Where It Started
Who founded the Mental Research Institute (MRI) in 1959?
A. Murray Bowen
B. Don Jackson
C. Salvador Minuchin
D. Mara Selvini Palazzoli
B. Don Jackson
Quick Memory Hook
Jackson = MRI. He founded MRI and brought together people such as Richard Fisch, John Weakland, and Paul Watzlawick.
According to MRI, what often keeps a problem going?
A. Childhood trauma alone
B. Lack of insight
C. Repeating unsuccessful attempted solutions
D. Birth order
C. Repeating unsuccessful attempted solutions
Quick Memory Hook
Think: “The solution becomes the problem.” MRI looked for the “more-of-the-same” response that accidentally maintains the difficulty.
Which theorist was an Italian psychoanalyst specializing in eating disorders before helping develop the Milan systemic model?
A. Mara Selvini Palazzoli
B. Virginia Satir
C. Monica McGoldrick
D. Betty Carter
A. Mara Selvini Palazzoli
Quick Memory Hook
Palazzoli = Milan. She became frustrated with psychoanalysis and turned toward Bateson, Haley, Watzlawick, and systemic family therapy.
Which Milan technique asks questions designed to help family members see relationships, reciprocity, and patterns rather than blame one person?
A. Empty-chair technique
B. Circular questioning
C. Free association
D. Miracle question
B. Circular questioning
Quick Memory Hook
Think: Circular questions = circular causality. Instead of “Why is she depressed?” ask “Who worries most when she becomes depressed?”
What was a major criticism of early strategic/Milan therapy?
A. Therapists were too passive.
B. It relied too heavily on childhood memories.
C. It could feel manipulative, controlling, or adversarial.
D. It avoided giving families any interventions
C. It could feel manipulative, controlling, or adversarial.
Quick Memory Hook
Remember the evolution: CONTROL → CURIOSITY. Early Milan could treat therapy like a power struggle; later Boscolo and Cecchin moved toward collaborative questioning.