MFT Child and Adolescent Therapy 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A 7-year-old child repeatedly draws pictures of a house on fire during play therapy sessions. What is the most therapeutically appropriate initial response?
- Ask the child directly if their house has ever been on fire
- Reflect the child's affect and invite them to tell you about the drawing (Correct answer)
- Contact child protective services immediately
- Interpret the drawing as a sign of pyromania
Correct answer: Reflect the child's affect and invite them to tell you about the drawing
In play therapy, the therapist follows the child's lead by reflecting affect and inviting narrative without imposing interpretations.
Question 2: Which developmental theorist described adolescence as a stage marked by 'identity vs. role confusion'?
- Jean Piaget
- Erik Erikson (Correct answer)
- Lawrence Kohlberg
- John Bowlby
Correct answer: Erik Erikson
Erik Erikson identified identity vs. role confusion as the core psychosocial conflict of adolescence (ages 12–18).
Question 3: A parent asks an MFT to share session notes from their 14-year-old's individual therapy. What should the therapist do first?
- Release all records because the parent has legal authority
- Refuse entirely citing confidentiality
- Consult the teen and balance their developmental autonomy with parental rights (Correct answer)
- Contact an attorney before responding
Correct answer: Consult the teen and balance their developmental autonomy with parental rights
Therapists working with minors must balance parental legal rights with the adolescent's developing autonomy and therapeutic alliance.
Question 4: Which intervention is most consistent with Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) for a traumatized child?
- Free association and dream analysis
- Psychoeducation, relaxation skills, and a trauma narrative (Correct answer)
- Unstructured play with minimal therapist involvement
- Medication management as the primary modality
Correct answer: Psychoeducation, relaxation skills, and a trauma narrative
TF-CBT is a structured, evidence-based model that uses psychoeducation, coping skills, and a trauma narrative with parallel parent components.
Question 5: An adolescent discloses marijuana use but denies any other risk factors. Using a harm reduction framework, the MFT's best initial step is to:
- Require abstinence as a condition of continued therapy
- Inform the parents immediately without the teen's consent
- Explore the function of use and provide psychoeducation on risks (Correct answer)
- Discharge the client and refer to a substance use program
Correct answer: Explore the function of use and provide psychoeducation on risks
Harm reduction prioritizes engagement and education over abstinence mandates, exploring the role substances play in the adolescent's life.
Question 6: In structural family therapy with a family that has an adolescent with conduct problems, the therapist would most likely focus on:
- Uncovering repressed childhood memories of the parents
- Strengthening the parental subsystem and clarifying generational boundaries (Correct answer)
- Analyzing the adolescent's cognitive distortions independently
- Prescribing the symptom to reduce family anxiety
Correct answer: Strengthening the parental subsystem and clarifying generational boundaries
Structural family therapy targets dysfunctional hierarchies; strengthening the parental subsystem reestablishes appropriate authority and boundaries.
Question 7: Which of the following best describes the concept of 'scaffolding' in child therapy adapted from Vygotsky's work?
- Building a physical structure to help the child feel safe
- Providing temporary support just beyond the child's current ability to promote growth (Correct answer)
- Constructing a rigid behavioral contract with rewards
- Using visual schedules to organize a child's daily routine
Correct answer: Providing temporary support just beyond the child's current ability to promote growth
Vygotsky's scaffolding refers to the therapist or caregiver offering temporary support within the zone of proximal development to foster skill acquisition.
MFT Child and Adolescent Therapy 2
A 7-year-old child repeatedly draws pictures of a house on fire during play therapy sessions.
What is the most therapeutically appropriate initial response?