An abstract delineation between parts of a system or between systems, typically defined by implicit or explicit rules regarding who may participate and in what manner.
Boundary
The study of methods of feedback control within a system, especially the flow of information through feedback loops.
Cybernetics
Those circular mechanisms by which information about a system’s output is continuously reintroduced back into the system, initiating a chain of subsequent events.
Feedback Loops
- refers to the family’s self-regulating efforts to maintain stability and resist change
- A dynamic state of balance or equilibrium in a system, or a tendency toward achieving and maintaining such a state in an effort to ensure a stable environment.
Homeostasis
“_________ frequently are carried over from previous generations and often have a powerful cultural component.”
Rules
“A family’s ________, then, reveal its values, help set up family roles consistent with these values...”
Rules
- _________ help family members know what is expected of them
- _________ help families function as a unit
Rules
The family member with the presenting symptom; thus, the person who initially seeks treatment or for whom treatment is sought.
Identified Patient
“A schematic diagram of a family’s relationship system, in the form of a genetic tree and usually including at least three generations; used in particular by Bowen and his followers to trace reoccurring behavior patterns within the family”
Genogram
- It maps intergenerational transmission.
- Helps us to see habits, characteristics, belief systems that have been passed on through generations.
Genogram
“The study of the origin, nature, and methods, as well as the limits, of knowledge; thus, a framework for describing and conceptualizing what is being observed and experienced.”
Epistemology
When did family therapy become an international phenomenon?
1980's
“A form of psychoeducational family therapy involving collaboration with physicians and other health care professionals in the treatment of persons of families with health problems.”
Medical family therapy
-The view that causality is nonlinear, occurring instead within a relationship context and through a network of interacting loops; any cause is thus seen as an effect of a prior cause, as in the interactions within families.
-”To designate a repetitive pattern of mutually reinforcing behavior in a male-female relationship”
Circular Causality
What is validity in test construction?
Do the things on the test really measure what you’re trying to measure.
What is reliability in test construction?
Get about the same score if you were to take the test multiple times (test-retest reliability) or... Are all of the questions doing the same things, or is one question not applicable? (internal consistency reliability)
What are the 6 phases Gottman used in the behavioral interview video?
1. DECISION
2. Clients’ GOALS for treatment
3. Marital ISSUES
4. Free INTERACTION
5. PLAY-BY-PLAY to identify miscommunication
6. Negotiating a Therapeutic CONTRACT
What did Gottman's 1st step (Decision stage) consist of?
Why did they decide to come for treatment?
What did Gottman's 2nd step (Clients’ GOALS for treatment) consist of?
- Do they agree? What do they want out of these visits? What are their expectations? What is the worst result that could happen from coming here?
What did Gottman's 3rd step (Marital ISSUES) consist of?
- What do you see is the issue you need to work on in your marriage?
- Give self-report questionnaires, etc.
What did Gottman's 4th step (Free INTERACTION) consist of?
- Have them talk to each other about one of these issues as you silently observe.
What did Gottman's 5th step (PLAY-BY-PLAY to identify miscommunication) consist of?
- Therapist stops the interaction right before it gets out of control and explains the purpose of the activity and explain what GOOD communication is: impact of the message sent matches the intent from the sender of the message.
- Don’t focus on resolving the issue, but how the issue was communicated.
What did Gottman's 6th step (Negotiating a Therapeutic CONTRACT) consist of?
- Discuss where you want to begin.
- My end of the contract will be to FACILITATE and GUIDE you to how to communicate effectively so you can resolve your OWN problems.
1. The ____ has drawn attention to the limiting and pernicious effects of sexist attitudes and patriarchal behavior on family functioning.
a. Feminist movement
b. Men’s studies
c. Both of the above
2. In our society, women are traditionally socialized compete whereas men are socialized to affiliate.
False
3. According to the textbook, family therapists have too often acted as agents of a society that has been oppressive toward women.
True
4. Overcoming confining sex-role stereotyping by therapists in their intervention efforts is called:
Gender sensitive family therapy
5. Socialization leads to women’s lives being more _____ while men’s lives are more ______.
Varied/Linear
6. From a feminist family therapy perspective, the ideas of an “enmeshed family” and “circular causality” are sexist.
True
7. The culturally-sensitive family therapist must be sensitive to a client family’s patterns that are:
a. Universal
b. Culture-specific
c. Idiosyncratic
d. All of the above
8. ________ families value family loyalty, unity, honor, and extended family relationships more than Caucasian American families.
Latino American
9. About ____ of families in the U.S. today are families of color?
25%
10. Family therapists must learn to recognize not only interethnic group diversity but also:
Intraethnic group heterogeneity
line that separates an individual, subsystem or system from outside surroundings. the clarity of the boundaries is more significant than the composition of the subsystem. helps determine whether a system is open or closed. permeability- how easily information is permitted to flow to and from the environment. boundaries within the family need to be clearly drawn and rules must be apparent to all
Boundaries
circular mechanisms of bringing information about a systems output back to its input. method of controlling the system. creating stability.
Feedback Loops
move from linear/causal to circular)concerned with patterns and processes. theory that entities can be governed by self regulating feedback loops → activated to correct errors or deviations, to restore stability. shifts attention from content to process. Greg bateson: ‘all changes are in an effort to maintain constancy, and constancy is maintained through change
Cybernetics
efforts to self regulate in order to to maintain stability and resist change. steady, but not static. family stability is rooted in change.
Homeostasis
usually unstated, they characterize, regulate, and stabilize how/how well the family functions as a unit. a sign of dysfunctional families is too many rules. rules should change at appropriate times.
Rules
families interact in repetitive behavioral sequences; members typically settle on a narrow option range or limited redundant patterns when dealing with one another
Redundancy principle
relationship with well-formulated rules where each partner gives and receives in return
Marital quid pro quo
What did Freud fail to do regarding the family and its role in creating problems for the individual?
He failed to assess how the current family relationships were affecting the problem, instead focusing on a patient’s internal fantasies that he theorized to originate from the past (family of origin). He also saw patients on an individual basis only, therefore missing how the nature familial interactions might be contributing to a problem.He focused on the intrapsychic world, the individual and their psyche.
This model focuses on family structure, organization, and transactional patterns, and current functioning in: basic task areas, developmental tasks, and hazardous tasks.
McMaster Model
This model uses a 7 point Rating scale (1 severely disturbed, 7 superior functioning) measures functioning in 6 crucial areas to assess how well families provide an environment where social and biological development can flourish: 1. family problem solving 2. family communication 3. Family roles 4. affective responsiveness 5. Affective involvement 6. behavioral control
McMaster Model
This 3D model measures cohesion, adaptability, and communication.
Olson Circumplex and FACES
This model uses:
4 levels of family cohesion:
disengaged, separated, connected, enmeshed
4 levels of family adaptability:
rigid, structured, flexible, and chaotic
Olson Circumplex and FACES
(pair of pants turned sideways) 14 item rating scale used to assess and classify family functioning. repeated measures chart the family's progress. the competence scale is supposed to give a picture of the family at any given moment. viewing functional/dysfunctional patterns as a continuum endorses the idea that families can change and grow.
Beavers
low end: leaderless, chaotic, invasive families, diffused boundaries.
high end: autonomous individuals, share intimacy and closeness but respect
two axes: interactive style and degree of family competency
centripetal: inner oriented
centrifugal: outwardly directed, more openly expressive of anger
Beavers Model
In family therapy language, what is meant by “identified patient”?
The family member with the presenting symptom; thus, the person who initially seeks treatment for for whom treatment is sought.
What does “multimethods” refer to in assessment families?
Using more than one method to assess (e.g. using an interview, self report, and mapping to assess a family)
What is the feminist critique of traditional family therapy?
Challenged the underlying assumptions about gender (that were the basis of family therapy and the culture that created it) that put women at a disadvantage. Urged to consider gender related issues within a family, power differences between spouses, and family therapists were encouraged to evaluate their own values.
What are 3 views of feminists about traditional family therapy?
Traditional family therapy focused and reinforced traditional gender roles (women- relational, men-power)
They emphasized how masculinized it was, males were in control of the profession and their theories were ruled by men.
They didn’t like how circular causality was a vocabulary term because a wife being physically abused may not be caused by the wife’s actions.
What are the “hazards of being male” (book)?
Men are socialized to not show emotion and thus become emotionally constipated. Our culture also expects men to be machines. (work til you die)
What are 4 assumptions made by the "hazards of being male"?
-men won’t do therapy
-men lack awareness of relational problems
-obsession with achievement
-inability to express emotions
5 male gender socialization
1. antifeminine
2. success
3. aggressive
4. sexual
5. self-reliance
What does the Family Environment Scale measure?
It attempts to measure the impact of the family environment on individual and family functioning.
What is Outcome Research?
Investigate general therapeutic efficacy, determine conditions under which family therapy is effective.
Provide evidence for what models work best for what specific problems and what specific problems are especially responsive to family-level interventions.
answers the question “does therapy work?”
What is Process Research?
Attempts to discover and operationally describe what actually takes place during the course of therapy.
Study of interaction between the patient and therapist systems.
What is associated with improvement or deteriorationanswers the question of “how effective is therapy?”
“what actually happens during therapy?”
What is the new epistemology?
Epistemology refers to how one goes about gaining knowledge and drawing conclusions about the world. the new epistemology is systems theory → focusing attention on the family as the subject matter, as an entity itself
Which family theory shows a 90% improvement rate for anorectic children?
Structural family therapy
Which theory showed that in that self differentiation influences how family members perceive stress in their lives?
Bowenian theory
Which family theory showed that 40% of families repeated full symptom relief, 32% considerable relief, and 28% no change?
Strategic therapy
To become a family therapist, we must shift our focus from ______ to _______.
“Individual Psyche to Family System”
The type of assessment instrument least vulnerable to faking good is the ________
Observation
What is circular causality?
forces moving in many directions at the same time, not one single event causing another event. a continuous series of circular loops or recurring chains of influence.one family members actions affect all other members, and their reactions cause other responses etc.
What was the major mental disorder early family therapist theorists studied when developing their theories?
Schizophrenia
What are the 7 criteria for choosing a family assessment instrument?
1. Relevant
2. Representative of the group.
3. Multi-method
4. Reliability and Validity
5. Clients should not feel tricked
6. Minimal: equipment, facilities, costs, time etc.
7. Appropriate for wide variety of people.
Which self report marital assessment was made on 1959 and it is outdated, but it has been used until current days?
Marital Adjustment Test
Which self report marital assessment was made in 1995 , which is revised and approved and it is much more accurate for our days?
Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale
Which type of family therapy works for substance abusing adults and adolescents?
brief strategic family therapy
Which type of therapy does the following:
decreased relapse and rehospitalization for individuals with schizophrenia and bipolar disorders whose families underwent treatment (also works for couples therapy)
psychoeducational
teens with behavioral problems benefit from which types of therapy?
functional family therapy
multisystemic therapy
parent management training
Which stage of family therapy believed that objectivity was impossible and the therapist plays a role in constructing what they are observing. helped move away from theoretical certainties and toward a respect for differences in their own viewpoints, views within families, genders, cultures, ethnicities, and different personal experiences. led to greater collaboration between therapist and family members.
The Constructionists/Comprehensive Approach (mid 1990’s):
Which stage of family therapy:
freestanding institutes devoted solely to family therapy flourished (more than 300, which is more than there are today).2 dozen family therapy journals in publication (50% in english).Organizations began to represent interests of family therapists. MFT became an international phenomenon.
The Golden Age (1980’s)
Which stage of family therapy had largest impact on self-analysis, brought attention to gender related issues which prepared therapists for later having to deal with multiculturalism and diversity. therapists also had to reevaluate their own values/beliefs that could be detrimental in treating a family.
Feminist Critique( mid 1970’s):
Stage of family therapy:
field started gathering momentum. rush to practice came before the development of research based procedures. instead borrowed ideas from individual psychotherapy. technique outdistanced theory and research well into the 1970s
Rush to Practice (1960’s)
(considered the “Rush to Practice”, therapists would be so excited about techniques they had found to work while this movement was gathering popularity that they were rarely grounded in scientifically proven research.)
3. Family movement. 1957
(Therapists would see children and parents, but separately. This eventually led to family centered techniques)
Child guidance Movement. 1951
(They were researching clinically to try and find cures for diseases like schizophrenia in Palo Alto. When the psychotheraputic techniques of the day didn’t work, more research went into the families themselves.)
Research of families with symptomatic member(s). 1937
