MFT National Exam Study Guide with
Complete Solutions
_____ _____ is a pathological form of closeness driven by anxiety - ANSWER-anxious
attachment
A group whose leader spends her time modeling behaviors such as listening, empathy,
and tends to structure the group experience, is in which of the following developmental
stages: - ANSWER-Initial
A man discussed his difficult and painful childhood with his therapist. When asked by
the therapist, if he hoped things would be easier for his children than for him, the man
responded: 'Why should they?' According to Contextual therapy, this is an example of: -
ANSWER-Destructive entitlement
according to Bowen what 2 counterbalancing life forces drive human relationships? -
ANSWER-individuality and togetherness. Each of us needs companionship and a
degree of independence
according to Bowen what is the most important unfinished business of our lives? -
ANSWER-unresolved emotional reactivity
according to Bowen what is the smallest stable relationship system with emotional
forces in constant motion? - ANSWER-the triangle
according to Bowen, do we have more or less autonomy in our emotional lives than we
assume? why? - ANSWER-we have less autonomy because most of us are more
dependent and reactive to one another than we like to think
according to Bowen, what are three predictable steps in the family reaction to self-
differentiation? - ANSWER-1. "You are wrong" or some version of that
2. "Change back" which can be communicated in many ways
3. "If you do not, these are the consequences...."
According to Bowen, when two people have problems they are unable to resolve and
they get to the ponit where it's hard to talk about certain things what happens? -
ANSWER-one or both partners will turn to someone else for sympathy or the conflict will
draw in a third person to try to help. Thus, a triangle is formed.
According to Bowenian transgenerational theory, the past generations have a powerful
influence on the present. (true or false) - ANSWER-true
,according to contextual therapy what are the most forceful determinants of conduct and
why? - ANSWER-ethical acounts are the most forceful determinants because their
effect is channeled through internalized commitments
according to contextual therapy what is one's greatest unhappiness? - ANSWER-
connected to loss or a coming apart (ex: loss of a child)
according to contextual therapy what is one's gretest satisfaction? - ANSWER-in coming
together in a relationship (ex: raising a child)
According to Contextual therapy, __________ is a major issue in all close relationships.
- ANSWER-Fairness
According to Minuchin, the common or signature pattern for troubled middle-class
families consists of: - ANSWER-An enmeshed mother and a disengaged father
according to Nagy and contextual therapy what reaches across generations and greatly
affects an individual's present behavior? - ANSWER-unconscious and invisible loyalties
or bonds
according to Nagy and contextual therapy while examining one's attitudes, beliefs, and
feelings about a parent a person'a relationship to their child can become...... -
ANSWER-both parent and child
according to Nagy where do our ethics originate? - ANSWER-with internalizations of our
relationships with our parents
according to parentification and contextual therapy the scapegoat is.. - ANSWER-the
saddest of all human beings and tremendously powerful in keeping the system intact
(some couples "have to" stay together just to handle what the scapegoat child will do
next)
According to Psychoanalytic theory, mental conflict arises when: - ANSWER-Children
learn that expressing natural impulses brings punishment
Anthony and Brenda come to counseling on the advice of Brenda's doctor. Brenda tells
you that Anthony sits in front of the television all day and won't pay attention to her at
all. Anthony tells you that Brenda is always doing something around the house and
ignores him, so he just watches television. A Strategic family therapist would see this
interaction as an example of: - ANSWER-Circular causality.
are prescriptions and directives given in contextual therapy? - ANSWER-no
as a transgenerational therapist what are your 4 objectives when working with a couple?
- ANSWER-1. keep the emotional system meaningful and toned down enough for them
to cope objectively without too much emtional reactiveness
,2. keep yourself out of the emotional field between the couple
3. establish what Bowen calls an "I" position, part of the differentiation of self
4. Teach the couple how emotional systems operate and encourage them to work
toward their respective self-differentiation to their families of origin
Being easily driven by emotionality, lacking a sense of self, inability to express your own
thoughts and constantly reacting to those around you, are characteristics of what type of
person? - ANSWER-an undifferentiated person
Bowen was an exception in that he was more committed to systems theory as a way of
thinking than as a set of interventions (true or false) - ANSWER-true
By giving credit to people, Contextual therapists teach clients to: - ANSWER-Also give
credit to each other
can the degree of differentiatiion of self be used as an over-all assessment in the life
processs - ANSWER-yes
can you identify 1 person in circular causality as having caused a problem? why or why
not? - ANSWER-it is meaningless to identify one person because all elements of the
problem are thought to be coexisting and reciprocally reinforcing problems can't be
maintained if even one element is removed.
Choice of marital partner is determined, according to Bowen, by way of: - ANSWER-
Replication of familiar family interaction; similar levels of differentiation; choosing their
own alter ego
Communications theory is defined as the study of: - ANSWER-The exchange of verbal
and non-verbal messages in relationships
contextual therapy comes from what model of therapy? - ANSWER-transgenerational
Contextual therapy pays attention to background history and past experiences in order
to - ANSWER-assess ways in which individuals have been hurt in the past
Define Bowen's emotional cutoff. - ANSWER-the way people manage anxiety between
generations. The greater emotional fusion between parents and children, the greater the
likelihood of cutoff.
define circularity - ANSWER-the cause of one event is understood to have been itself
caused by others, thus creating an endless (and begin-less) circular chain of events
define differentiation of self - ANSWER-the capacity to think and reflect, to not respond
automatically to emotional pressures, internal or external. It's the ability to be flexible
and act wisely, even in the face of anxiety.
, define entropy - ANSWER-the tendency of a system to become disordered and random
unless controlled by outside forces
Define family projection process - ANSWER-the part of the process by which parents
project their undifferentiation onto one or more of the children
define first-order change. - ANSWER-from the MRI school; adaptations and changes in
structure which do not effect the system's organizational principles
define loyalties - ANSWER-unconsious commitments that children take on to help their
families to the detriment of their own well-being
define paradoxical intervention - ANSWER-a strategic intervention that is built around a
statement that contains one meaning and which contradicts itself. This subtle
contradiction is used to perturb the system and to generate change. Example: Issued as
a demand "be independent!"
define parentification - ANSWER-the distortion of a relationship in which one's spouse
or children are induced to function as if they were one's parent
define projected identification? - ANSWER-often the person that is projected upon
begins to believe/accept that projection
define projection - ANSWER-a defense against unwanted feelings or beliefs about
oneself, in which these elements are attributed to others and often inducing them to
behave as if these characteristics were true to them
define second-order change - ANSWER-from the MRI school; a change in the rules that
govern the emotions and behavioral patterns of the system, resulting in fundamental
system re-organization
define sibling position - ANSWER-children develop personality characteristics based on
their position in the family
define triangulation - ANSWER-telling a partner in a dyad something about the third
person in a triangle
describe an example of emotional cutoff - ANSWER-husband emotionally reactive to
family keeps emotional distance from wife. She becomes anxiously attached to child.
Because this relieves his anxiety, he accepts the overinvolvement reinforcing the
entanglement and his distance. This cripples the child emotionally and causes less
differentiation of self in child. Child is more prone to anxiety
Describe an example of emotional cutoff. - ANSWER-Some people seek distance by
moving away, others seek distance emotionally by avoiding personal conversations or
insulating themselves with the presence of third parties.
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