FINAL EXAM HELP PART 2

FAMILY SYSTEMS EXAM HELP

* Bolded terms need clarification from Dr. Hurley
accommodation	Elements of a system automatically adjust to coordinate their functioning:  people may have to work at it.
alliance	cooperative arrangements between two parties, not formed at the expense of a third. (positive, different than coalition)
black box metaphor	The idea that because the mind is so complex, it’s better to study people’s input & output (behavior, communication) than to speculate about what goes on in their  minds.
blended families	Separate families united by marriage; stepfamilies
boundaries	Emotional & physical barriers that protect & enhance the integrity of individuals, subsystems, & families
circular causality	The idea that actions are related through a series of recursive loops or repeating cycles
circular questioning	A method of interviewing that asks questions that highlight differences among family members.
coalition	An alliance between two persons or social units against a third
communications theory	The study of relationships in terms of the exchange of messages (verbal and nonverbal).
complementarily	the reciprocity that is the defining feature of any relationship
complementary relationships	Relationship based on differences that fit together, where qualities of one make up for lacks in the other; one is a one-up while the other is one-down
concurrent therapy	treatment of two or more person seen separately by different therapists
conjoint therapy	two or more people are seen together by the same therapist.
constructivism	Reality is subjectively constructed by people.  Knowledge is a product of the way our imaginations are organized - Kant.  Therapists can be guilty of this, defining their own reality of the clients situation.
cross-generational coalition	An inappropriate alliance between a parent and child, who side together against a third member of the family.
culture	Common patterns of bx & experience derived from settings in which people live
cybernetics	The study of feedback mechanisms in self-regulating systems.  (e.g. levels and orders of change, feedback loops)  Focuses on: Family rules, negative / positive feedback, sequences of family interactions.
differentiation of self	The psychological separation of intellect & emotions,, & independence of self from others; opposite of fusion.  (the is a healthy trait)
directives	A therapeutic technique used by Jay Haley to become in charge of the family's treatment & get them to do something about the presenting problems
disengagement	Psychological isolation that results from overly rigid boundaries around individuals & subsystems in a family
double bind	Created when a person receives contradictory messages on different levels of abstraction in an important relationship & cannot leave or comment
emotional reactivity	Tendency to react in a knee-jerk reaction, not calmly and rationally.  Feelings overwhelm thinking and drowned out individuality.
empathy
enactment	An interaction stimulated in structural family therapy in order to observe and then change transactions that make up family structure.
enmeshed	Loss of autonomy due to a blurring of psychological boundaries
equifinality	The final results are the same regardless of which part of the system begins to change first.  (e.g. it doesn't matter if the husband, wife, or child changes first).
ethnicity	Common ancestry through which groups of people evolve shared values & customs
expressive leader	serving social and emotional functions (traditionally the wife)
externalization	personifying problems as external to persons
family homeostasis	tendency for family to resist change in order to maintain a steady state (to avoid change)
family life cycle	Stages of family life from separation from one’s parents to marriage, having children, growing older, retirement, and finally death
family of origin	A person’s parents & siblings; usually refers to the original nuclear family of an adult
family rule	Governs the range of behavior a family system can tolerate.
family structure	Refers to the functional organization of families that determines how family members interact
family system	The family is conceived as a collective whole entity made up of individual parts plus the way they function together
feedback loop	The core of Cybernetics and the process by which the system gets the information necessary to maintain a steady course.  The return of a portion of the output of a system (see positive and negative feedback)
first-order change	Temporary or superficial changes within a system that do not alter the basic organization of the system.
function of the symptom	The idea that symptoms are often ways to distract or otherwise protect family members from threatening conflicts
general systems theory	A biological model of living systems as whole entities that maintain themselves through continuous input & output from the environment (von Bertalanffy)
group dynamics	Interactions among group members that emerge as a result of properties of group rather than merely their individual personalities (e.g. scapegoats, coalitions, alignments, splits)
hierarchical structure	Clear generational boundaries, where parents maintain control and authority.
instrumental leader	decision making and task functions (traditionally the husband)
intensity	forceful intervening by the therapist
invariant prescription	parents are directed to mysteriously sneak away together.
linear causality	one event is the cause and another is the effect.  Stimulus and response.
linear causality	The idea that one event is the cause & another is the effect: in behavior the idea that one behavior is a stimulus, the other a response
marital schism	A type of marital discord.  A chronic failure to accommodate each other or to achieve role reciprocity
marital skew	Serious psychopathology in one partner who dominates the other.
metacommunication	Communicating (talking) about the ways of communicating.  Every message has two levels: report & command; metacommunication is a covert & often unnoticed message accompanying communication
morphogenesis	Process by which a system changes to adapt to new situations.
multiple family group therapy	Tx of several families at once in a group therapy format (Peter Laquer & Murray Bowen)
multiple impact therapy	An intensive, crisis-oriented form of family therapy developed by Robert MacGregor: family members are treated in various subgroups by a team of therapists
mystification	distorting childs experience by denying or relabeling it.
narrative therapists	help their clients reframe the way they look at things
negative feedback	How far off the mark the system is straying and the corrections necessary.
network therapy	Assisting families in crisis by gathering the whole family, friends, employers, etc.  (their social network)
neutrality	balanced acceptance of family members
object relations	attitudes and beliefs of self and others formed in early childhood (from parents) that drive attitudes and beliefs in current relationships
open system	A system that sustain themselves by continually interacting with outside environment.
ordeals	paradoxical intervention in which the client is directed to do something that is more of a hardship than the symptom
paradox	A self-contradictory statement based on a valid deduction from acceptable premises. See pg. 61.
paradoxical injunction	Therapist directs the family members to continue what they are doing.  If they conform then admit control, if they don't the symptoms stop.
phenomenology	An emphasis on the deep personal involvement with clients instead of dissecting people as objects
positive connotation	ascribing positive motives to family behavior in order to promote family cohesion and avoid resistance to therapy.
positive feedback	information that confirms and reinforces the direction a system is taking.
pretend techniques	playful paradoxical intervention where family members are asked to pretend engage in symptomatic behavior.  (if they are pretending to have the symptom, then it can not be real).
process/content	Distinction between how members of a family or group related & what they talk about
pseudohostility	Superficial bickering that blurs deeper hostility and  affection.
pseudomutuality	A façade of togetherness that masks conflict and blocks intimacy, includes an unnatural dread of separateness.  There is no room for separate identifies.
psuedomutuality	A façade of togetherness that masks conflict & blocks intimacy (Wynne et al.) see pg. 23
psychodrama	A technique whereby patients act out their conflicts instead of just discussing them. One of the earliest approaches to group tx.
punctuation	Describing a sequence of interactions so that it appears one’s behavior was caused by another person. Communication therapists change the punctuation of events to free families from a linear causality framework.
reframing	relabeling behavior to shift how family members respond to it.  E.g.  Family thinks child is lazy, therapist reframes it as depression.
restraining	overcoming resistance by suggesting that the family cannot change
rituals	a set of prescribed actions designed to change a family's system rules
rubber fence	An invisible barrier that stretches to permit obligatory extra-familial involvement, such as going to school, but springs back tightly if that involvement goes too far
second-order change	basic change in the structure or functioning of the system.  Hurley:  the addition of new options to the system.
self-actualization	Our healthy instinct to do what is best for us & helps us flourish (Rogers)
shaping	reinforcing change in small steps
social constructionism	Our interpretations of the world are shaped by the social context in which we live.
solution focused therapy	the best way to solve problems is to discover what people do when they are not having the problem and then build on that
structure of interaction	Recurrent patterns of interaction that define & stabilize the shape of relationships
subsystems	Smaller units in families, determined by generation, sex, or function
symmetrical relationships	Relationships based on equality; the behavior of one mirrors that of the other or is considered parallel
system theory	studying a group of related elements that interact as a whole entity
transference	Distorted emotional reactions to present relationships based on unresolved, early family relations
triangle	the smallest stable unit of relationship
triangulation	Detouring conflict between two people by involving a third person, stabilizing the relationship between the original pair
unbalancing	the therapist joins with one person over another in an effort to break a stalemate situation.
undifferentiated family ego mass	emotional fusion within the family.  Enmeshed families don't allow members to be emotionally differentiated.