RPT Family Systems & Parent Consultation 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the primary goal of filial therapy?
- To treat a child's disorder using directive play techniques
- To train parents to conduct child-centered play sessions with their child (Correct answer)
- To observe family dynamics through structured play assessments
- To provide group therapy for families in crisis
Correct answer: To train parents to conduct child-centered play sessions with their child
Filial therapy trains parents to conduct child-centered play sessions, empowering them as therapeutic agents with their own children.
Question 2: In family systems theory, the family member who is labeled as having 'the problem' is called the:
- Scapegoat
- Enabler
- Identified patient (Correct answer)
- Parentified child
Correct answer: Identified patient
The 'identified patient' is the family member designated as the problem, which often masks underlying systemic dysfunction within the family.
Question 3: Which therapists are primarily credited with developing filial therapy in the 1960s?
- Virginia Axline and Clark Moustakas
- Bernard and Louise Guerney (Correct answer)
- Gary Landreth and Sue Bratton
- Salvador Minuchin and Jay Haley
Correct answer: Bernard and Louise Guerney
Bernard and Louise Guerney developed filial therapy in the 1960s as a model for using trained parents as therapeutic agents with their children.
Question 4: In structural family therapy, the invisible rules that govern who participates in family interactions and how are known as:
- Boundaries (Correct answer)
- Subsystems
- Hierarchies
- Coalitions
Correct answer: Boundaries
Boundaries are the invisible rules in structural family therapy that define roles, relationships, and participation patterns within and between family subsystems.
Question 5: What is the primary purpose of parent consultations in play therapy?
- To diagnose the child's disorder using parent-reported information
- To share confidential session content with parents
- To collaborate with parents to support the child's therapeutic progress (Correct answer)
- To teach parents behavioral management techniques exclusively
Correct answer: To collaborate with parents to support the child's therapeutic progress
Parent consultations focus on collaborating with parents to support treatment goals and help generalize the child's therapeutic progress to the home environment.
Question 6: A 'parentified child' in family systems theory refers to a child who:
- Is overly dependent on their parents for emotional regulation
- Assumes adult responsibilities or emotional caretaking roles within the family (Correct answer)
- Refuses to engage with adult authority figures
- Exhibits regressive behaviors characteristic of younger children
Correct answer: Assumes adult responsibilities or emotional caretaking roles within the family
A parentified child takes on adult responsibilities or serves as an emotional caregiver for parents or siblings, reversing the natural parent-child hierarchy.
Question 7: In Bowen's family systems theory, 'differentiation of self' refers to:
- The child's ability to physically separate from their parents
- The capacity to maintain one's own identity while remaining emotionally connected to the family (Correct answer)
- The process of identifying which family member is the identified patient
- A therapeutic technique for reducing family enmeshment
Correct answer: The capacity to maintain one's own identity while remaining emotionally connected to the family
Differentiation of self describes the ability to maintain a distinct personal identity and separate one's thinking from emotional reactivity while staying connected to others.
RPT Family Systems & Parent Consultation 1
What is the primary goal of filial therapy?