MFT Trauma and Abuse in Family Systems 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Intergenerational trauma is best described as:
- Trauma that only occurs within multi-generational households
- The transmission of trauma-related psychological and biological effects from one generation to the next (Correct answer)
- Trauma caused by conflicts between different age cohorts in a family
- Trauma that requires multiple generations to fully resolve
Correct answer: The transmission of trauma-related psychological and biological effects from one generation to the next
Intergenerational trauma refers to how psychological, behavioral, and epigenetic effects of trauma can be transmitted from parents to children across generations.
Question 2: When a family therapist identifies active domestic violence in a family, the FIRST clinical priority is:
- Helping the couple develop healthier communication patterns
- Psychoeducation about the cycle of violence
- Assessing for safety and creating a safety plan (Correct answer)
- Exploring the childhood origins of the abusive partner's behavior
Correct answer: Assessing for safety and creating a safety plan
Safety assessment and safety planning must always precede any other therapeutic intervention when domestic violence is present, to protect the victim from immediate harm.
Question 3: The primary clinical use of the ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) score is to:
- Determine the current severity of PTSD symptoms
- Predict the statistical likelihood of future traumatic events
- Assess cumulative childhood exposure to adversity and associated health risk (Correct answer)
- Provide a formal diagnosis of childhood trauma disorder
Correct answer: Assess cumulative childhood exposure to adversity and associated health risk
The ACE score quantifies cumulative adverse experiences in childhood to estimate associated risk for negative physical and mental health outcomes in adulthood.
Question 4: Which family therapy model specifically addresses trauma by focusing on disrupted attachment bonds?
- Strategic Family Therapy
- Structural Family Therapy
- Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) (Correct answer)
- Solution-Focused Brief Therapy
Correct answer: Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)
EFT addresses how trauma disrupts attachment bonds in couples and families, working to repair emotional accessibility and responsiveness.
Question 5: Which statement best defines emotional abuse of a child?
- Physical harm that secondarily results in emotional distress
- A persistent pattern of behavior that damages a child's emotional development and sense of self-worth (Correct answer)
- Neglect of a child's emotional needs on an isolated occasion
- Any exposure of a child to adult conflict
Correct answer: A persistent pattern of behavior that damages a child's emotional development and sense of self-worth
Emotional abuse is defined by a persistent pattern of behaviors — not isolated incidents — that chronically damage a child's emotional development and self-concept.
Question 6: Trauma-informed care in family therapy fundamentally requires the therapist to:
- Ask clients directly about their full trauma history in the first session
- Understand how trauma impacts behavior and create a consistently safe therapeutic environment (Correct answer)
- Specialize exclusively in trauma treatment before seeing any family cases
- Report all trauma disclosures to the appropriate authorities
Correct answer: Understand how trauma impacts behavior and create a consistently safe therapeutic environment
Trauma-informed care means integrating knowledge of trauma's widespread impact into all aspects of practice to promote safety and avoid re-traumatization, not specialized trauma processing.
Question 7: In Herman's phase-based model of trauma treatment, which phase involves directly processing traumatic memories?
- Safety and stabilization
- Remembrance and mourning (Correct answer)
- Reconnection and integration
- Psychoeducation and rapport-building
Correct answer: Remembrance and mourning
Herman's second phase — remembrance and mourning — involves working through traumatic memories and grieving losses associated with the trauma, after safety is established.
MFT Trauma and Abuse in Family Systems 2
Intergenerational trauma is best described as: