MC Master of Counseling: Family and Couples Counseling 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A couple presents with chronic conflict over finances. Using a solution-focused approach, the counselor asks: 'Tell me about a time when you handled a financial disagreement well.' This question is an example of:
- The miracle question
- Scaling question
- Exception-seeking question (Correct answer)
- Coping question
Correct answer: Exception-seeking question
Exception-seeking questions in Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) direct clients to recall times when the problem did not occur, highlighting existing competencies and resources.
Question 2: Bowen's concept of 'differentiation of self' in family therapy refers to:
- The ability to separate intellectual functioning from emotional reactivity while remaining connected (Correct answer)
- Cutting off from one's family of origin to achieve independence
- Establishing clear generational hierarchies within the family system
- The process of identifying and labeling family roles
Correct answer: The ability to separate intellectual functioning from emotional reactivity while remaining connected
Differentiation of self means the capacity to maintain a clear sense of self and think rationally while staying emotionally connected to others, without becoming fused or cut off.
Question 3: When conducting a genogram with a family, the counselor is primarily aiming to:
- Diagnose individual psychopathology in family members
- Map multigenerational relationship patterns and family history (Correct answer)
- Assign roles to each family member for therapy exercises
- Establish a hierarchy for structural interventions
Correct answer: Map multigenerational relationship patterns and family history
A genogram is a multigenerational family map that reveals relational patterns, triangles, cutoffs, and transmission of behaviors across generations.
Question 4: A heterosexual couple reports that the wife initiates most emotional conversations, while the husband withdraws. In EFT terms, this is called:
- Projective identification
- The pursuer-withdrawer cycle (Correct answer)
- Negative sentiment override
- Underfunctioning-overfunctioning reciprocity
Correct answer: The pursuer-withdrawer cycle
The pursuer-withdrawer cycle is one of the most common negative interaction patterns in couples, where one partner pursues emotional engagement while the other distances.
Question 5: Under HIPAA, a family therapist may disclose protected health information to a family member WITHOUT client authorization when:
- The client requests it verbally
- There is a serious and imminent threat to health or safety (Correct answer)
- The family member is a legal spouse
- Another family member initiated therapy
Correct answer: There is a serious and imminent threat to health or safety
HIPAA permits disclosure without authorization when necessary to prevent a serious and imminent threat to health or safety of the client or others.
Question 6: The 'joining' technique in Structural Family Therapy refers to:
- Forming a therapeutic alliance by accommodating to the family's style and language (Correct answer)
- Challenging the family's existing structure directly from the outset
- Assigning homework to integrate new behaviors into daily routines
- Tracking communication sequences across sessions
Correct answer: Forming a therapeutic alliance by accommodating to the family's style and language
Joining is Minuchin's technique of blending with the family system by adapting to their communication style, leadership, and affect to build a therapeutic alliance before restructuring.
Question 7: A couples counselor uses the Prepare-Enrich assessment. This tool is MOST commonly associated with:
- Identifying attachment disorders in intimate relationships
- Premarital counseling and relationship strength assessment (Correct answer)
- Assessing domestic violence risk in couples
- Measuring sexual satisfaction in long-term relationships
Correct answer: Premarital counseling and relationship strength assessment
Prepare-Enrich is a widely used inventory in premarital and marital counseling that assesses relationship strengths and growth areas across multiple domains.
MC Master of Counseling: Family and Couples Counseling 3
A couple presents with chronic conflict over finances.
Using a solution-focused approach, the counselor asks: 'Tell me about a time when you handled a financial disagreement well.' This question is an example of: