MFT Marital and Family Therapy 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A husband and wife report conflict over parenting styles. The therapist observes that whenever the topic arises, the wife looks to her mother (who lives with them) for validation. This most likely reflects a:
- Coalition between wife and mother against the husband
- Triangulation involving the mother as a stabilizing third party (Correct answer)
- Disengaged boundary between the couple and extended family
- Horizontal stressor affecting the nuclear family
Correct answer: Triangulation involving the mother as a stabilizing third party
The wife drawing the mother into the marital dyad to manage tension is a classic triangulation pattern in family systems theory.
Question 2: A therapist is treating a couple in which one partner has disclosed domestic violence. According to best practice, the MFT should:
- Continue couples therapy with safety planning integrated into each session
- Immediately terminate couples therapy and refer both partners to individual services (Correct answer)
- Use conjoint sessions to facilitate the perpetrator's accountability
- Suspend therapy until the couple has lived separately for six months
Correct answer: Immediately terminate couples therapy and refer both partners to individual services
Conjoint couples therapy is contraindicated in active domestic violence situations because it can increase victim risk; individual services for each partner are recommended.
Question 3: The 'miracle question' in Solution-Focused Brief Therapy is designed to:
- Uncover unconscious wishes and desires
- Help clients envision life without the problem to identify goals (Correct answer)
- Challenge irrational beliefs about the future
- Assess the client's level of hope and optimism
Correct answer: Help clients envision life without the problem to identify goals
The miracle question helps clients construct a detailed vision of their preferred future as if the problem were suddenly resolved, clarifying therapeutic goals.
Question 4: According to the AAMFT Code of Ethics, sexual contact with a former client is:
- Permissible after a two-year waiting period with documented justification
- Permissible only if the therapeutic relationship lasted fewer than six months
- Always prohibited regardless of time elapsed (Correct answer)
- A matter left to the therapist's clinical judgment
Correct answer: Always prohibited regardless of time elapsed
The AAMFT Code of Ethics prohibits sexual contact with former clients at any time, without exception.
Question 5: In Minuchin's Structural Family Therapy, the goal of 'joining' is to:
- Form an alliance with the most powerful family member to drive change
- Accommodate to the family's style and build therapeutic rapport before restructuring (Correct answer)
- Identify the family's structural map during the first session
- Assign the therapist to a specific subsystem for focused intervention
Correct answer: Accommodate to the family's style and build therapeutic rapport before restructuring
Joining means adapting to the family's communication style and culture to build trust before using restructuring techniques.
Question 6: A family therapist working with a blended family should prioritize which systemic understanding early in treatment?
- The biological parents must maintain primary authority in all decisions
- The couple subsystem must be strengthened before stepparent-child bonds develop (Correct answer)
- Stepchildren should be integrated into the new family as quickly as possible
- Biological and stepparent roles should be treated as equivalent from session one
Correct answer: The couple subsystem must be strengthened before stepparent-child bonds develop
Research on stepfamily development shows the couple subsystem must be stable before the stepparent can effectively bond with stepchildren.
Question 7: A therapist sees siblings together for the first time and one child begins crying and states the family always blames them for everything. The therapist's best systemic response is to:
- Validate the child's feelings and redirect blame toward the parents
- Explore with the family how each member experiences this pattern and their role in it (Correct answer)
- Reassure the child that blaming is not occurring
- Remove the child from the session to prevent further distress
Correct answer: Explore with the family how each member experiences this pattern and their role in it
A systemic approach explores how all family members participate in and are affected by the identified pattern rather than placing blame on one member.
MFT Marital and Family Therapy 5
A husband and wife report conflict over parenting styles.
The therapist observes that whenever the topic arises, the wife looks to her mother (who lives with them) for validation.
This most likely reflects a: