Lios- Structural Family Therapy

Front 1

Define enactment

Back 1

An interaction stimulated in structural family therapy in order to observe & then change transactions that make up family structure.

Front 2

Define subsytems

Back 2

Smaller units in families, determined by generation, sex, or function.

Front 3

Family Structure refers to:

Back 3

The way a family is organized in to subsystems & how the interaction among those subsystems is regulated by boundaries.

Front 4

Three constructs that are the essential components of structural family theory:

Back 4

1) Structure
2) Subsystems
3) Boundaries

Front 5

Process

Back 5

The process of a family's interaction is like patterns of conversation at the dinner table.

Front 6

Structure

Back 6

The structure of the family is like where family members sit in relationship to one another.

Front 7

How is family structure reinforced?

Back 7

Family structure is reinforced by the expectations that establish rules in the family.

Front 8

Interpersonal Boundaries

Back 8

Invisible barriers that regulate contact with others.

Front 9

What occurs when subsystems are not adequately protected by boundaries?

Back 9

What occurs when subsystems are not adequately protected by boundaries limit the development of relationship skills.

Front 10

Rigid boundaries are restrictive and permit little contact with outside subsystems, resulting in:

Back 10

Disengagement
Disengaged systems are independent but isolated.

Front 11

Enmeshed subsystems offer closeness and support at the expense of what?

Back 11

Independent competence.

Front 12

Hierarchical structure

Back 12

Family functioning based on clear generational boundaries, where the parents maintain control and authority.

Front 13

Accommodation

Back 13

Elements of a system automatically adjust to coordinate their functioning; people may have to work harder at it.

For instance couples must agree on certain issues such as where to live and when to have children.

Front 14

Boundary Making

Back 14

Negotiating the boundaries between members of a relationship and between the relationship and the outside world.

Front 15

Boundary

Back 15

Emotional and physical barriers that protect and enhance the integrity of individuals, subsystems, and families.

Front 16

Hierarchies

Back 16

Hierarchies can be rigid and unfair or weak and ineffective.
Children may be unprotected due to a lack of judgement.
Growth of individuals may be impaired & power struggles may ensue.

Front 17

True or False- A functional hierarchy is necessary for a family's stability as well as flexibility is necessary for it to adapt to change.

Back 17

True

Front 18

What is the most common expression of fear of change?

Back 18

Conflict avoidance,when family members shy away from addressing their disagreements.
Disengaged people avoid conflict by minimizing contact; enmeshed people avoid conflict by denying differences or by constant bickering.

Front 19

Cross-generational coalition

Back 19

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

Front 20

Criticism of structural family therapy.

Back 20

The idea that family problems are embedded in family structures has led to the criticism of structural family therapy as pathologizing.

Front 21

What is the most important goal of structural family therapy.

Back 21

The creation of an effective hierarchy.
Parents are expected to be in charge, not to relate to their children as equals.
another common goal is to help parents function together as an executive subsystem.

Front 22

What is the goal of structural family therapy with enmeshed families?

Back 22

The goal is to differentiate individuals and subsystems by strengthening the boundaries around them.

Front 23

What is the goal of structural family therapy with disengaged families?

Back 23

The goal is to increase contact by making boundaries more permeable.

Front 24

How does the therapist in structural family therapy produce change?

Back 24

The therapist produces change by JOINING the family, probing for areas of flexibility, and then activating dormant structural alternatives.

Front 25

Joining

Back 25

Joining gets the therapist into the family; ACCOMMODATING to their style gives him/her leverage; and RESTRUCTURING maneuvers transform the family structure.

Front 26

Joining

Back 26

A structural family therapy term for accepting and accommodating to families to win their confidence and circumvent resistance.

Front 27

Enactment

Back 27

An interaction stimulated in structural family therapy in order to observe and then change transactions that make up family structure.

Front 28

Enmeshment

Back 28

Loss of autonomy due to a blurring of psychological boundaries.

Front 29

Disengagement

Back 29

Psychological isolation that results from overly rigid boundaries around individuals and subsystems in a family.

Front 30

Working with enactments requires three operations. What are they.

Back 30

1) the therapist defines or recognizes a problematic sequence.
2) The therapist directs the enactment
3) The therapist guides the family to modify the enactment.

Front 31

Structural Assessment

Back 31

Is based on the assumption that a family's difficulties often reflect problems in the way the family is organized.

Front 32

According Minuchin, what is the first step in the process of assessment?

Back 32

Ask questions about the presenting complaint until the family members begin to see that the problem goes beyond the symptom bearer to include the entire family.

Front 33

According Minuchin, what is the second step in the process of assessment?

Back 33

Help family members see how their interactions may inadvertently be perpetuating the presenting problem.

Front 34

According Minuchin, what is the third step in the process of assessment?

Back 34

Brief exploration of the past, focusing on how adults in the family came to develop the perspectives that now influence their problematic interactions.

Front 35

According Minuchin, what is the fourth step in the process of assessment?

Back 35

Explore options that family members can take to interact in more productive ways that will create a shift in family structure and resolve the presenting complaint.

Front 36

While the therapist's interventions should not be preplanned or rehearsed, structural family therapy generally follows seven steps.
What are they?

Back 36

1) Joining and accommodating
2) Enactment
3) Structural Mapping
4) Highlighting 7 modifying interactions
5) Boundary Making
6) Unbalancing
7) Challenging unproductive assumptions

Front 37

Structural Mapping

Back 37

Structural assessments which take into account both the problem the family presents & the structure they display.
Consistent awareness of the family's structure & focus one one or two structural changes helps the therapist see behind the various content issues that family members bring up and helps the therapist avoid taking a more passive role.

Front 38

Intensity

Back 38

Minuchin's term for changing maladaptive transactions by using strong affect, repeated intervention, or prolonged pressure.

Front 39

Empathy

Back 39

Understanding someone else's beliefs and feelings.

Front 40

Shaping

Back 40

Reinforcing change in small steps.

Highlighting and reinforcing the positive, structural therapists help family members use functional alternatives that are already in their repertoire.

Front 41

Boundary making

Back 41

In enmeshed families, interventions are designed to strengthen boundaries. Family members are urged to speak for themselves, interruptions are blocked, and dyads are helped to finish conversations w/out intrusion.

Front 42

What do disengaged people need to do to increase positive interaction?

Back 42

Disengagement is usually a way of avoiding arguments. Therefore, people isolated from each other typically need to discuss their differences before they can become closer.

Front 43

Unbalancing

Back 43

In unbalancing, the goal is to change the relationship within a system. What often keeps families stuck in stalemates is that members are balanced in opposition and, as a result, remain frozen in inaction. In unbalancing the therapist joins and supports one individual or subsystem.

Front 44

Challenging Unproductive Assumptions

Back 44

Practitioners challenge unproductive assumptions that support structural problems. Changing the way family members interact offers alternative views of their situation.
Changing the way family members view their situation enables them to change the way they interact.