VERIFIED 2026
◉ Blended family. Answer: often a combination of families brought
together by marriage, adoption, or some other voluntary form of unity
◉ Definition of Family. Answer: a difficult term to university define.
Often subjective and taking on a variety of meetings depending on who
you ask.
◉ Family Therapy. Answer: A sytematic and circular view of problems
that involves the analysis of patterns of interaction between multiple
individuals
We look at the interaction of the problems. IS it causing problems or
making it worse
◉ Differences between family and individual therapy. Answer: 1. Best if
the whole family participates
2. Look beyond a single family members problem and look at the entire
family
3. Professional responsibility extends to significant others in the
identified clients life
,4. Therapists must direct their attention to also finding exceptions to the
problem's occurence
5. Consideration of the role that interpersonal dynamics contribute to
maintaining problems beyond interpsychic dynamics, it is important
contributor to successful treatment
6. therapeutic change requires much less or even noo attention to
processing client-to-therapist projections
7. A focus on clients strengths
8. As therapists initiate a change in the family system, the family system,
the family is likely to benefit from the therapy
9. Because problems are seen as residing at the family level, family
therapists develop holistic ways to assess the nature of system-wide
problems
They have already identified who the problem is in the family--- so no
one else experiences the blame. if hes the problem i am not.
Individual therapy doesn't have to worry about anyone else calling you
out
Looking at patterns within the relationships between family members
the psycho dynamic family therapy view still does incorporate
projections - but with others than it doesnt have cit
Lots of factors to consider
◉ General Systems Theory: The Bedrock for Family Therapy
,Ludwig von Bertalanffy. Answer: Equilifinality was used to describe
situations in which organisms that encountered a roadblock to their
growth responded by finding a new pathway to reach an endpoint.
Bertalanffy also asserted that each stage in an organism's (an organism is
a system) development is a qualitative change that has distinct
properties.
◉ General Systems Theory: The Bedrock for Family Therapy
Gregory Bateson. Answer: Dynamic homeostatic balance: Bateson
proposed a cybernetic explanation for how the mind operates in which
the mind acts as a self-correcting system that seeks a dynamic
homeostatic balance.
helped in identifying a theory many future ones were based on his ideas,
Rethink the way you think about what is healthy or normal because
dysfunction can be the norm
◉ Contemporary Family Therapy
Feedback loops:. Answer: A positive feedback loop refers to situations
such as when an adolescent violates a family rule and is grounded for 2
weeks, but the punishment serves only to amplify familial conflict and
the likelihood of violating the family rule again.
, A negative feedback loop means the parental action taken serves to
effectively constrict the probability that the rule will be violated again.
there is a stimulus and then a response
therapist try to look for problematic feedback loops-- how the kid gets
attention
◉ Adler. Answer: recognized the improtance of looking at the family,
but didn't specifically contribute to development of family therapy, but
had a lot of concepts in adler theory
◉ Family Therapy
Multiculturalism. Answer: A variety of factors are known to affect a
"sense of self, help-seeking patterns, openness to therapeutic
interventions, definitions of family, and varied and complex functioning
in the couple and family relationship"
◉ Family Therapy
Social Justice. Answer: Examples of how a therapist might work with
social justice issues
Use and promote the use of inclusive language that affirms differences
while showing acceptance and support.