family, group, and behavioral concepts

Question 1

blended family

Answer 1

separates families united by marriage; step-families

Question 2

circular causality

Answer 2

the idea that events are related through a series of interacting loops of repeating cycles

Question 3

communications theory

Answer 3

the study of relationships in terms of the exchange of verbal and nonverbal messages

Question 4

complementary

Answer 4

relationships based on differences which fit together, where qualities of one make up for lacks in the other; one is one-up while the other is one-down

Question 5

concurrent therapy

Answer 5

treatment of two or more persons, seen separately, usually by different therapists

Question 6

conjoint therapy

Answer 6

treatment of tow or more persons in a session together

Question 7

contingency contracting

Answer 7

a behavior technique whereby agreements are made between family members to exchange rewards for desired behavior

Question 8

counter-transference

Answer 8

a behavior technique whereby agreements are made between family members to exchange rewards for desired behavior

Question 9

cross-generational coalition

Answer 9

an inappropriate alliance between a parent and a child who side together against a third member of the family

Question 10

differentiation

Answer 10

psychological separation of intellect and emotions and independent of self from others; opposite of effusion

Question 11

disengagement

Answer 11

the psychological isolation that results from overly rigid boundaries around individuals and subsystems in a famiyl

Question 12

double-bind

Answer 12

a conflict created when a person receives contradictory message on different levels of abstraction in an important relationship and cannot leave or comment

Question 13

emotional cutoff

Answer 13

bowen’s term for flight from an unresolved emotional attachment

Question 14

enactment

Answer 14

an interaction stimulated in structural family therapy in order to observe and then change transactions which make up family structure

Question 15

enmeshment

Answer 15

is a description of a relationship between two or more people in which personal boundaries are permeable and unclear. This often happens on an emotional level in which two people “feel” each other’s emotions, or when one person becomes emotionally escalated and the other family member does as well.

Question 16

extended family

Answer 16

all the descendants of a set of grandparents

Question 17

extinction

Answer 17

eliminating a behavior by not reinforcing it

Question 18

family drawing

Answer 18

an experiential therapy technique where family members are asked to draw their ideas about how the family is organized

Question 19

family group therapy

Answer 19

family treatment based on the group therapy model

Question 20

family homeostasis

Answer 20

tendency of families to resist change in order to maintain a steady state

Question 21

family life cycle

Answer 21

stages of family life– separation from one’s parents, marriage, having children, growing older, retirement, and death

Question 22

family stucture

Answer 22

the functional organization of families that determines how family members interact

Question 23

family myths

Answer 23

a set of beliefs based on a distortion of historical reality and shared by all family members that help shape the rules governing family functioning

Question 24

family of origin

Answer 24

a person’s parents and siblings; usually refers to the original nuclear family of an adult

Question 25

family projection process

Answer 25

In Bowenian theory the mechanism by which parental conflicts are projected onto the children or spouse

Question 26

family rules

Answer 26

a descriptive term for redundant behavioral patterns in a family based on expectations of how family members are expected to behave.

Question 27

feedback

Answer 27

the return of a portion of the output of a system, especially when used to maintain the output withing predetermined limits (negative feedback) or to signal a need to modify the system (positive feedback)

Question 28

functional analysis of behavior

Answer 28

in operant behavior therapy a study of a particular behavior, which elicits it, and what reinforces it (contemporary term: behavior analysis)

Question 29

fusion

Answer 29

a blurring of psychological boundaries between self and others, and a contamination of emotional and intellectual functioning; opposite of differentiation

Question 30

genogram

Answer 30

a schematic diagram of the family system using squares to represent men, circles to indicate women, horizontal lines for marriages, and vertical lines to indicate children

Question 31

group dynamics

Answer 31

interactions among group members that emerge as a result of properties of the group rather than merely their individual personalities

Question 32

hierarchical structure

Answer 32

family functioning based on clear generational boundaries where the parents maintain control and authority

Question 33

identified patient

Answer 33

the symptom bearer or official patient as identified by the family

Question 34

joining

Answer 34

a structural family therapy term for accepting and accommodating to families in order to win their confidence and circumvent resistance

Question 35

linear casuality

Answer 35

the idea that one event is the cause and another is the effect; in behavior the idea that one behavior is a stimulus, the other is a response

Question 36

live supervision

Answer 36

technique of teaching therapy whereby the supervisor observes sessions in progress

Question 37

modeling

Answer 37

observational learning

Question 38

multiple family therapy

Answer 38

treatment of several families at once in a group therapy

Question 39

nuclear family

Answer 39

parents and their children

Question 40

object relations

Answer 40

internalized images of self and others based on early parent-child interactions which determine a person's mode of relationship to other people

Question 41

object relations theory

Answer 41

theory which emphasizes the object-seeking propensity of the infant instead of the focusing exclusively on libidinal and aggressive drives

Question 42

paradox

Answer 42

a self-contradictory statement based on a valid deduction from acceptable premises? a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth.

Question 43

paradoxical directive

Answer 43

a technique used in therapy whereby the therapist directs family members to continue their symptomatic behavior-- if they conform, they admit control and expose secondary gain; if they rebel, they give up their symptoms

Question 44

parental (parentified) child

Answer 44

a child who has been allocated power to take care of younger siblings

Question 45

prescribing the symptom (paradox)

Answer 45

a paradoxical technique which forces a patient to either give up a symptom or admit that is is under voluntary responsibility

Question 46

positive connotation

Answer 46

technique of ascribing positive motives to family behavior in order to promote family cohesion and avoid resistance to therapy

Question 47

process/content

Answer 47

distinction between how members of a family or group relate and what they talk about

Question 48

projective identification

Answer 48

a defense mechanism that operates unconsciously whereby unwanted aspects of the self are attributed to another person and that person is induced to behave in accordance with these projected attitudes and feelings

Question 49

reframing

Answer 49

relabeling a family's description of behavior to make it more amenable to therapeutic change (e.g., describing someone lazy rather than depressed)

Question 50

regression

Answer 50

return to a less mature level of functioning in the face of stress

Question 51

reinforcement

Answer 51

an event, behavior, or object that increases the rate of a particular response

Question 52

relabeling

Answer 52

altering the meaning of behavior of redefining the situation so the perceived meaning of the behavior is less negative

Question 53

resistance

Answer 53

anything that patient or families do to oppose or retard the progress of therapy

Question 54

restraining

Answer 54

a strategic technique for overcoming resistance by suggesting that a family not change

Question 55

roleplaying

Answer 55

acting out the parts of important characters to dramatize feelings and practice new ways of relating

Question 56

scapegoat

Answer 56

a member of the family, usually the identified patient, who is the object of displaced conflict of criticism

Question 57

undifferentiated family ego mass

Answer 57

the emotional fusion or enmeshment of a family