RPT Family Systems & Parent Consultation 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In Adlerian play therapy, parent consultations primarily focus on:
- Administering psychological assessments to parents
- Educating parents about the child's mistaken goals and encouraging democratic parenting (Correct answer)
- Providing filial therapy home play session training
- Reviewing the child's trauma history in clinical detail
Correct answer: Educating parents about the child's mistaken goals and encouraging democratic parenting
Adlerian play therapy parent consultations aim to educate parents about mistaken goals underlying misbehavior and to encourage democratic, encouraging parenting approaches.
Question 2: The family systems concept describing the degree of emotional bonding between family members is:
- Cohesion (Correct answer)
- Triangulation
- Enmeshment
- Scapegoating
Correct answer: Cohesion
Cohesion refers to the degree of emotional bonding and closeness between family members, ranging on a continuum from disengaged to enmeshed.
Question 3: When a child is drawn into parental conflict and used to stabilize or redirect tension between two adults, this is called:
- Parentification
- Triangulation (Correct answer)
- Scapegoating
- Role reversal
Correct answer: Triangulation
Triangulation occurs when a third person, often a child, is pulled into a two-person conflict to diffuse tension or form an alliance.
Question 4: Child-Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT), developed by Landreth and Bratton, is a structured protocol consisting of how many sessions?
- 6
- 10 (Correct answer)
- 12
- 16
Correct answer: 10
CPRT is a manualized 10-session filial therapy model that trains parents in child-centered play therapy skills for conducting 30-minute home play sessions.
Question 5: In family systems theory, 'enmeshment' describes:
- A healthy level of family closeness and emotional bonding
- Excessive emotional closeness with blurred individual boundaries (Correct answer)
- The process of assigning specific roles to each family member
- A coalition between two family members directed against a third
Correct answer: Excessive emotional closeness with blurred individual boundaries
Enmeshment describes overly fused family relationships where individual boundaries are poorly defined, restricting personal autonomy and identity development.
Question 6: Ecosystemic play therapy primarily focuses on:
- The child's intrapsychic dynamics in isolation
- The child within the context of multiple interacting environmental systems (Correct answer)
- Filial therapy training as the primary intervention for parents
- Behavioral modification techniques drawn from learning theory
Correct answer: The child within the context of multiple interacting environmental systems
Ecosystemic play therapy addresses the child within the context of multiple interacting systems, including family, school, peer, and community environments.
Question 7: During a parent consultation, a parent discloses information suggesting the child is being abused by another family member. The play therapist must:
- Keep the information confidential under the therapeutic relationship
- Consult with a supervisor before taking any action
- Follow mandated reporter laws and report the suspected abuse to authorities (Correct answer)
- Confront the alleged abusing family member directly in a family session
Correct answer: Follow mandated reporter laws and report the suspected abuse to authorities
Play therapists are mandated reporters and are legally required to report suspected child abuse to appropriate authorities regardless of the source or context of the disclosure.
RPT Family Systems & Parent Consultation 2
In Adlerian play therapy, parent consultations primarily focus on: