Wynne's term to describe the use of chronic conflict to create a somewhat superficial alienation of
family members, thereby masking an individual member's need for intimacy and affection.
Wynne's term for the type of boundaries around some families that may appear open and flexible, but
which in fact permit little information from the outside to penetrate. In these families, rules are in
constant flux.
Working Through -
Vulnerability Stress Model (Diathesis-Stress Model) -
Visitor -
Used in information management and research, these systems establish an organized and consistent
approach to identifying and counting clinical phenomena.
Unstoried Competencies -
Unique Outcomes -
Unfinished Business -
Undifferentiated Family Ego Mass -
Unconditional Positive Regard -
Unbalancing -
Triangulation -
Triangle -
Transference -
Transactions -
Tracking -
Token Economy -
Time Out -
This is a goal of network therapy. It is a euphoric connectedness to others, likened to the energy and
feelings of connectedness that can occur at religious revivals, and rock concerts. The result is to bind
the group together into a supportive, purposeful, goal-oriented social network.
Third Order Change -
Therapy with several families with similar problems. Originated by Peter Laqeuer, this model uses
techniques from traditional therapy, psychodrama and encounter group while working with multiple
families, simultaneously.
Therapy that involves two or more family members, introduced by MRI psychiatrist, Jackson in
1959 to describe marital therapy in which the spouses were seen together
therapists' sensitivity to the existence and impact of the family's cultural rules and values. Such
awareness enables easier engagement, reduces misunderstanding and misinterpretation of family
members' behavior, and facilitates the development of trust. Therapists should be aware of their biases
regarding the cultural background of others and their own.
Therapist Stance -
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.
Therapeutuic Neutrality -
Therapeutic Paradox -
Therapeutic Letters -
Therapeutic Double Blind -
Therapeutic Certificates -
Theory and therapeutic model in the tradition of brief therapy, developed by Berg and de Shazer,
which focuses on finding solutions rather than understanding the problem. The model evolved form the
MRI group's focus on problems and from the postmodern interest in the construction of reality. Clients
,are encouraged increase behaviors that work well and notice situations in which the problem does not
occur
The virus that causes AIDS. The virus can be detected in the blood of infected individuals.
The unexplained death of an apparently healthy infant. The actual cause of death may be unknown,
but certain risk factors have been identified such as immature lungs, apnea, sleep arousal problems;
placing the infant on his/her stomach to sleep, soft bedding, etc. The incidence of SIDS has decreased
since parents have been advised to place infants on their backs to sleep
The U.S. Government agency that, among other things, tracks the incidence of communicable
diseases and defines criteria for diagnosis of AIDS.
The therapist's self-knowledge regarding his/her values, beliefs, biases, strengths, and weaknesses.
Also refers to the ways in which therapists make use of their personal experiences during therapy and
the nature of the emotional bond offered to clients.
the therapist's position (engagement style) in relation to both the family system and therapist's
theoretical foundation, for example an engaged style in which the therapist tends to disclose personal
experiences or disengaged in which the therapist remains emotionally distant
the therapeutic view that it is important to attend to the family's relationship to the larger systems -
community, school, and work
The therapeutic stance that emphasizes the uniqueness of individuals and promotes their potential for
growth.
The therapeutic stance of Whitaker's symbolic-experiential therapy in which the therapist is willing
both to receive the family members' reactions to him/her and to fully disclose his/her reactions to them.
The theory that people are motivated by a basic need for human connection rather than basic sexual
and aggressive drives, and that repeated parent-child interactions, particularly unsatisfying ones, are
internalized in the form of objects. In development, infants experience and internalize others in a
variety of ways.
The theory and therapeutic model developed by Minuchin, which focuses on family organization and
boundaries and the ways in which these structures govern interactional patterns. Dysfunction, in this
model, stems from boundaries that are either too rigid or too diffuse, both of which prevent the system
and its subsystems from achieving goals.
The tendency of a system to strive for balance in order to achieve stability and limit the range of
behavioral vulnerability.
The study or theory of the nature, sources, and limits of knowledge. Used by family therapists to
describe how and what family members come to believe.
the study of the way language conveys meaning
the study of how systems are controlled by information and feedback loops and the means by which
they work
The study of how living systems organize, maintain, and regulate themselves, emphasizing the unity
and interrelated hierarchial structure of the parts. Adapted from the biological, physical, and
communication sciences, primarily through the work of von Bertalanffy.
the set of shared beliefs, behaviors, values, customs, meanings, symbols, and the like, transferred
from one generation to the next and from the social groups to which the person belongs (Italian,
Jewish, Lesbian, etc.).
The selecting and accentuating of certain experiences and aspects of the self in the process of
becoming a unique human being, includes separating from the larger group or system.
The regions between each subsystem of the family and between the family and the suprasystem. In
family systems therapy this interface is referred to as the familial boundary.
The range of emotions following a loss, which are part of the process of integrating the loss.
The process by which one arbitrarily identifies the beginning and the end of a behavioral sequence
(linear causality) which instead, in MRI terms, should be seen as part of a circular pattern. Also a
,communication pattern in which each participant believes that what he/she says or does is caused by
the other.
the process by which immigrant group members adjust to the culture of their new country
the postmodern process of constructing new meanings by examining implicit assumptions
The notion that while some people have a predisposition or inherited vulnerability to a mental
illness, the actual manifestation of the illness is determined by life events, particularly stressful events
in the family
The notion that the information people reveal varies according to the circumstances. For example,
the process of constructing a genogram tends to encourage subjective responses that distort the
information that is revealed. Therapists should pay attention not only to the information received from
the client family, but also to their projections and distortions.
The notion held by the Milan systemic group that causality in families cannot be thought of as a
simple, single cause and effect relationship (linear causality). Instead, events, behaviors, and
interactions are seen in a more complex way, as mutually influencing one another (feedback loops).
Each is the effect of a prior cause and in turn influences future behaviors. Family system events create
an endless (and beginning-less) circular chain. In this model it is meaningless to identify an individual
as having caused or started a problem. Instead, all elements of the problem coexist and are reciprocally
reinforcing. The problem could not be maintained if any one element were to be removed.
the most recent edition of the diagnostic manual of the American Psychiatric Association, which
provides a classification system of mental disorders and syndromes.
The legal right of clients or research subjects to be told of the purpose and risks prior to agreeing to
participate.
The Intervention -
the interrelationship among system elements that make up the organization of the system. In first-
order change, structures can b affected without altering the organization of the system; whereas, in
second-order change the organization's rules and structure are changed.
The integrated approach of Eron and Lund in which the therapists use MRI reframing techniques,
narrative therapy techniques, and elements of solution-focused therapy. The therapist believes that
people have a preference for how they would like to view themselves and others, which they call the
preferred view. They ask clients questions about their preferred view and about their vision of a future
without the problem. Therapists ask mystery questions, such as "How did a person who is so hard
working wind up feeling listless and depressed?"
the form of a message
The flow of information back into the system that works to amplify deviations which increases
instability and facilitates change toward meeting new goals. Positive feedback is not homeostatic.
The first intervention of solution-focused treatment in which clients are asked to observe their lives
between the first and second session to notice what has happened tha they would like to continue to
have happen so that they begin to identity their strengths.
the family member who manifests the symptoms
The family into which the person is born or adopted, used most extensively by transgenerational
models.
the extension f Hill's early work on stress by McCubbin and Patterson which considers the
cumulative effect of stress on families rather than the impact of a single stressor
The end of the contractual relationship between the therapist and client or family. It may be formal
and final or flexible. In some therapies it is initiated by the therapist, but in others the therapist follows
the family's lead. In BRIEF PERSPECTIVE therapies, the therapist initiates termination when the
presenting problem is eliminated or when the agreed-upon number of sessions is reached. Other
therapeutic models do not conceive of termination as final. Clients and families may return to treatment
when a new problem appears or an old problem reappears.
, The degree of emotion expressed by family members. It has been observed that families with a
schizophrenic member tend to have a high degree of intense and negative emotional interactions.
The control and decision-making structure of a family, which may be based on age, gender, roles, or
education. In structural and strategic family therapy, disordered hierarchies result in dysfunction.
The concept that specifices that you cannot combine individual elements of a system to recreate its
essential character. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
the chronological order in which family behaviors occur
The Bowenian concept of withdrawing from an existing triangle so that the person is not drawn into
the conflict between the other two, often the parents.
the analysis of the numeric quantity of elements in an interaction
The ability of a system or subsystem to achieve its goals.
Termination -
Temporal Sequencing -
Temperature Reading -
Teaming Roles -
Targeting Interventions at a specific family subsystem, such as the children or parents.
Tarasoft v. Regents of Univeristy of California -
Systems which are self-contained and often isolated by their limited recognition and use of feedback
Family Therapy Glossary (Everett, 2000)
Systematic Desentsitization -
System -
System -
Syntax -
Symptom Prescription -
Symmetrical -
Symbolic-Expeirential Family Therapy -
Sweat Boxes -
Survival Skills Workshops -
Suprasystem -
Suicide -
Suicidal Ideation -
Sudden, unanticipated change in family organization usually brought on by a crisis (may be
therapeutically induced), which causes a change in perception, beliefs, or perspective. The opposite of
continuous change which is gradual, evolutionary, or developmental.
Subsystem -
Substance Abuse -
Subjugated Stories -
Subjective Units of Discomfort (SUDS) -
Structure -
Structural Family Therapy -
Streptic Communication -
Strategic Humanism -
Strategic Family Therapy -
Stop-Start Technique (Squeeze Technique) -
Stepparent -
Split Filial Loyalty -
Spectatoring -
Sparkling Events -
Source -
family members, thereby masking an individual member's need for intimacy and affection.
Wynne's term for the type of boundaries around some families that may appear open and flexible, but
which in fact permit little information from the outside to penetrate. In these families, rules are in
constant flux.
Working Through -
Vulnerability Stress Model (Diathesis-Stress Model) -
Visitor -
Used in information management and research, these systems establish an organized and consistent
approach to identifying and counting clinical phenomena.
Unstoried Competencies -
Unique Outcomes -
Unfinished Business -
Undifferentiated Family Ego Mass -
Unconditional Positive Regard -
Unbalancing -
Triangulation -
Triangle -
Transference -
Transactions -
Tracking -
Token Economy -
Time Out -
This is a goal of network therapy. It is a euphoric connectedness to others, likened to the energy and
feelings of connectedness that can occur at religious revivals, and rock concerts. The result is to bind
the group together into a supportive, purposeful, goal-oriented social network.
Third Order Change -
Therapy with several families with similar problems. Originated by Peter Laqeuer, this model uses
techniques from traditional therapy, psychodrama and encounter group while working with multiple
families, simultaneously.
Therapy that involves two or more family members, introduced by MRI psychiatrist, Jackson in
1959 to describe marital therapy in which the spouses were seen together
therapists' sensitivity to the existence and impact of the family's cultural rules and values. Such
awareness enables easier engagement, reduces misunderstanding and misinterpretation of family
members' behavior, and facilitates the development of trust. Therapists should be aware of their biases
regarding the cultural background of others and their own.
Therapist Stance -
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.
Therapeutuic Neutrality -
Therapeutic Paradox -
Therapeutic Letters -
Therapeutic Double Blind -
Therapeutic Certificates -
Theory and therapeutic model in the tradition of brief therapy, developed by Berg and de Shazer,
which focuses on finding solutions rather than understanding the problem. The model evolved form the
MRI group's focus on problems and from the postmodern interest in the construction of reality. Clients
,are encouraged increase behaviors that work well and notice situations in which the problem does not
occur
The virus that causes AIDS. The virus can be detected in the blood of infected individuals.
The unexplained death of an apparently healthy infant. The actual cause of death may be unknown,
but certain risk factors have been identified such as immature lungs, apnea, sleep arousal problems;
placing the infant on his/her stomach to sleep, soft bedding, etc. The incidence of SIDS has decreased
since parents have been advised to place infants on their backs to sleep
The U.S. Government agency that, among other things, tracks the incidence of communicable
diseases and defines criteria for diagnosis of AIDS.
The therapist's self-knowledge regarding his/her values, beliefs, biases, strengths, and weaknesses.
Also refers to the ways in which therapists make use of their personal experiences during therapy and
the nature of the emotional bond offered to clients.
the therapist's position (engagement style) in relation to both the family system and therapist's
theoretical foundation, for example an engaged style in which the therapist tends to disclose personal
experiences or disengaged in which the therapist remains emotionally distant
the therapeutic view that it is important to attend to the family's relationship to the larger systems -
community, school, and work
The therapeutic stance that emphasizes the uniqueness of individuals and promotes their potential for
growth.
The therapeutic stance of Whitaker's symbolic-experiential therapy in which the therapist is willing
both to receive the family members' reactions to him/her and to fully disclose his/her reactions to them.
The theory that people are motivated by a basic need for human connection rather than basic sexual
and aggressive drives, and that repeated parent-child interactions, particularly unsatisfying ones, are
internalized in the form of objects. In development, infants experience and internalize others in a
variety of ways.
The theory and therapeutic model developed by Minuchin, which focuses on family organization and
boundaries and the ways in which these structures govern interactional patterns. Dysfunction, in this
model, stems from boundaries that are either too rigid or too diffuse, both of which prevent the system
and its subsystems from achieving goals.
The tendency of a system to strive for balance in order to achieve stability and limit the range of
behavioral vulnerability.
The study or theory of the nature, sources, and limits of knowledge. Used by family therapists to
describe how and what family members come to believe.
the study of the way language conveys meaning
the study of how systems are controlled by information and feedback loops and the means by which
they work
The study of how living systems organize, maintain, and regulate themselves, emphasizing the unity
and interrelated hierarchial structure of the parts. Adapted from the biological, physical, and
communication sciences, primarily through the work of von Bertalanffy.
the set of shared beliefs, behaviors, values, customs, meanings, symbols, and the like, transferred
from one generation to the next and from the social groups to which the person belongs (Italian,
Jewish, Lesbian, etc.).
The selecting and accentuating of certain experiences and aspects of the self in the process of
becoming a unique human being, includes separating from the larger group or system.
The regions between each subsystem of the family and between the family and the suprasystem. In
family systems therapy this interface is referred to as the familial boundary.
The range of emotions following a loss, which are part of the process of integrating the loss.
The process by which one arbitrarily identifies the beginning and the end of a behavioral sequence
(linear causality) which instead, in MRI terms, should be seen as part of a circular pattern. Also a
,communication pattern in which each participant believes that what he/she says or does is caused by
the other.
the process by which immigrant group members adjust to the culture of their new country
the postmodern process of constructing new meanings by examining implicit assumptions
The notion that while some people have a predisposition or inherited vulnerability to a mental
illness, the actual manifestation of the illness is determined by life events, particularly stressful events
in the family
The notion that the information people reveal varies according to the circumstances. For example,
the process of constructing a genogram tends to encourage subjective responses that distort the
information that is revealed. Therapists should pay attention not only to the information received from
the client family, but also to their projections and distortions.
The notion held by the Milan systemic group that causality in families cannot be thought of as a
simple, single cause and effect relationship (linear causality). Instead, events, behaviors, and
interactions are seen in a more complex way, as mutually influencing one another (feedback loops).
Each is the effect of a prior cause and in turn influences future behaviors. Family system events create
an endless (and beginning-less) circular chain. In this model it is meaningless to identify an individual
as having caused or started a problem. Instead, all elements of the problem coexist and are reciprocally
reinforcing. The problem could not be maintained if any one element were to be removed.
the most recent edition of the diagnostic manual of the American Psychiatric Association, which
provides a classification system of mental disorders and syndromes.
The legal right of clients or research subjects to be told of the purpose and risks prior to agreeing to
participate.
The Intervention -
the interrelationship among system elements that make up the organization of the system. In first-
order change, structures can b affected without altering the organization of the system; whereas, in
second-order change the organization's rules and structure are changed.
The integrated approach of Eron and Lund in which the therapists use MRI reframing techniques,
narrative therapy techniques, and elements of solution-focused therapy. The therapist believes that
people have a preference for how they would like to view themselves and others, which they call the
preferred view. They ask clients questions about their preferred view and about their vision of a future
without the problem. Therapists ask mystery questions, such as "How did a person who is so hard
working wind up feeling listless and depressed?"
the form of a message
The flow of information back into the system that works to amplify deviations which increases
instability and facilitates change toward meeting new goals. Positive feedback is not homeostatic.
The first intervention of solution-focused treatment in which clients are asked to observe their lives
between the first and second session to notice what has happened tha they would like to continue to
have happen so that they begin to identity their strengths.
the family member who manifests the symptoms
The family into which the person is born or adopted, used most extensively by transgenerational
models.
the extension f Hill's early work on stress by McCubbin and Patterson which considers the
cumulative effect of stress on families rather than the impact of a single stressor
The end of the contractual relationship between the therapist and client or family. It may be formal
and final or flexible. In some therapies it is initiated by the therapist, but in others the therapist follows
the family's lead. In BRIEF PERSPECTIVE therapies, the therapist initiates termination when the
presenting problem is eliminated or when the agreed-upon number of sessions is reached. Other
therapeutic models do not conceive of termination as final. Clients and families may return to treatment
when a new problem appears or an old problem reappears.
, The degree of emotion expressed by family members. It has been observed that families with a
schizophrenic member tend to have a high degree of intense and negative emotional interactions.
The control and decision-making structure of a family, which may be based on age, gender, roles, or
education. In structural and strategic family therapy, disordered hierarchies result in dysfunction.
The concept that specifices that you cannot combine individual elements of a system to recreate its
essential character. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
the chronological order in which family behaviors occur
The Bowenian concept of withdrawing from an existing triangle so that the person is not drawn into
the conflict between the other two, often the parents.
the analysis of the numeric quantity of elements in an interaction
The ability of a system or subsystem to achieve its goals.
Termination -
Temporal Sequencing -
Temperature Reading -
Teaming Roles -
Targeting Interventions at a specific family subsystem, such as the children or parents.
Tarasoft v. Regents of Univeristy of California -
Systems which are self-contained and often isolated by their limited recognition and use of feedback
Family Therapy Glossary (Everett, 2000)
Systematic Desentsitization -
System -
System -
Syntax -
Symptom Prescription -
Symmetrical -
Symbolic-Expeirential Family Therapy -
Sweat Boxes -
Survival Skills Workshops -
Suprasystem -
Suicide -
Suicidal Ideation -
Sudden, unanticipated change in family organization usually brought on by a crisis (may be
therapeutically induced), which causes a change in perception, beliefs, or perspective. The opposite of
continuous change which is gradual, evolutionary, or developmental.
Subsystem -
Substance Abuse -
Subjugated Stories -
Subjective Units of Discomfort (SUDS) -
Structure -
Structural Family Therapy -
Streptic Communication -
Strategic Humanism -
Strategic Family Therapy -
Stop-Start Technique (Squeeze Technique) -
Stepparent -
Split Filial Loyalty -
Spectatoring -
Sparkling Events -
Source -
