Therapy: A Practical Approach to Theory and Clinical
Case Documentation 3rd Edition By Diane R. Gehart
Who is Salvador Minuchin? - ANSWER:Considered the founder of Structural Family
Therapy.
- Born and raised in Argentina.
- Trained as a pediatrician and child psychiatrist.
- Physician in the Israeli army.
- Studied interpersonal psychiatry with Harry Stack Sullivan.
- Worked with "delinquent" boys at the Wiltwyck School
- Director of the Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic
What is the basic assumption of Structural Family Therapy? - ANSWER:Families are
organized structurally in certain ways to cope with stress.
What do structural therapists map? - ANSWER:The family structure - boundaries,
hierarchies, and subsystems - to help clients resolve individual mental health
symptoms and relational problems.
What do structural therapists focus on when working with families? - ANSWER:The
family's strengths and seek to help family's expand their interaction patterns to
adjust to their ever-changing developmental and contextual demands.
What are Latent Adaptive Resources? - ANSWER:Dormant strengths of the family
that can be leveraged in their favor.
What are Boundaries? - ANSWER:The rules for managing physical and psychological
distance between family members.
What do Boundaries define? - ANSWER:The regulation of closeness, distance,
hierarchy, and family roles.
What are Clear Boundaries? - ANSWER:"Normal" boundaries allow for close
emotional contact with others while simultaneously allowing each person to
maintain a sense of identity and differentiation.
What are Diffuse Boundaries? - ANSWER:"Weak " boundaries do not make a clear
distinction between members, creating a strong sense of mutuality and connection
at the expense of individual autonomy.
, What do therapists typically see family members do when they are Enmeshed? -
ANSWER:- Interrupting one another or speaking for one another.
- Mind reading and making assumptions.
- Insisting on high levels of protectiveness and being overly concerned.
- Demanding loyalty at the expense of individual needs.
- Feeling threatened when there is disagreement or difference.
What are Rigid Boundaries? - ANSWER:Emphasize autonomy and independence at
the expense of emotional connection, creating isolation that may be more emotional
than physical.
What do therapists see when working with disengaged families? - ANSWER:- Lack of
reaction and few repercussions, even to problems.
- Significant freedom for most members to do as they please.
- Few demands for or expressions of loyalty and commitment.
- Consistently using parallel interactions as substitutes for reciprocal interactions and
engagement.
What is an Enactment? - ANSWER:Techniques in which the therapist prompts the
family to reenact a conflict or other interaction.
What are Enactments used for? - ANSWER:Both assess and alter the problematic
interactional sequences, allowing the therapist to map, track, and modify the family
structure.
What are the three stages of an Enactment? - ANSWER:1. Observation of
spontaneous interactions
2. The invitation: eliciting transactions
3. Redirecting alternative transactions
According to Minuchin, what are the three phases of structural therapy? -
ANSWER:1. Join the family (build an alliance)
2. Map the family structure, boundaries, and hierarchy (evaluate and assess)
3. Intervene to transform the structure (address the problems they identified in the
assessment)
What are the three basic principles in the therapeutic process for structural therapy?
- ANSWER:1. Joining
2. Assumptions (families incorrectly assuming there are no alternatives to the
problem)
3. The enemy (family's strong sense of certainty in their view)
What are the five techniques used in the therapeutic process for structural therapy?
- ANSWER:1. Challenging certainty
2. Exploring alternatives
3. Content versus process
4. Humor and metaphor