Group Therapy

Question 1

group therapy strongly emphasizes

Answer 1

interpersonal interaction

Question 2

What does Yalom think the client’s problem stems from?

Answer 2

flawed interpersonal relationship skills

Question 3

what is universality?

Answer 3

o Clients realize that others share the same struggles (i.e., “we’re all in the same boat)
♣ Especially powerful in homogenous groups

Question 4

what is group cohesiveness?

Answer 4

o Feelings of interconnectedness among group members
o Trust, acceptance, belongingness
o Analogous to therapeutic alliance in individual therapy

Question 5

What is interpersonal learning?

Answer 5

The group becomes a social microcosm for each client. client will enact their own relationship pathology (without knowing) onto the group

Question 6

Interpersonal learning focuses on the

Answer 6

here and now.
♣ Discourage discussion of lives outside therapy
♣ Encourage discussion of relationships between group members in the current moment
♣ Clients talk directly with each other about the way they behave towards each other (feedback)

Question 7

what is a practical issue in group therapy with open and closed enrolment groups?

Answer 7

o Open-enrollment groups – individuals leave or join at any time (might not feel safe)
o Closed-enrollment groups – members start and finish together

Question 8

how does preparing a client for group therapy help avoid practical issues?

Answer 8

o Correct misconceptions
o Provide realistic and encouraging data about outcome
o Encourage helpful ways of participating

Question 9

what are the developmental stages of therapy groups?

Answer 9

o Initially, cautious and concerned about acceptance
o Next, some jockeying for position in the social “pecking order”
o Finally, cohesiveness emerges

Question 10

why is cotherapy good?

Answer 10

o Often, group therapy is conducted by a team of two therapists (rather than one)
o Second set of eyes and ears can attend to client behaviors
o Also, therapists can model healthy interaction

Question 11

why could cotherapy be bad?

Answer 11

o can be problematic when therapists are competitive, distrustful, or have incompatible therapy orientations

Question 12

what is a major issue outside of group therapy?

Answer 12

o Extra-group socializing between clients (romantic or platonic) is a significant problem
o Even when prohibited at the outset, it happens at times
o Loyalty to friendship may exceed loyalty to group
o Other group members can feel excluded

Question 13

what is the idea surrounding pathology with family therapy?

Answer 13

o Psychological symptoms as a by-product of dysfunctional families
o One individual may exhibit symptoms, but the problem belongs to the entire system

Question 14

What is the idea of reciprocal causality with family therapy?

Answer 14

events influence each other reciprocally

o As opposed to linear causality, which is endorsed by individual therapists

Question 15

What is focussed on in family therapy?

Answer 15

communication patterns

Question 16

what is the idea of functionalism?

Answer 16

that although the psychological symptoms seem maladaptive, within the family they are functional

Question 17

T or F? family therapists have pointed to unhealthy communication patterns among family members as the type of interaction that most significantly contributes to psychological problems.

Answer 17

True

Question 18

What is homeostasis in families?

Answer 18

Families regulate themselves by returning themselves to an emotional set point
♣ Like a thermostat

Question 19

what is feedback in response to homeostasis?

Answer 19

A family member may sense that the family is reaching an uncomfortable state, and take action (feedback) to return it to comfort zone.

Question 20

Genograms

Answer 20

A pencil-and-paper method of creating a family tree that incorporates detailed information about the relationships between family members for at least three generations
o Process and result can both be beneficial

Question 21

What do these represent?:

♣ Leaving home
♣ Joining of families through marriage or union
♣ Families with young children
♣ Families with adolescents
♣ Launching children and moving on in midlife
♣ Families in late middle age
♣ Families nearing the end of life

Answer 21

THE FAMILY LIFE CYCLE. A developmental theory for families, including seven important stages in family’s life:

Question 22

What is the Conflict Tactics Scale?

Answer 22

Objective questionnaire used to assess violence and abuse in couples

Measures how individuals react when family conflicts arise
♣ Speaking calmly, using insults, throwing objects, hitting others, etc.
♣ These are different levels and requires different interventions

Question 23

What is the identified patient

Answer 23

the person who the family thinks really has the problem when in actuality its the whole family, often difficult to persuade the family that the problem is systematic rather than individual

Question 24

family structures are unwritten rules by which the family

Answer 24

operates

Question 25

when flawed there is problems in relationship for ex:

Answer 25

in-laws

Question 26

How can family structure be improved?

Answer 26

by focusing on the subsystems within families and the boundaries between them

Question 27

family structures should neither be

Answer 27

enmeshed or disengaged

Question 28

emeshed

Answer 28

• don’t know where one person begins and the other ends. Problematic for kids and parents, the child might not know what they like or dislike.

Question 29

Disengaged

Answer 29

• withdrawn from the relationship

Question 30

differentiation of self is essential to allow a family member to become their own person, when this doesn’t happen they are emotionally …. and called …

Answer 30

o emotionally fused, or an undifferentiated ego mass

Question 31

when there is a triangle, what is the goal of therapy?

Answer 31

o encourage detriangulation and direct communication between two people at odds with each other

Question 32

What is solution focused therapy?

Answer 32

Emphasis on solving problems

Emphasis on the use of solution-talk rather than problem-talk
♣ Make clients think about positive outcomes rather than unpleasant present situations

Emphasis on exceptions to current problems (times when better) and how they created these exceptions (to encourage them to create more exceptions)

Question 33

What is narrative therapy?

Answer 33

o Highlights client’s tendencies to create meanings about themselves and the events in their lives in particular ways
o Stories we construct about our own lives are powerful influences on the way we experience new events
♣ We “edit” our experiences to fit the story line
♣ Kind of like CBT
♣ Ex: goes through a traumatic experience and added meaning to it
o Revise stories and recast selves in more positive, heroic way; new events can be interpreted more positively

Question 34

what is multi systemic family therapy designed for?

Answer 34

adolescents with long-term behavioral and emotional problems that involve legal offenses

Question 35

What is multi systemic family therapy ?

Answer 35

It utilizes elements of cognitive, behavioral, parent-training, solution-focused, and other kinds of therapy. Multisystemic therapists meet with various members of the family in various combinations (and in various locations, including home, the school, and community settings). They also meet with school personnel such as teachers and principals. They steer teens toward peers that will be good influences and activities that will be beneficial to their futures. They train the adults around the teens to support and encourage such behaviors

Question 36

what is cultural competency?

Answer 36

o Family therapists should appreciate the cultural background of the families
♣ Ethnicity
♣ Religion
♣ Other variables
o Often, one family includes a blend of cultural influences
♣ Members from different cultures
♣ Varying levels of acculturation

Question 37

How can confidentiality be difficult in family therapy?

Answer 37

o Can be difficult when own family member tells therapist something in private

Question 38

how can diagnosing be difficult?

Answer 38

o DSM disorder apply to individuals, not families
o If diagnosis is required, therapist who thinks system is flawed has a dilemma
♣ Labeling identified patient with disorder can perpetuate the family’s tendency to blame one member

Question 39

why is outcome research for family therapy hard to get?

Answer 39

• the issue of which family members’ opinions should be solicited

Question 40

is the research positive?

Answer 40

Not as much outcome research as individual therapy, but existing research is very positive
o Family therapy appears to work about as well as other modes of therapy
o Empirical studies demonstrate that a strong therapeutic relationship is key