MFT Ultimate Marital and Family Therapy 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A couple presents with repetitive arguments that follow the same pursue-withdraw pattern. In EFT, the pursuer's underlying attachment need is most likely:
- Dominance and control
- Reassurance and closeness (Correct answer)
- Independence and autonomy
- Validation of cognitive schemas
Correct answer: Reassurance and closeness
In EFT, pursuers typically escalate to seek reassurance and connection, as their underlying attachment need is for closeness and emotional availability.
Question 2: Which of the following best describes the therapeutic technique of 'enactment' in structural family therapy?
- The therapist role-plays a family member's behavior
- The family is asked to demonstrate their conflict in session (Correct answer)
- A family member acts out a solution to the problem
- The therapist enacts the family's ideal future
Correct answer: The family is asked to demonstrate their conflict in session
Enactment involves the therapist directing family members to transact their problematic interactions live in session so the therapist can observe and restructure them.
Question 3: A narrative therapist asks a client to recall times when the problem did not control their life. This is called:
- Deconstruction
- Unique outcome (Correct answer)
- Re-authoring
- Externalization
Correct answer: Unique outcome
Unique outcomes (or sparkling moments) are exceptions to the dominant problem-saturated story that serve as entry points for constructing an alternative narrative.
Question 4: Under the AAMFT Code of Ethics, an MFT who becomes aware of an impaired colleague should FIRST:
- Report the colleague directly to the state licensing board
- Terminate all professional contact with the colleague
- Address the concern directly with the colleague when feasible (Correct answer)
- Notify the colleague's clients immediately
Correct answer: Address the concern directly with the colleague when feasible
The AAMFT Code of Ethics indicates that therapists should first attempt to address colleague impairment directly and informally when it is feasible to do so.
Question 5: In behavioral couples therapy (BCT), 'behavioral exchange' interventions are designed to:
- Increase positive reciprocal behaviors between partners (Correct answer)
- Extinguish maladaptive attachment patterns
- Identify and modify core beliefs about relationships
- Reduce physiological arousal during conflict
Correct answer: Increase positive reciprocal behaviors between partners
Behavioral exchange in BCT involves partners identifying and increasing positive behaviors they do for each other to improve relationship satisfaction.
Question 6: A therapist feels strong anger during a session with an abusive husband. The therapist's emotional response to the client is best described as:
- Resistance
- Transference
- Countertransference (Correct answer)
- Parallel process
Correct answer: Countertransference
Countertransference refers to the therapist's emotional reactions to the client, which must be monitored and managed to avoid therapeutic harm.
Question 7: Which family therapy model emphasizes 'circular questioning' as a primary assessment and intervention tool?
- Structural Family Therapy
- Narrative Therapy
- Milan Systemic Therapy (Correct answer)
- Experiential Family Therapy
Correct answer: Milan Systemic Therapy
Circular questioning is a hallmark technique of Milan Systemic Therapy, used to reveal relationship patterns and introduce new information into the family system.
MFT Ultimate Marital and Family Therapy 4
A couple presents with repetitive arguments that follow the same pursue-withdraw pattern.
In EFT, the pursuer's underlying attachment need is most likely: