Structural Family Therapy Lecture Notes

Flashcards covering the foundational concepts, key terms, therapist roles, and stages of treatment in Structural Family Therapy.

The primary founder of Structural Family Therapy is __________.

Salvador Minuchin

Structural Family Therapy is a __________ and change-oriented approach.

Directive

Structural therapists focus on symptoms in terms of family system __________.

Dynamics

Structural Family Therapy assumes that changing the family __________ will reduce symptoms.

Structure

According to Structural Therapy, altering family organization can alleviate family __________.

Symptoms

Structural Family Therapy focuses on the __________ family.

Nuclear

Treatment in Structural Family Therapy is generally __________-term.

Brief

The overall organization of family interactions is called family __________.

Structure

Smaller units within the family are called __________.

Subsystems

The rules regulating contact among family members are called __________.

Boundaries

The openness of family boundaries refers to their degree of __________.

Permeability

Overly open boundaries are called __________ boundaries.

Diffuse

Diffuse boundaries often result in __________.

Enmeshment

Overly closed boundaries are called __________ boundaries.

Rigid

Rigid boundaries often result in __________.

Disengagement

Patterns of closeness and affiliation among family members are called __________.

Alignments

A three-person relationship pattern is called a __________.

Triangle

The ability to influence family interactions is called __________.

Power

A stable alliance against another family member is called a __________.

Coalition

The process of building rapport with the family is called __________.

Joining

Matching the family's communication style is called __________.

Mimesis

Observing and following family interactions is called __________.

Tracking

Having family members demonstrate interactions during session is called __________.

Enactment

Changing the meaning assigned to a behavior is called __________.

Reframing

Disrupting family balance to create change is called __________.

Unbalancing

The Structural therapist functions as an active __________.

Director

Structural Family Therapy emphasizes __________ rather than insight.

Action

According to Minuchin, action precedes __________.

Understanding

Behavioral change occurs through modifying family interaction __________.

Patterns

Symptoms are viewed as the result of an inflexible family __________.

Structure

Family dysfunction occurs when the family cannot adequately __________.

Adapt

The therapist accommodates to the family's style through __________.

Accommodating

Matching the family's communication patterns is called __________.

Mimicking

Creating a visual representation of family structure is called __________.

Mapping

The primary long-term goal of Structural Family Therapy is to __________ the family.

Restructure

A major goal is establishing healthy family __________.

Boundaries