which
these patterns exist.
6) When the above double bind messages have been communicated
enough times, the individual has become conditioned which no longer
requires all of the above mentioned criteria to be present in order to elicit
the same intensity in response (panic, rage, schizophrenia).
●● A CBT assumption regarding couple's therapy is...
, Answer: The initial focus of tx is on partners' behaviors, with little
explicit attention to their cognitive beliefs/emotions.
A cognitive-behavioral assumption is that if partners begin to behave
more positively towards each other, then they will begin to think and
feel differently towards each other.
●● A child is using the same toy in play therapy. What might this
suggest?
Answer: The play therapy is working.
●● A client is disheveled, hearing voices, and hasn't slept in 48 hours.
What should the therapist do?
Answer: Have the client hospitalized.
●● A Multigenerational Family Therapist working with a couple and
domestic violence
Answer: assess for DV and reduce emotional reactivity
●● A therapist is treating a client who suspects that he may have HIV.
He hasn't been feeling well lately, reports engaging in frequent
unprotected sex, and avoids testing because it is "too scary". He asks
you, "why bother talking about a disease when there is no cure"? What
would be the next step in your treatment planning with this client?
Answer: Begin the process of pre-test counseling.
QUESTIONS WITH ACCURATE ANSWERS
●● "flight into health"
Answer: When a previously depressed or suicidal patient suddenly stops
stating suicidal intention and/or appears calm and happy in a very quick
time period. This may be a warning sign that the patient has decided to
complete suicide. Defense against lessening/lifting repression. Client
states they are "all better."
●● "stuck family" (Adlerian)
Answer: parents assume roles based on their expectations of the children
●● (Kaplan) A sexual disorder that is NOT considered a disturbance in
the genital-vascongestive phase is...
Answer: premature ejaculation
●● 2 Essential Theme's of Bowen's theory
Answer: 1) Individuality
2) Togetherness
●● 4 interlocking dimensions of relationships developed by Nagy,
Contextual Family Therapy
,Answer: 1) Facts - those that are unavoidable, such as ethnicity, gender,
illness, etc, and those that are avoidable, such as the family's "created
reality," understanding and choices;
2) Psychology - each individual's emotional development, cognitions
and meanings;
3) Transactions - communication sequences, roles, structure and power
alignments between individuals and
4) Relational Ethics - fairness, trust, reliability, loyalty and reciprocity
(the "ledger").
●● 4 main components of Rogerian technique
Answer: 1) empathy
2) congruence
3) acceptance
4) concreteness
●● 5 steps to motivational interviewing
Answer: 1. Expressing empathy for the client;
2. Developing discrepancy between where the client is at in his/her life
and where they would like to be in their lives-and how substances
interfere with them moving forward.
3. Avoiding argument about the addict's possible lack of readiness for
change.
,4. Rolling with the resistance, which is accepting and understanding the
client's fear to change.
5. Supporting self-efficacy by trying to instill hope that the client can
make positive changes in his/her life.
●● 6 characteristic of a double bind
Answer: 1) Communication involves 2 or more people who are involved
in an important emotional relationship.
2) The pattern of communication and the relationship is a repeated
experience.
3) The communication involves a primary negative injunction--or a
command not to do (some act) or not to NOT do (some act), either of
which come with a threat of punishment.
4) A second abstract injunction is given that contradicts the primary
injunction but at a more abstract level and is usually nonverbal. This also
occurs under the threat of punishment.
5) A third negative injunction both demands a response and prevents
escape, effectively binding the recipient to the environment in which
these patterns exist.
6) When the above double bind messages have been communicated
enough times, the individual has become conditioned which no longer
requires all of the above mentioned criteria to be present in order to elicit
the same intensity in response (panic, rage, schizophrenia).
●● A CBT assumption regarding couple's therapy is...
, Answer: The initial focus of tx is on partners' behaviors, with little
explicit attention to their cognitive beliefs/emotions.
A cognitive-behavioral assumption is that if partners begin to behave
more positively towards each other, then they will begin to think and
feel differently towards each other.
●● A child is using the same toy in play therapy. What might this
suggest?
Answer: The play therapy is working.
●● A client is disheveled, hearing voices, and hasn't slept in 48 hours.
What should the therapist do?
Answer: Have the client hospitalized.
●● A Multigenerational Family Therapist working with a couple and
domestic violence
Answer: assess for DV and reduce emotional reactivity
●● A therapist is treating a client who suspects that he may have HIV.
He hasn't been feeling well lately, reports engaging in frequent
unprotected sex, and avoids testing because it is "too scary". He asks
you, "why bother talking about a disease when there is no cure"? What
would be the next step in your treatment planning with this client?
Answer: Begin the process of pre-test counseling.
