LMFT Exam - Practice of Marital & Family Therapy Terms for the licensure exam

Harry Stack Sullivan - correct answer emphasized the need to focus on observations that could be verified. He was also a supporter of the idea that mental states of people could be better understood by analyzing the relationships of which they were a part. Don Jackson - correct answer developed interactional theory and conjoint family therapy. Interactional theory emphasizes a person's present interactions or relationships over biological, chemical, genetic, or historic causes. Conjoint family therapy addresses the joint therapy of two individuals or a group who are interconnected. This view would emphasize therapy for a family or couple as a single effort, not an individual effort. Nathan Ackerman - correct answer believed that family mental health was critical to individual mental health and approached therapy from a family perspective. He also formulated the homeodynamic principle which noted that dysfunctional families were rigid in nature and unable to adapt to changing situations. He saw the role of the therapist as a catalyst to force families to face difficult issues Salvador Minuchin - correct answer identified two distinct types of dysfunctional families. In one type of family, the members were highly interwoven with each other to the point of complete discord. In the other, the family members lack connection and seem to exist separately instead of as a whole. With this observation, he made clear the importance of understanding a family's structure. Gregory Bateson - correct answer did recognize that communication within a family system was a key factor in individual mental health.