MFT Exam: Chapter 5 (Structural Family
Therapy) UPDATED ACTUAL QUESTIONS
AND CORRECT ANSWERS
In the 1970s, ________ brought this approach to the Philadelphia Child Guidance Center. At the
time, _________ was "the most influential and widely practiced of all systems of family
therapy." - Correct answers✔✔Salvador Minuchin
Structural Therapists are interested in the following: - Correct answers✔✔- Behavior Sequences
- The rules that govern interactions
- The contexts that influence the rules (like the strategic therapists)
How are Strategic and Structural similar? - Correct answers✔✔- Therapists are directive
- Therapists attend more to process than content
- Use techniques such as joining, reframing, and paradox
- Observe reactions to current interventions in order to plan future interventions
How are Strategic and Structural different? - Correct answers✔✔- Structural believes that in
order for there to be significant and lasting change, the basic organization of the family must
change.
- Structuralists alter behavioral sequences that occur IN THE SESSION rather than assign out of
session homework.
What are the goals of Structural Therapy? - Correct answers✔✔To correct "dysfunctional
hierarchies by putting parents in charge of their children and to differentiate between subsystems
within families." The central idea is to change the FAMILY STRUCTURE by changing
interactional patterns so that the improvements the family makes in session will persist.
, Family Structure - Correct answers✔✔Covert set of rules that govern transactions in the
family...rules that are self-perpetuating and resistant to change.
Every family has a specific structure that determines how members interact with one another and
with outsiders and with other systems. Structure develops partly through __________ and partly
through the influence of ____________________. The structure begins to form when a couple
marries. - Correct answers✔✔Repetition; External Context
Subsystems - Correct answers✔✔In structural family therapy, an organized component of a
system that has a specific role in the functioning of the larger system and is somewhat
autonomous from it, for example, a parental _________ or sibling ________. Each individual is
part of many _______________. Ex: A woman may be a mother, daughter, and sibling.
Structural Family Therapy - Correct answers✔✔Dysfunction, in this model, stems from
boundaries that are either too rigid or too diffuse, both of which prevent the system and its
subsystems from achieving goals.
Boundaries - Correct answers✔✔In Minuchin's structural family therapy, _________ are
hypothetical dividers between or among subsystems within the family or between systems. They
are defined spatially by the ways family members align with one another. They are described as
either rigid, clear, or diffuse.
Rigid Boundaries - Correct answers✔✔Overly restrictive and permit little contact with outside
subsystems, resulting in disengagement. Family members in disengaged systems tend to be
independent but they may be isolated. Children in these families learn to be self-sufficient and
resourceful. In the extreme, families lack warm and nurturing.
Diffuse Boundaries - Correct answers✔✔In structural family therapy, boundaries that are not
clearly defined or maintained, resulting in blurred generational roles and responsibilities.
Permeable and permit easy contact with other subsystems but an result in enmeshment.
Therapy) UPDATED ACTUAL QUESTIONS
AND CORRECT ANSWERS
In the 1970s, ________ brought this approach to the Philadelphia Child Guidance Center. At the
time, _________ was "the most influential and widely practiced of all systems of family
therapy." - Correct answers✔✔Salvador Minuchin
Structural Therapists are interested in the following: - Correct answers✔✔- Behavior Sequences
- The rules that govern interactions
- The contexts that influence the rules (like the strategic therapists)
How are Strategic and Structural similar? - Correct answers✔✔- Therapists are directive
- Therapists attend more to process than content
- Use techniques such as joining, reframing, and paradox
- Observe reactions to current interventions in order to plan future interventions
How are Strategic and Structural different? - Correct answers✔✔- Structural believes that in
order for there to be significant and lasting change, the basic organization of the family must
change.
- Structuralists alter behavioral sequences that occur IN THE SESSION rather than assign out of
session homework.
What are the goals of Structural Therapy? - Correct answers✔✔To correct "dysfunctional
hierarchies by putting parents in charge of their children and to differentiate between subsystems
within families." The central idea is to change the FAMILY STRUCTURE by changing
interactional patterns so that the improvements the family makes in session will persist.
, Family Structure - Correct answers✔✔Covert set of rules that govern transactions in the
family...rules that are self-perpetuating and resistant to change.
Every family has a specific structure that determines how members interact with one another and
with outsiders and with other systems. Structure develops partly through __________ and partly
through the influence of ____________________. The structure begins to form when a couple
marries. - Correct answers✔✔Repetition; External Context
Subsystems - Correct answers✔✔In structural family therapy, an organized component of a
system that has a specific role in the functioning of the larger system and is somewhat
autonomous from it, for example, a parental _________ or sibling ________. Each individual is
part of many _______________. Ex: A woman may be a mother, daughter, and sibling.
Structural Family Therapy - Correct answers✔✔Dysfunction, in this model, stems from
boundaries that are either too rigid or too diffuse, both of which prevent the system and its
subsystems from achieving goals.
Boundaries - Correct answers✔✔In Minuchin's structural family therapy, _________ are
hypothetical dividers between or among subsystems within the family or between systems. They
are defined spatially by the ways family members align with one another. They are described as
either rigid, clear, or diffuse.
Rigid Boundaries - Correct answers✔✔Overly restrictive and permit little contact with outside
subsystems, resulting in disengagement. Family members in disengaged systems tend to be
independent but they may be isolated. Children in these families learn to be self-sufficient and
resourceful. In the extreme, families lack warm and nurturing.
Diffuse Boundaries - Correct answers✔✔In structural family therapy, boundaries that are not
clearly defined or maintained, resulting in blurred generational roles and responsibilities.
Permeable and permit easy contact with other subsystems but an result in enmeshment.
