MFT national exam 2022: Domain 1-Practice of Marriage
and Family Therapy
Collaborative Couple's Therapy
Dan Wiles
Collaborative Couple's Therapy
Based on the assumption that conflict is inevitable and emphasis should be placed on
how couples handles that conflict.
Collaborative Couple's Therapy
Based on the three cycles: (1) distant and estranged. (2) oppositional where the partner
is seen as the enemy. (3) collaborative with the partner seen as an ally.
Collaborative Couple's Therapy
the therapist collaborates with the couple to teach them to collaborate with each other
and must be careful not to be drawn into the couple's negative cycles.
Milton Erickson
Was actively involved in the development of strategic therapy while working at MRI.
Milton Erickson
Most well known for his use of unusual and non-traditional techniques such as
hypnosis.
Milton Erickson
Believed in the power of the unconscious mind and proposed that hypnotic traces could
make people more open to therapy.
Milton Erickson
Known for confusion technique which occupied the conscious mind so that the
unconscious mind could take over.
Milton Erickson
His therapeutic metaphors involved storytelling by the therapist to create a metaphor for
the client's problem that could assist understanding.
Milton Erickson
Much of his contributions were centered on the idea that resistance to change was a
key obstacle to success in therapy.
Intervention in couple's therapy for severe anxiety or depression
One approach to ending patterns of damaging behavior is to engage and guide the
couple in role-reversal in session. This involves the non-depressed partner expressing
sadness, focusing on the loss the depression has caused the relationship, while the
depressed partner is guided to be more assertive and take on the role of providing
emotional support and care for the other partner.
Intervention in couple's therapy for severe anxiety or depression
Opening space where the non-depressed partner is instructed to back off from some of
the daily care-giving tasks this gives the depressed partner a chance to show
improvement.
Intervention in couple's therapy for severe anxiety or depression
Writing positive requests. the therapist instructs each partner to write down complains,
criticisms, and negative feelings toward the other in a notebook. At the end of the day,
each partner chooses the most important and restates it as a positive request. Letters
, are exchanged, but the contents are not discussed without the therapists. Each partner
should feel free to honor any requests possible.
Betty Carter
Pushed the value of considering family life cycle in therapy. Increased recognition of
other important factors related to family life cycles such as historical documentation of
family problems for the current family and past generations as well as the impact of
extended family on client' problems.
Social Constructionism
Share common beliefs with constructivists about how individuals build perceptions from
their own personal beliefs characteristics as well as from actual objects and events they
encounter in the world.
Social Constructionism
Emphasizes the importance of society or communities in the development of an
individual's belief system.
Social Constructionism
Therapists work with clients to build or construct new understanding of the world and
their problem. This can help the client explore new options for approaching the problem.
Social Constructionism
There is a heavy focus on language in creating new definitions for situations and
specific explanations for events.
Neuropsychology
Study of the relationship between how the brain works and the way people behave.
Neuropsychology
Diagnostic tools include standardized tests like the Woodcock-Dean, Boston Naming
Test, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, and the The Controlled Oral Word Association as
well as medical tests like brain scans and EEGs.
John E Bell
One of the first psychologists known to practice family therapy. Proposed that just like
other groups, families go through stages in therapy and this therapist came up with a
specific plan to treat each stage. Saw the therapist's role as that of a facilitator,
encouraging participation of all members and improving family communication.
Mimesis model of trauma intervention
Focuses on the importance of accurately remembering the traumatic event. The belief is
that a trauma victim's inability to remember clearly causes them to constantly be
searching for the details in their mind, even acting out details, or seeking the people or
places related to it.
Mimesis model of trauma intervention
Therapists should help victims stop recreating their trauma by replacing that reaction
with a more positive simulation of feeling. this model would support the use of hypnosis
and related practices This model also supports the idea of grief work or exercises to
work through stages of grief.
Jay Haley
Known for his direct, sometimes confrontational approach to therapy. Highly critical of
traditional psychoanalytical approaches prior to the 1960s. He believed that action was
more important than understanding and focused on getting clients to do something
about the presenting problem.
and Family Therapy
Collaborative Couple's Therapy
Dan Wiles
Collaborative Couple's Therapy
Based on the assumption that conflict is inevitable and emphasis should be placed on
how couples handles that conflict.
Collaborative Couple's Therapy
Based on the three cycles: (1) distant and estranged. (2) oppositional where the partner
is seen as the enemy. (3) collaborative with the partner seen as an ally.
Collaborative Couple's Therapy
the therapist collaborates with the couple to teach them to collaborate with each other
and must be careful not to be drawn into the couple's negative cycles.
Milton Erickson
Was actively involved in the development of strategic therapy while working at MRI.
Milton Erickson
Most well known for his use of unusual and non-traditional techniques such as
hypnosis.
Milton Erickson
Believed in the power of the unconscious mind and proposed that hypnotic traces could
make people more open to therapy.
Milton Erickson
Known for confusion technique which occupied the conscious mind so that the
unconscious mind could take over.
Milton Erickson
His therapeutic metaphors involved storytelling by the therapist to create a metaphor for
the client's problem that could assist understanding.
Milton Erickson
Much of his contributions were centered on the idea that resistance to change was a
key obstacle to success in therapy.
Intervention in couple's therapy for severe anxiety or depression
One approach to ending patterns of damaging behavior is to engage and guide the
couple in role-reversal in session. This involves the non-depressed partner expressing
sadness, focusing on the loss the depression has caused the relationship, while the
depressed partner is guided to be more assertive and take on the role of providing
emotional support and care for the other partner.
Intervention in couple's therapy for severe anxiety or depression
Opening space where the non-depressed partner is instructed to back off from some of
the daily care-giving tasks this gives the depressed partner a chance to show
improvement.
Intervention in couple's therapy for severe anxiety or depression
Writing positive requests. the therapist instructs each partner to write down complains,
criticisms, and negative feelings toward the other in a notebook. At the end of the day,
each partner chooses the most important and restates it as a positive request. Letters
, are exchanged, but the contents are not discussed without the therapists. Each partner
should feel free to honor any requests possible.
Betty Carter
Pushed the value of considering family life cycle in therapy. Increased recognition of
other important factors related to family life cycles such as historical documentation of
family problems for the current family and past generations as well as the impact of
extended family on client' problems.
Social Constructionism
Share common beliefs with constructivists about how individuals build perceptions from
their own personal beliefs characteristics as well as from actual objects and events they
encounter in the world.
Social Constructionism
Emphasizes the importance of society or communities in the development of an
individual's belief system.
Social Constructionism
Therapists work with clients to build or construct new understanding of the world and
their problem. This can help the client explore new options for approaching the problem.
Social Constructionism
There is a heavy focus on language in creating new definitions for situations and
specific explanations for events.
Neuropsychology
Study of the relationship between how the brain works and the way people behave.
Neuropsychology
Diagnostic tools include standardized tests like the Woodcock-Dean, Boston Naming
Test, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, and the The Controlled Oral Word Association as
well as medical tests like brain scans and EEGs.
John E Bell
One of the first psychologists known to practice family therapy. Proposed that just like
other groups, families go through stages in therapy and this therapist came up with a
specific plan to treat each stage. Saw the therapist's role as that of a facilitator,
encouraging participation of all members and improving family communication.
Mimesis model of trauma intervention
Focuses on the importance of accurately remembering the traumatic event. The belief is
that a trauma victim's inability to remember clearly causes them to constantly be
searching for the details in their mind, even acting out details, or seeking the people or
places related to it.
Mimesis model of trauma intervention
Therapists should help victims stop recreating their trauma by replacing that reaction
with a more positive simulation of feeling. this model would support the use of hypnosis
and related practices This model also supports the idea of grief work or exercises to
work through stages of grief.
Jay Haley
Known for his direct, sometimes confrontational approach to therapy. Highly critical of
traditional psychoanalytical approaches prior to the 1960s. He believed that action was
more important than understanding and focused on getting clients to do something
about the presenting problem.
