2 0 2 4 /2025 | © copyright | This work may not be copied for profit gain Excel!
MFT Exam Questions and Correct
Answers the Latest Update and
Recommended Version
Classical Conditioning:
→ A learning paradigm studied and practiced in a laboratory or other controlled
environment in which a stimulus called the unconditioned stimulus (US) which naturally
elicits an unconditioned response (UCR), is paired with a neutral stimulus that does not
initially elicit a response. Through the repeated pairings, the neutral stimulus (now the
conditioned stimulus - CS) begins to elicit the desired response (now the conditioned
response - CR).
Coercion (Aversive Control):
→ From behavioral family therapy, one person uses aversive stimuli to control the
behavior of another.
Coaching
→ In Bowenian therapy (used by other models as well), the use of an objective person,
such as the therapist, to guide a family member to interact with other members in new
ways and prevent the family from seducing the person back into older, dysfunctional
behaviors. The therapist takes an educative role, rather than an emotional one.
Sibling Position:
→ Bowen theory incorporates the research of psychologist Walter Toman as a foundation
for its concept of sibling position. Bowen observed the impact of sibling position on
development and behavior in his family research. However, he found Toman's work so
thorough and consistent with his ideas that he incorporated it into his theory. The basic
idea is that people who grow up in the same sibling position predictably have
important common characteristics. For example, oldest children tend to gravitate to
leadership positions and youngest children often prefer to be followers. The
characteristics of one position are not "better" than those of another position, but are
complementary. For example, a boss who is an oldest child may work unusually well
with a first assistant who is a youngest child. Youngest children may like to be in
charge, but their leadership style typically differs from an oldest's style. (From the
Bowen Center website)
1|Page| GradeA+ | 2 0 0 2 5
, 2 0 2 4 /2025 | © copyright | This work may not be copied for profit gain Excel!
Cognitive Behavior Family Therapy (CBT):
→ Therapies based on both behavioral techniques, which grew out of scientific,
laboratory experiments, and on the cognitive therapy models. People learn to modify
behaviors both by altering the reinforcement contingencies and/or changing the
cognitions that influence their behaviors and interactions.
Cognitive Maps:
→ Mental models by which incoming information is perceived, understood, transformed,
and stored, together with a corresponding repertoire of behavioral options. Maps are
based on the integration of experiences. Each part of the cognitive map - i.e., input
and output - forms the individual's internal representation of reality. Cognitive maps
shape actions and communication. They may be flexible, able to change and expand
cumulatively with new information and experiences, or they may be rigid and limiting.
Maps have both language and spatial aspects with a private vocabulary and imagery
that determines how incoming communication is interpreted.
Collaborative Language Family Therapy:
→ From Goolishian and Anderson, a model of family therapy based on the idea that
problems are maintained in the family's language and may be resolved by changes in
their use of language. The therapist asks questions from a not knowing stance,
designed to draw out the client's own views of the problem. The problem is "dissolved"
as new meanings and actions evolve.
Communication Theory:
→ Originated by the MRI group, the study of the process by which verbal and non-verbal
information is exchanged within a relationship. Communication can be analogic which
has little structure, but is rich in content, or digital which is verbal communication
perceived and interpreted based on meaning. (see various types of communications:
Haptic; Kinesthetic; Paralinguistic; and Streptic).
Contextual Family Therapy:
→ A theory and therapeutic model developed by Boszormenyi-Nagy based on the
ethical dimension of family relationships. The family maintains invisible,
intergenerational loyalties, which members hold in their personal ledgers. Problems in
relationships are thought to result either from an attempt to maintain or change the
balance sheet of what members owe to one another.
1|Page| GradeA+ | 2 0 0 2 5
MFT Exam Questions and Correct
Answers the Latest Update and
Recommended Version
Classical Conditioning:
→ A learning paradigm studied and practiced in a laboratory or other controlled
environment in which a stimulus called the unconditioned stimulus (US) which naturally
elicits an unconditioned response (UCR), is paired with a neutral stimulus that does not
initially elicit a response. Through the repeated pairings, the neutral stimulus (now the
conditioned stimulus - CS) begins to elicit the desired response (now the conditioned
response - CR).
Coercion (Aversive Control):
→ From behavioral family therapy, one person uses aversive stimuli to control the
behavior of another.
Coaching
→ In Bowenian therapy (used by other models as well), the use of an objective person,
such as the therapist, to guide a family member to interact with other members in new
ways and prevent the family from seducing the person back into older, dysfunctional
behaviors. The therapist takes an educative role, rather than an emotional one.
Sibling Position:
→ Bowen theory incorporates the research of psychologist Walter Toman as a foundation
for its concept of sibling position. Bowen observed the impact of sibling position on
development and behavior in his family research. However, he found Toman's work so
thorough and consistent with his ideas that he incorporated it into his theory. The basic
idea is that people who grow up in the same sibling position predictably have
important common characteristics. For example, oldest children tend to gravitate to
leadership positions and youngest children often prefer to be followers. The
characteristics of one position are not "better" than those of another position, but are
complementary. For example, a boss who is an oldest child may work unusually well
with a first assistant who is a youngest child. Youngest children may like to be in
charge, but their leadership style typically differs from an oldest's style. (From the
Bowen Center website)
1|Page| GradeA+ | 2 0 0 2 5
, 2 0 2 4 /2025 | © copyright | This work may not be copied for profit gain Excel!
Cognitive Behavior Family Therapy (CBT):
→ Therapies based on both behavioral techniques, which grew out of scientific,
laboratory experiments, and on the cognitive therapy models. People learn to modify
behaviors both by altering the reinforcement contingencies and/or changing the
cognitions that influence their behaviors and interactions.
Cognitive Maps:
→ Mental models by which incoming information is perceived, understood, transformed,
and stored, together with a corresponding repertoire of behavioral options. Maps are
based on the integration of experiences. Each part of the cognitive map - i.e., input
and output - forms the individual's internal representation of reality. Cognitive maps
shape actions and communication. They may be flexible, able to change and expand
cumulatively with new information and experiences, or they may be rigid and limiting.
Maps have both language and spatial aspects with a private vocabulary and imagery
that determines how incoming communication is interpreted.
Collaborative Language Family Therapy:
→ From Goolishian and Anderson, a model of family therapy based on the idea that
problems are maintained in the family's language and may be resolved by changes in
their use of language. The therapist asks questions from a not knowing stance,
designed to draw out the client's own views of the problem. The problem is "dissolved"
as new meanings and actions evolve.
Communication Theory:
→ Originated by the MRI group, the study of the process by which verbal and non-verbal
information is exchanged within a relationship. Communication can be analogic which
has little structure, but is rich in content, or digital which is verbal communication
perceived and interpreted based on meaning. (see various types of communications:
Haptic; Kinesthetic; Paralinguistic; and Streptic).
Contextual Family Therapy:
→ A theory and therapeutic model developed by Boszormenyi-Nagy based on the
ethical dimension of family relationships. The family maintains invisible,
intergenerational loyalties, which members hold in their personal ledgers. Problems in
relationships are thought to result either from an attempt to maintain or change the
balance sheet of what members owe to one another.
1|Page| GradeA+ | 2 0 0 2 5
