Exam 3 Counseling psych

cognitive flexibility

aspect of executive functioning; helps us generate alternate ideas/realities

accommodation

when others (usually parents) change their behavior to reduce the child’s anxiety

• e.g., speaking for your child

• helps short term, maintains anxiety long-term

mindfulness

awareness of present experience with acceptance

• paying attention on purpose, nonjudgmentally

impermanence

everything is impermanent

non-self

everything arises interdependently

• nothing has an independent existence that is not predicted on other things

• nobody has a stable, permanent self

suffering

nothing in the physical or mental world can bring lasting, unalloyed satisfaction

equanimity

non-judgmental attitude toward what one is aware of

• an attitude of curiosity, openness, and acceptance

• “this too shall pass”

acceptance

willingness to experience

commitment

living in line with values

patriarchy

social systems in which attributes of maleness are privileged and those attributed to women are denigrated

gender schema

an organized set of mental associations people use to interpret their perceptions about gender

egalitarian

no one set of knowledge seen as more highly valued than the other

• therapist meets client where they are located

gender-role analysis

help clients understand the impact of gender-role expectations in their lives

power analysis

emphasis on the power differences between men and women in society

reframing

changes the frame of reference for looking at an individual’s behavior

• shift from an intrapersonal stance to a consideration of social factors in the environment that contribute to a client’s problem

relabeling

changes the label applied to the client’s behavioral characteristics

• focus is shifted from a negative to a positive evaluation

social action

participating in an activity outside of therapy that is likely to empower clients by helping them build the link between their experiences and the sociopolitical context they live in

gender-role intervention

provides clients with insight into the ways social issues affect their problems

power intervention

clients helped to recognize different kinds of power they possess and how they and others exercise power

social constructionism

values the client’s reality without disputing the accuracy or validity of this reality

• emphasizes the ways in which people make meaning in social relationships

exception questions

inquiring about those times in clients’ lives when the problems they identify have not been problematic

• direct clients to times in their lives when the problem did not exist

miracle question

asks clients to imagine how their life would be different if they woke up tomorrow and they no longer had their problem

scaling questions

asks clients to observe changes in feelings, moods, thoughts, and behaviors

• on a scale of 1-10, clients are asked to rate some change in their experiences

deconstruction

breaking apart “taken-for-granted” truths to look critically at beliefs, ideas, values, etc.

externalization

process of separating the person from identifying with the problem

unique outcomes

the client identifies times in the past when the problem did not exist

customer type relationship

client and therapist jointly identify a problem and a solution to work toward

complainant relationship

a client describes a problem, but is not able or willing to take an active role in constructing a solution

visitors relationship

clients come to therapy because someone else thinks they have a problem

genogram

a schematic diagram of the family system, usually at least 3 generations

• discuss patterns, challenges one has noticed in relation to one’s family

systems theory

a generic term for conceptualizing a group of related elements (e.g., people) that interact as a whole entity (e.g., family or couple)

differentiation

the process of distinguishing one’s thoughts from one’s emotions and oneself from others

fusion

a merging or meshing of thoughts and feelings in a family member

enmeshment

family environments in which members are overly dependent on each other or are undifferentiated

triangulation

a process in which two people who are in conflict involve a third person in order to reduce the tension and avoid conflict in the relationship

multigenerational transmission process

dysfunctional patterns are passed from one generation to the next

detriangulation

the process of being in contact and emotionally separate from others

criticism

attacking partner’s personality or character, usually with the intent of making someone right and someone wrong

defensiveness

making excuses, yes-butting (starting off agreeing but end up disagreeing), not listening to what the other person has to say

contempt

attacking partner’s sense of self w/ intention to insult

stonewalling

withdrawing from the relationship as a way to avoid conflict

wholeness

systems are organized as wholes

interdependence

all elements within the system are interdependent

• members of system mutually influence one another

circular causality

events are related through a series of interacting feedback loops

equifinality

the ability of a system to arrive at the same destination from different paths or conditions