MFT MODEL CHARTS QUESTIONS
AND ANSWERS WITH COMPLETE
SOLUTIONS LATEST UPDATED 2025
,
, lOMoARcPSD| 54339004
Major Marriage and Family Therapy Models
Developed by Thorana S. Nelson, PhD and Students
STRUCTURAL FAMILY THERAPY
LEADERS ASSUMPTIONS:
• Salvador Minuchin • Problems reside within a family structure
• Charles Fishman (although not necessarily caused by the
structure)
• Changing the structure changes the
experience the client has
• Don’t go from problem to solution, we
just move gradually
• Children’s problems are often related to
the boundary between the parents (marital
vs. parental subsystem) and the boundary
between parents and children
CONCEPTS: GOALS OF THERAPY:
Family structure • Structural Change o Clarify, realign,
• Boundaries o Rigid o Clear o Diffuse o Disengaged o mark boundaries
Normal Range o Enmeshment o Roles • Individuation of family members
o Rules of who interacts with whom, how, when, • Infer the boundaries from the patterns of
etc. interaction among family members
• Hierarchy • Change the patterns to realign the
• Subsystems boundaries to make them more closed or
• Cross-Generational Coalitions open
• Parentified Child
ROLE OF THE THERAPIST: ASSESSMENT:
• Perturb the system because the structure is too rigid • Assess the nature of the boundaries, roles
(chaotic or closed) or too diffuse (enmeshed) of family members
• Facilitate the restructuring of the system • Enactment to watch family
• Directive, expert—the therapist is the choreographer interaction/patterns
• See change in therapy session; homework solidifies
change
• Directive
INTERVENTIONS: CHANGE:
• Join and accommodate o mimesis • Raise intensity to upset the system, then
• Structural mapping help reorganize the system
• Highlight and modify interactions • Change occurs within session and is
• Unbalance behavioral; insight is not necessary
• Challenge unproductive assumptions • Emotions change as individuals’
• Raise intensity so that system must change experience of their context changes
Downloaded by catherine kimani ()
, lOMoARcPSD| 54339004
Marriage and Family Therapy Models Page 2
AND ANSWERS WITH COMPLETE
SOLUTIONS LATEST UPDATED 2025
,
, lOMoARcPSD| 54339004
Major Marriage and Family Therapy Models
Developed by Thorana S. Nelson, PhD and Students
STRUCTURAL FAMILY THERAPY
LEADERS ASSUMPTIONS:
• Salvador Minuchin • Problems reside within a family structure
• Charles Fishman (although not necessarily caused by the
structure)
• Changing the structure changes the
experience the client has
• Don’t go from problem to solution, we
just move gradually
• Children’s problems are often related to
the boundary between the parents (marital
vs. parental subsystem) and the boundary
between parents and children
CONCEPTS: GOALS OF THERAPY:
Family structure • Structural Change o Clarify, realign,
• Boundaries o Rigid o Clear o Diffuse o Disengaged o mark boundaries
Normal Range o Enmeshment o Roles • Individuation of family members
o Rules of who interacts with whom, how, when, • Infer the boundaries from the patterns of
etc. interaction among family members
• Hierarchy • Change the patterns to realign the
• Subsystems boundaries to make them more closed or
• Cross-Generational Coalitions open
• Parentified Child
ROLE OF THE THERAPIST: ASSESSMENT:
• Perturb the system because the structure is too rigid • Assess the nature of the boundaries, roles
(chaotic or closed) or too diffuse (enmeshed) of family members
• Facilitate the restructuring of the system • Enactment to watch family
• Directive, expert—the therapist is the choreographer interaction/patterns
• See change in therapy session; homework solidifies
change
• Directive
INTERVENTIONS: CHANGE:
• Join and accommodate o mimesis • Raise intensity to upset the system, then
• Structural mapping help reorganize the system
• Highlight and modify interactions • Change occurs within session and is
• Unbalance behavioral; insight is not necessary
• Challenge unproductive assumptions • Emotions change as individuals’
• Raise intensity so that system must change experience of their context changes
Downloaded by catherine kimani ()
, lOMoARcPSD| 54339004
Marriage and Family Therapy Models Page 2
