Terms
What is a schema?
A cognitive framework or concept that helps organize and interpret information. Simply put, a schema describes patterns of thinking and behavior that people use to interpret the world
Who is B.F. Skinner?
American psychologist known for his impact on behaviorism. He proposed the theory of operant conditioning, which states that behavior change and learning occur as the outcomes or effects of punishment and reinforcement.. Think Rats!!
Describe the good/bad object. What modality uses this?
Black and white thinking, viewing people as either all good or all bad. Psychodynamic uses this!
What is the role of the therapist in CBFT?
• To teach the family how emotional
problems are caused by unrealistic
beliefs and that, by revising these self-
defeating ideas, they may improve the
quality of family life.
• Ask a series of questions about
assumptions, rather than challenge
them directly
Describe how you would use aversive control
Part of CBT; the use of an aversive stimulus or consequence, such as punishment or negative reinforcement, to control behavior. For example, placing unpleasant-tasting substances on the fingernails to discourage nail-chewing
Define Magnification and Minimization
Magnification and minimization are negative, unhealthy thought patterns where an individual magnifies or exaggerates the negative aspects of their life while minimizing their own accomplishments, abilities, or positive experience
Who founded experiential therapy?
Carl Whitaker and Virginia Satir!
Explain systematic desensitization! Bonus 25 points if you know who founded it!
Systematic desensitization is a behavioral technique whereby a person is gradually exposed to an anxiety-producing object, event, or place while being engaged in some type of relaxation at the same time in order to reduce the symptoms of anxiety.
Bonus: Joseph Wolpe
Describe the 3 principles of Solution-Focused Therapy
1. Don't dwell on the past
2. Be solution focused
3. Set goals and take action!
What is this an example of:
This week I will agree to:
1. Wake up earlier before work and make breakfast and prepare the coffee.
2. Walk the dogs with Marie three times out of the week.
Husband’s signature: ____________________
Contingent on Thomas’ behavior changes, I will:
1. Prepare dinner before Thomas gets home from work three nights during the week.
2. Go to a movie on a weeknight.
Wife’s signature: ________________________
Quid Pro Contract!
Define splitting and provide an example of it
a tendency—usually unconscious—to view most or all aspects of one's life in a false dichotomy of either good or bad.
What therapy modality did Insoo Kim Berg and Steve de Shazer create?
Solution-Focused therapy!
Describe the ABC model!
The ABC model is an mnemonic that represents the three stages that determine our behavior: Activating events: a negative situation occurs. Beliefs: the explanation we create for why the situation happened. Consequences: our feelings and behaviors in response to adversity, caused by our beliefs
Describe the goals of Psychoanalytic therapy. (there are 3)
- To free family members from the power of unconscious constraints so they can relate in a healthy way
- Separation-individuation or differentiation (similar to Bowen’s concept)
- To let go of one another in a way that frees the other to become more independent
Describe the types of clients that Solution Focused Therapy describes
Visitor – someone who isn’t really looking for therapy, doesn’t have a complaint and doesn’t wish to work on anything
• Complainants – clients who do have a complaint, but about someone else, and are unwilling to work on solving it
• Customers – clients with complaints about a problem, but also the motivation to resolve it
Psychoanalytic therapy describes ___ as the redirection to a substitute, usually the therapist, of emotions that were originally felt in childhood, and ____ when the therapist projects their unresolved conflicts onto the client.
transference; countertransference
Who is Richard Schwartz and what did he believe?
Dr. Schwartz developed Internal Family Systems (IFS) in response to clients’ descriptions of various parts within themselves. He focused on the relationships among these parts and noticed that there were systemic patterns to the way they were organized across clients. He also found that when the clients’ parts felt safe and were allowed to relax, the clients would experience spontaneously the qualities of confidence, openness, and compassion that Dr. Schwartz came to call the Self. He found that when in that state of Self, clients would know how to heal their parts.
Describe the here and now. What approach utilizes this?
Focus on the immediate situation. In psychotherapy, it comprises the cognitive, affective, and behavioral material arising at any given point in a session, as well as the relationship between the therapist and client at the corresponding point in time.
Name the 4 basic assumptions of Narrative Therapy
1. People have good intentions (they don’t need or want problems)
2. People are profoundly influenced by the discourses around them
3. People are not their problems
4. People can develop alternative, empowering stories once separated from their problems and the cultural myths they have internalized
Miranda and Chase have been coming to couples therapy for a while. The initial reason that brought them to couples therapy was that Chase saw another man leave their house on a ring camera. Miranda said it was just the neighbor that stopped by and nothing happened. Chase stated that he feels like a failure and desperately wants to earn his wife’s love back. Miranda questions whether she wants to stay married to Chase; she just doesn’t feel like she is in love anymore. Chase is heart broken and spends most of the sessions in tears, feeling like he is watching his marriage deteriorate right in front of him.
• Using the A-B-C theory, what would the cognitive-behavioral family therapist label as the A, B, and C?
Antecedents: another man leaving house
Beliefs: Chase is a failure, Miranda believes she is not in love anymore,
Consequences: Couples therapy, Chase is heartbroken, marriage falling apart
Who created arbitrary inference, and what is it?
Arbitrary inference is one of the earliest and broadest cognitive distortions described in CBT. Beck defines it as "the process of forming an interpretation of a situation, event, or experience when there is no factual evidence to support the conclusion or when the conclusion is contrary to the evidence."
What did Thibaut and Kelley do for the field of psychology?
Developed the Social Exchange Theory, which states people will pursue relationships where rewards are greater than cost and abandon those where costs are greater than profit. These profits can be measured in the short term or cumulatively. The value of costs and rewards is highly subjective.
What modality utilizes Relative Influence Questions? Tells us who founded this concept and give an example.
Relative influence questioning, founded by Michael White and used in narrative therapy, allows clients to think of themselves not as problem people but as individuals who have a relationship with a problem. Here are some examples of relative influence questions: • In that situation, were you stronger than the problem, or was the problem stronger than you?
Founded by Sue Johnson, ____ seeks to restore connection and promote resilience in family relationships. The principle goal of this modality is to re-establish more secure family patterns where attachment and caregiving responses are practical and emotional bonds are repaired. These resources inform a network of security that provides the flexibility and closeness necessary for families to promote individual growth and meaningful relationships across generations.
Emotion-focused family therapy
Chet and Ashley come to couples therapy saying they want to work on and grow in their marriage. Chet identifies the problem, saying Ashley has not worked in years and is frustrated at the stagnation of their life and family. He asks her to either start a family or get a job. Ashley says she wants a family someday but is hesitant to bring kids into their family now, identifying both the tension in their marriage and her own depression as part of the reason.
• As a narrative family therapist, how would you proceed?
- The first goal of Narrative therapy is to get the problem outside of the individual
- Recasting the problem as an affliction (externalizing) by focusing on its effects rather than its causes
- Finding exceptions, or partial triumphs, over the problem and instances of effective action
- Recruiting support
- Deconstruction questions : ie, what does your depression tell you?
- Opening space questions: ie, Has there ever been a time when arguing could have taken control of your relationship but didn’t?
- Letter writing