Marriage and family counseling Final Exam
Bowen Systems Therapy -
A form of transgenerational family therapy, founded by Murray Bowen, that views patterned
behavior as being innate in all of nature
Collaborative Language Systems -
A postmodern approach to family therapy, founded by Harlene Anderson and Harry Goolishian,
that views families as language-and-meaning-generating systems. Focus on conversation and
collaboration between therapist and client
Contextual Family Therapy -
A form of transgenerational family therapy, founded by I can Boszormenyi-Nagy, that focuses on
the role of ethics in family relationships
Cybernetics -
The science of communication and control in humans and machines The feedback; the study of the
self-regulating properties of a system. A scientific discipline interested in the inerrelationship between
stability and change
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) -
An evidence-based approach to therapy founded by Sue Johnson and Les Greenberg, that is based
on the role of attachment in adult relationships to help couples strengthen their emotional bonds
Evidence-based Family Therapy -
A movement within family therapy that emphasizes the need for therapeutic approaches to
demonstrate effectiveness through the use of research methods
Experiential Family Therapy -
A school of family therapy that focuses on human emotions and growth rather than interactional
sequences
Family of Origin -
The family in which an individual is raised/ grew up in
Group Therapy -
A form of treatment in which individuals discuss their problems in a group setting, allowing them
to receive support and feedback from the group members
Indentified Patient -
An individual family member identified as having a specific problem and who, in fact, is a
representative of a larger family problem
Interactional System -
A single unit in which all members interact as parts of a larger whole
,Invariant Prescription -
A technique in which a couple is instructed to form a secret alliance separate from the other family
members to break up the interactional patterns that exist in their family
LGBT Affirmative Therapy -
An approach to therapy that embraces a positive view of LGBT identities and relationships while
also addressing the negative influences that heterosexism has on the lives of LGBT individuals,
couples, and families
Live Supervision -
A form of training in which a supervisor behind a one-way mirror observers the trainee conduct
therapy and suggest interventions while the session is in progress.
Oversight by a more experienced therapist through direct observation of the session as it occurs.
Usually this is accomplished by using one-way mirrors or a video camera
Marital Schism -
A dysfunctional relationship pattern in which husband and wife fail to accommodate each other,
constantly attack each other, and compete for their children's affection
Marital Skew -
A dysfunctional relationship pattern in which one spouse is always dominant and the other is
submissive and dependent
Marriage Counseling -
A form of therapy in which a clinician meets with both spouses together to resolve problems in
their relationship
Marriage and Family Therapy -
A model of mental health and treatment that takes a family perspective on emotional problems and
psychopathology
Milan Systemic Family Therapy -
A form of therapy, founded by Mara Selvini Palazzoli, Luigi Boscolo, Gianfranco Cechin, and
Guiliana Prata, that focuses on both the interactional nature of the family and the therapist-client
relationship
Multigenerational Trasmission Process -
A process by which behavioral sequences are transmitted through several generations within a
family
Narrative Therapy -
A social constructionist family therapy, founded by Michael White, that helps clients challenge
their views of themselves as the problem and helps them develop alternative stories about themselves
based on their strengths. The name of the school of therapy most associated with the work of Dulwich
Centre and the Yaletown Family Therapy Center
Paradox -
, A statement that tends to disqualify itself. For example, a husband ordering his partner to be more
spontaneous disqualifies his demands, because his partner cannot behave spontaneously if she follows
his orders
Pseudohostility -
The false expression of anger to mask family members' needs for intimacy or for help with deeper
issues of conflict and alienation
Pseudomutuality -
The loss of personal identity in an attempt to maintain a sense of family togetherness
Social Constructionist Family Therapists -
This school of family therapy believes there is no objective reality; an that reality is subject to the
interpretations of various groups. This means that all ideas about how a family should look, or how it
should solve its problems, are subjective. Therefore, social constructionist family therapists do not tell
families how to change, but rather help them find their own solutions. Most associated with the Brief
Family Therapy Center
Social Work -
A branch of the mental health field that focuses on the impact of societal issues on human problems
Solution-Focused Therapy -
A social constructionist family therapy, founded by Steve de Shazer and Inso Kim Berg, that helps
clients solve their problems by identifying naturally occurring opportunities within their lives and
helping them utilize them
Strategic Family Therapy -
A brief approach, founded by the members of the Mental Research Institute, that focuses on
observing and altering the interactional sequences in which a problem is embedded
Structural Family Therapy -
An approach, founded by Salvador Minuchin, that alters the organization of a family to enable its
members to solve their problems. A family therapy theory that views emotional distress from an
organizational perspective. Individual problems are maintained not through personal pathology, but
rather through flaws in a family's organizational design. Focuses on how families operate (structure and
communication patterns
Symbolic-Experiential Family Therapy -
A specific form of experiental family therapy, founded by Carl Whitaker, in which the therapist
attempts to have an experiential form of encounter with the client, operating at the symbolic level in
order to bypass client resistance
Transgenerational Family Therapy -
A school of therapy that believes that problems are maintained by patterns that span several
generations in families
Adaptability -
The ability of a family system to change its patterns concurrent with changing conditions
, Analogic Communications -
Communication not with words, but via nonverbal, proverbial, and contextual aspects of
interaction. It has connotative meanings. In family therapy, it is the process of communication
Boundaries -
Abstract or physical dividers between or among systems and sub systems. They define who is part
of and who is not a particular system or subsystem
Circular Causality -
Refers to a nonlinear, circular sequence of events whereby one event modifies another event,
which in turn modifies another event, which eventually modifies the original event. The idea that
people in a relationship have mutual effects on each other, in a circular manner; for example, person A
withdraws because person B nags, and person B nags because person A withdraws
events, behaviors, and interactions are seen as mutually influencing one another. In families, each
member is influenced by every other member of the family system in a never ending cycle. Families
affect individuals and individuals affect their families to recursive manner
Closed System -
A system that has no interchange with its environment
Content -
Spoken or written words; in communicatino, what is said.
Covert Rules -
Rules that are implied but not overtly stated
Diffuse Boundaries -
Boundaries that are overly permeable. In families, these cause distances to decrease and roles to be
blurred
Digital Communication -
Verbal mode of communication. with denotative meaning. This takes place via spoken or written
words
Double Message -
Occurs when the process and content aspects of a message are not congruent
Entropy -
A system's tendency to move toward disorganization
Equifinality -
The principle that similar outcomes may result from different origins. In family systems theory,
this refers to the ability of a family or families to achieve similar goals in different ways
Equilibrium -
Balance in a system that keeps it stable
Equipotentiality -
The ability of the same process to produce different results
Bowen Systems Therapy -
A form of transgenerational family therapy, founded by Murray Bowen, that views patterned
behavior as being innate in all of nature
Collaborative Language Systems -
A postmodern approach to family therapy, founded by Harlene Anderson and Harry Goolishian,
that views families as language-and-meaning-generating systems. Focus on conversation and
collaboration between therapist and client
Contextual Family Therapy -
A form of transgenerational family therapy, founded by I can Boszormenyi-Nagy, that focuses on
the role of ethics in family relationships
Cybernetics -
The science of communication and control in humans and machines The feedback; the study of the
self-regulating properties of a system. A scientific discipline interested in the inerrelationship between
stability and change
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) -
An evidence-based approach to therapy founded by Sue Johnson and Les Greenberg, that is based
on the role of attachment in adult relationships to help couples strengthen their emotional bonds
Evidence-based Family Therapy -
A movement within family therapy that emphasizes the need for therapeutic approaches to
demonstrate effectiveness through the use of research methods
Experiential Family Therapy -
A school of family therapy that focuses on human emotions and growth rather than interactional
sequences
Family of Origin -
The family in which an individual is raised/ grew up in
Group Therapy -
A form of treatment in which individuals discuss their problems in a group setting, allowing them
to receive support and feedback from the group members
Indentified Patient -
An individual family member identified as having a specific problem and who, in fact, is a
representative of a larger family problem
Interactional System -
A single unit in which all members interact as parts of a larger whole
,Invariant Prescription -
A technique in which a couple is instructed to form a secret alliance separate from the other family
members to break up the interactional patterns that exist in their family
LGBT Affirmative Therapy -
An approach to therapy that embraces a positive view of LGBT identities and relationships while
also addressing the negative influences that heterosexism has on the lives of LGBT individuals,
couples, and families
Live Supervision -
A form of training in which a supervisor behind a one-way mirror observers the trainee conduct
therapy and suggest interventions while the session is in progress.
Oversight by a more experienced therapist through direct observation of the session as it occurs.
Usually this is accomplished by using one-way mirrors or a video camera
Marital Schism -
A dysfunctional relationship pattern in which husband and wife fail to accommodate each other,
constantly attack each other, and compete for their children's affection
Marital Skew -
A dysfunctional relationship pattern in which one spouse is always dominant and the other is
submissive and dependent
Marriage Counseling -
A form of therapy in which a clinician meets with both spouses together to resolve problems in
their relationship
Marriage and Family Therapy -
A model of mental health and treatment that takes a family perspective on emotional problems and
psychopathology
Milan Systemic Family Therapy -
A form of therapy, founded by Mara Selvini Palazzoli, Luigi Boscolo, Gianfranco Cechin, and
Guiliana Prata, that focuses on both the interactional nature of the family and the therapist-client
relationship
Multigenerational Trasmission Process -
A process by which behavioral sequences are transmitted through several generations within a
family
Narrative Therapy -
A social constructionist family therapy, founded by Michael White, that helps clients challenge
their views of themselves as the problem and helps them develop alternative stories about themselves
based on their strengths. The name of the school of therapy most associated with the work of Dulwich
Centre and the Yaletown Family Therapy Center
Paradox -
, A statement that tends to disqualify itself. For example, a husband ordering his partner to be more
spontaneous disqualifies his demands, because his partner cannot behave spontaneously if she follows
his orders
Pseudohostility -
The false expression of anger to mask family members' needs for intimacy or for help with deeper
issues of conflict and alienation
Pseudomutuality -
The loss of personal identity in an attempt to maintain a sense of family togetherness
Social Constructionist Family Therapists -
This school of family therapy believes there is no objective reality; an that reality is subject to the
interpretations of various groups. This means that all ideas about how a family should look, or how it
should solve its problems, are subjective. Therefore, social constructionist family therapists do not tell
families how to change, but rather help them find their own solutions. Most associated with the Brief
Family Therapy Center
Social Work -
A branch of the mental health field that focuses on the impact of societal issues on human problems
Solution-Focused Therapy -
A social constructionist family therapy, founded by Steve de Shazer and Inso Kim Berg, that helps
clients solve their problems by identifying naturally occurring opportunities within their lives and
helping them utilize them
Strategic Family Therapy -
A brief approach, founded by the members of the Mental Research Institute, that focuses on
observing and altering the interactional sequences in which a problem is embedded
Structural Family Therapy -
An approach, founded by Salvador Minuchin, that alters the organization of a family to enable its
members to solve their problems. A family therapy theory that views emotional distress from an
organizational perspective. Individual problems are maintained not through personal pathology, but
rather through flaws in a family's organizational design. Focuses on how families operate (structure and
communication patterns
Symbolic-Experiential Family Therapy -
A specific form of experiental family therapy, founded by Carl Whitaker, in which the therapist
attempts to have an experiential form of encounter with the client, operating at the symbolic level in
order to bypass client resistance
Transgenerational Family Therapy -
A school of therapy that believes that problems are maintained by patterns that span several
generations in families
Adaptability -
The ability of a family system to change its patterns concurrent with changing conditions
, Analogic Communications -
Communication not with words, but via nonverbal, proverbial, and contextual aspects of
interaction. It has connotative meanings. In family therapy, it is the process of communication
Boundaries -
Abstract or physical dividers between or among systems and sub systems. They define who is part
of and who is not a particular system or subsystem
Circular Causality -
Refers to a nonlinear, circular sequence of events whereby one event modifies another event,
which in turn modifies another event, which eventually modifies the original event. The idea that
people in a relationship have mutual effects on each other, in a circular manner; for example, person A
withdraws because person B nags, and person B nags because person A withdraws
events, behaviors, and interactions are seen as mutually influencing one another. In families, each
member is influenced by every other member of the family system in a never ending cycle. Families
affect individuals and individuals affect their families to recursive manner
Closed System -
A system that has no interchange with its environment
Content -
Spoken or written words; in communicatino, what is said.
Covert Rules -
Rules that are implied but not overtly stated
Diffuse Boundaries -
Boundaries that are overly permeable. In families, these cause distances to decrease and roles to be
blurred
Digital Communication -
Verbal mode of communication. with denotative meaning. This takes place via spoken or written
words
Double Message -
Occurs when the process and content aspects of a message are not congruent
Entropy -
A system's tendency to move toward disorganization
Equifinality -
The principle that similar outcomes may result from different origins. In family systems theory,
this refers to the ability of a family or families to achieve similar goals in different ways
Equilibrium -
Balance in a system that keeps it stable
Equipotentiality -
The ability of the same process to produce different results
