Your FREE MFT Flashcards 2026 – 200+ Cards

Bowen's concept of separating thinking from feeling and keeping a clear sense of self while staying emotionally connected to the family; the opposite of fusion.

An approach treating problems as products of relationships and context, taking the relational system — couple, family, network — not the individual, as the unit of treatment.

The systemic idea that behavior is reciprocal and mutually influencing (A↔B↔A), rather than one-way (linear) cause and effect.

Change within the system's existing rules — adjusting behavior while the underlying pattern stays the same ('more of the same').

Change of the system's rules and structure themselves, transforming the pattern that maintained the problem; the basis of lasting systemic change.

A family system's tendency to maintain its stability and resist change; symptoms can serve to keep the system in its familiar balance.

Information a system uses to dampen change and restore stability; it maintains the status quo (including a symptom).

Information that amplifies change in a system; it can escalate conflict — or drive growth.

The systemic principle that the same end state can be reached from different starting points and by different paths.

The three-person relationship a two-person system forms under anxiety by pulling in a third party to stabilize tension.

Drawing a third person into a two-person conflict to reduce tension, often locking in dysfunctional patterns.

Managing unresolved family attachment by reducing or severing emotional contact; a sign of low differentiation (Bowen).

Bowen's concept that levels of differentiation and relational patterns are passed down across generations.

Bowen's process by which parents transmit their emotional immaturity and anxiety onto one or more children.

Bowen's patterns of emotional functioning in a single generation: marital conflict, dysfunction in a spouse, impairment of a child, or emotional distance.

Founder of Bowen family systems theory: differentiation of self, triangles, emotional cutoff, genograms, multigenerational transmission.

Founder of structural family therapy: subsystems, boundaries, hierarchy; techniques of joining, enactment, boundary making, and unbalancing.

Minuchin's model focused on reorganizing the family's structure — its subsystems, boundaries, and hierarchy.

A smaller unit within a family (e.g., spousal, parental, sibling) defined by generation, role, or function.

The implicit rules defining who participates in a subsystem and how; boundaries range from rigid to clear to diffuse.

A family pattern of diffuse boundaries and over-involvement, with poor differentiation and members speaking for one another.

A family pattern of rigid boundaries and emotional distance, with isolated members and low support.

The organization of power and authority in a family; effective structure usually requires the parental subsystem to be in charge.

The structural-therapy process of accommodating to and connecting with a family to build the alliance needed to intervene.

A structural technique in which the therapist has family members interact in session to reveal and then restructure their patterns.

A structural technique that strengthens or loosens boundaries between subsystems to correct enmeshment or disengagement.

A structural technique in which the therapist temporarily sides with one member to shift the family's power balance.

Co-founder of strategic family therapy: problem-focused, brief, using directives and paradoxical interventions.

Co-developer of strategic family therapy, known for emphasizing hierarchy, love, and the protective function of symptoms.

A brief, problem-focused model (Haley, Madanes; MRI) that interrupts the 'attempted solution' maintaining the problem, often via directives.

A strategic instruction telling clients to do something (in or out of session) designed to interrupt the problem pattern.

A strategic/Milan technique that prescribes the symptom — directing the client to continue or exaggerate it — to interrupt the pattern.

A paradoxical directive instructing the client to deliberately perform the symptom, removing the struggle against it.

The Palo Alto group (Watzlawick, Weakland, Fisch) that developed brief, problem-focused strategic therapy; 'the attempted solution is the problem.'

Selvini Palazzoli's model using hypothesizing, circular questioning, neutrality, and positive connotation.

A Milan interviewing method asking about differences and relationships (e.g., 'who worries most?') to surface interactional patterns.

A Milan technique ascribing a positive, system-serving intention to symptomatic behavior to reduce resistance.

The Milan stance of remaining allied with the whole system rather than any one member or outcome.

Founder of the experiential/communications (human validation) model: communication stances, self-esteem, and family sculpting.

Five stress responses: placater, blamer, super-reasonable (computer), irrelevant (distractor), and congruent (the healthy goal).

A Satir communication stance of appeasing and self-blaming to avoid conflict.

A Satir communication stance of fault-finding and dominating to avoid feeling powerless.

Satir's healthy stance in which words, feelings, and body match; the therapeutic goal.

An experiential technique (Satir) in which members physically arrange themselves to represent relationships and emotional distance.

Founder of symbolic-experiential family therapy, using the therapist's spontaneity, the absurd, and 'craziness' to provoke growth.

Co-founder of solution-focused brief therapy; developed the miracle question and exception/scaling questions.

Co-founder of solution-focused brief therapy, known for client-centered, solution-building interviewing.

A postmodern, brief model (de Shazer & Berg) that builds solutions rather than analyzing problems.

A solution-focused question asking the client to describe how life would differ if a miracle solved the problem overnight.

A solution-focused question exploring times the problem was absent or less severe, to find existing strengths and solutions.

A solution-focused question asking the client to rate something (e.g., progress) on a 0–10 scale to make change measurable.

Co-founder of narrative therapy (with David Epston): externalizing, unique outcomes, and re-authoring.

Co-founder of narrative therapy, known for therapeutic letters and externalizing the problem.

A postmodern model (White & Epston) that separates the person from the problem and helps re-author the client's story.

A narrative technique that separates the person from the problem ('the person is not the problem'), reducing shame and restoring agency.

In narrative therapy, a moment when the problem did not dominate, used as a foothold to re-author the person's story.

The narrative process of building a new, preferred story of the client's life and identity.

Developer of Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), an attachment-based model for couples.

Sue Johnson's attachment-based couples model that de-escalates the negative interaction cycle and restructures the bond.

The emotional bond between people; insecure attachment drives the negative interaction cycle in EFT.

John & Julie Gottman's research-based couples approach emphasizing friendship, conflict management, and shared meaning.

Criticism, contempt, defensiveness, and stonewalling — communication patterns predicting relationship breakdown.

Offering a new, often more relational or positive meaning for a behavior to open the door to change.

The family member who carries or expresses the symptom and is presented as 'the problem,' signaling system-wide dysfunction.

The family process of focusing blame and dysfunction onto one member (often the identified patient).

A Bowenian process of staying connected to two people in conflict without taking sides, lowering the system's reactivity.

A graphic map of a family across three+ generations recording members, relationships, and patterns; a Bowenian assessment tool.

The family a person grew up in; a key focus of Bowenian and intergenerational work.

The study of feedback and self-regulation in systems; the conceptual root of systemic family therapy.

The principle that a system is more than the sum of its parts and cannot be understood by examining members in isolation.

Integrating multiple dimensions of diversity (culture, race, gender, sexuality, class, ability, power) into systemic practice.

The client's projected feelings onto the therapist (transference) and the therapist's reactions to the client (countertransference), attended to systemically.

Von Bertalanffy's theory that systems are organized wholes whose parts interrelate; the foundation of family-systems thinking.

Linear causality is one-way blame (A causes B); circular causality is reciprocal, looping influence — the systemic view.

A system's capacity to change its structure to adapt; balanced against morphostasis (stability).

A system's tendency to maintain its structure and stability (closely related to homeostasis).

An interactional pattern in which partners' behaviors differ and fit together (e.g., pursuer–distancer).

An interactional pattern in which partners mirror each other's behavior, which can escalate (e.g., both criticize).

A common couple cycle in which one partner seeks closeness as the other withdraws, each move intensifying the other.

A strategic/MRI technique cautioning a client against changing too fast, paradoxically reducing resistance.

A Milan directive giving parents a secret, consistent task to strengthen the parental boundary against an enmeshed child.

An intergenerational, psychodynamic model focusing on internalized images of relationships (introjects, projective identification).

A defense in which a person projects unwanted feelings onto another, who then enacts them; addressed in object-relations couples work.

An evidence-based model for at-risk youth integrating engagement, behavior change, and generalization phases.

Richard Schwartz's model viewing the mind as parts (managers, exiles, firefighters) led by the Self.

The postmodern view that reality and meaning are co-constructed in language and relationships; underlies narrative and solution-focused work.

The therapist's deliberate use of their own personality, reactions, and presence as a therapeutic instrument (e.g., Whitaker).

Jackson's idea that families regulate behavior to keep emotional balance, like a thermostat.

Bateson's concept of contradictory messages from which a person cannot escape or comment, once theorized in schizophrenia research.

Information returned to a system about its behavior, enabling self-correction; central to systemic theory.

A formulation that describes the problem as a pattern between people rather than a disorder inside one person.

The American Psychiatric Association's current diagnostic manual; MFTs use it for individual diagnosis while keeping a systemic perspective.

Codes naming relational stressors (e.g., parent-child relational problem, partner relational distress) without pathologizing one member.

The collaborative bond between therapist and client system; built through joining and essential to assessment and change.

An alliance of two members against a third, often crossing generational lines (e.g., a parent and child against the other parent).

A coalition between members of different generations (e.g., parent–child) that undermines the parental hierarchy.

The explicit and implicit norms governing how a family interacts; assessed to understand its patterns.

Forming and continually revising tentative systemic explanations of what maintains the presenting problem.

The issue the client brings to therapy, assessed within its relational and developmental context.

Carter & McGoldrick's stages a family moves through over time; transitions are high-stress points where symptoms often emerge.

The family life-cycle stage of renegotiating the couple as a dyad and forming adult relationships with grown children.

Evaluating where individuals and the family are in their developmental and life-cycle stages relative to the presenting problem.

Identifying the client system's coping skills, resources, and resilience to build on in treatment.

Evaluating substance use, domestic violence, trauma, suicide, and violence risk as part of every assessment, not just crises.

Assessing acculturation, diversity, socio-economic status, spirituality, and power differentials affecting the client system.

Administering, interpreting, and using validated tests consistent with one's training, competence, and scope of practice.

Assessing how psychiatric disorders, medical conditions, and substance use and the family system affect one another.

Evaluating the effects of substance abuse and dependency on individual and family functioning.

Assessing the presence and effects of intimate-partner or family violence on individuals and the system.

Assessing early childhood experiences and traumas and their impact on behavior, health, and the family system.

Standardized symbols on a genogram showing gender, relationship status, and relationship quality (close, conflictual, cutoff, fused).

Deciding which members of the client system will take part in assessment and treatment.

Referring a client to another professional or service when needs fall outside one's competence or scope of practice.

Working with the client, professional, and community systems to set treatment priorities.

The organized, repeated patterns of how a family interacts, including boundaries, alignments, and hierarchy.

Members joining together in a family activity or stance; healthy or, when rigid, problematic.

The relative influence members have over family outcomes; assessed within structure and hierarchy.

Reading tone, posture, and interaction to develop hypotheses about relationship patterns.

Assessing biological, psychological, and social/relational factors and their reciprocal influence on the client system.

Assessing the effects of sexual behaviors and disorders on client and relational functioning, within competence.

Assessing the positive and negative effects of technology use on the client system.

Assessing effects of occupational issues (e.g., military, first responders, dispersed workers) on individuals and families.

Assessing effects of behaviors such as gambling, internet, or compulsive activity on the family system.

Determining, collaboratively, which issues to address first based on risk, motivation, and impact.

An agreement establishing the goals, roles, expectations, and parameters of treatment with the client system.

A plan reflecting a contextual understanding of the presenting issues, with collaborative short- and long-term goals.

Treatment goals formulated by interpreting assessment information, in collaboration with the client.

The conditions under which treatment will end, ideally identified when goals are first set.

A collaboratively developed, monitored plan to address identified risks such as domestic violence, suicide, or abuse.

Choosing therapeutic techniques based on theory and relevant research, matched to the client and goals.

Determining the order of interventions and which members will be involved at each stage.

Facilitating client-system change by reorganizing boundaries, hierarchy, and interactional patterns.

Diagramming a family's structure (subsystems, boundaries, alignments) to guide and intervene in treatment.

Using imagery or analogy to shift a client's perception of the presenting issue and facilitate change.

Cultivating present-moment, nonjudgmental awareness to help clients regulate emotion and reactivity.

Teaching clients about a condition, relationship dynamics, or skills to support change and self-management.

Helping clients develop effective verbal and nonverbal communication within their relationships.

Helping clients build decision-making, coping, and problem-solving abilities.

Developing and monitoring care for substance use disorders across the lifespan, oriented to recovery.

Other people and services (schools, courts, medical providers) collaborated with throughout treatment as indicated.

Watching for the system's pull toward stability so it doesn't quietly undo therapeutic progress.

Choosing modalities and interventions that reflect the client's culture, abilities, diversity, and power context.

The configurations in which therapy is delivered; selected based on theory and the client system's needs.

Continuously evaluating and protecting the therapeutic alliance throughout treatment.

A strategic directive making the symptom more burdensome to keep than to give up.

A narrative technique using written letters to reinforce a client's preferred story and progress.

The early treatment phase focused on building alliance, motivation, and a shared understanding of the problem.

Setting measurable, client-centered goals together, derived from the assessment.

An approach using behavior exchange, communication training, and problem-solving to change couple interaction.

Christensen & Jacobson's model combining acceptance with behavior change for couples.

Identifying and changing distorted beliefs and attributions that maintain relational distress.

A narrative technique mapping the problem's influence on the person and the person's influence on the problem.

Affirming a client's existing strengths and efforts to build motivation toward solutions.

The Bowenian therapist's stance of guiding clients to work on differentiation in their families of origin.

Process is how a family interacts; content is what they talk about — systemic therapists attend to process.

Joining is connecting with the family; accommodation is the therapist adjusting style to fit the family's.

The planned, collaborative ending of therapy once goals are substantially met and gains can be maintained independently.

Continuously evaluating the therapeutic process and outcomes using theory, research, and client feedback.

Adjusting the plan in collaboration with the client and collateral systems when progress stalls.

A plan developed with the client to sustain therapeutic gains after treatment ends.

Anticipating and planning for setbacks so the client can maintain progress after termination.

Ending therapy before goals are met or readiness is established; a risk that can harm the client.

Unethical, abrupt discontinuation of needed care without appropriate referral or planning.

Judging whether treatment achieved its goals, used to guide modification and termination.

Using client feedback to monitor progress and adjust the therapy.

Reinforcing and solidifying gains as part of preparing for termination.

Evaluating progress together with the client and collateral systems as indicated.

When progress stalls, the cue is to revisit the hypothesis, alliance, or intervention — not to simply continue.

A method of evaluating progress by rating how far client-specific goals have been met.

Brief tools tracking the alliance and client satisfaction to inform treatment.

Validated instruments tracking symptom and relational change over the course of therapy.

Occasional follow-up sessions after termination to reinforce and maintain gains.

Evaluating progress in collaboration with the client and involved collateral systems.

Planned termination is collaborative and goal-based; unplanned (dropout) requires outreach and good clinical/ethical handling.

The duty to protect an identifiable victim from a client's serious, imminent threat of violence; a limit to confidentiality.

Evaluating ideation, plan, means, intent, history, hopelessness, and protective factors to determine risk and response.

Asking directly about suicide does not increase risk; failing to assess is the danger.

Reducing access to lethal means as part of a suicide safety plan.

Collaboratively developing a plan to keep a client safe during a crisis (warning signs, coping steps, contacts, means restriction).

Assessing how severe a crisis is to determine what immediate intervention, if any, is needed.

Assessing risk of harm to the client from others and harm the client poses to others, including the therapist.

The legal duty to report reasonable suspicion of child, elder, or dependent-adult abuse, overriding confidentiality.

Arranging voluntary or involuntary hospitalization when a client cannot be kept safe by less restrictive means.

Assessing a client's potential for self-harm to determine the type and level of intervention.

The cumulative emotional impact on a therapist of exposure to clients' trauma; therapists assess and respond to it in themselves.

Consulting colleagues and other professionals during crises to support sound decisions.

A serious, foreseeable threat of harm in the near term that triggers protective duties over confidentiality.

Short-term, focused action to stabilize a person in acute crisis and connect them to ongoing support; safety first.

Helping clients develop techniques to recognize and manage future crises.

Assessing a client's trauma history to understand its impact on the current crisis and respond sensitively.

Factors lowering risk — strong relationships, reasons for living, coping skills, access to care, beliefs against suicide.

How dangerous and accessible a chosen suicide method is; central to risk assessment and means restriction.

Developing a concrete plan to increase safety for a victim of intimate-partner violence.

Distinguishing situational couple violence from coercive controlling violence to guide a safe response.

Reporting reasonable suspicion of child abuse or neglect to authorities, overriding confidentiality.

Reporting suspected abuse or neglect of elders or dependent adults as required by law.

A condition in which a person cannot provide for basic needs, a possible basis for involuntary intervention.

Documenting the risk assessment, clinical reasoning, and protective actions taken during a crisis.

The American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy's ethical standards governing MFT practice.

The client's voluntary agreement to treatment after disclosure of its nature, fees, policies, confidentiality limits, risks, and benefits.

The therapist's duty to protect client information; in couple/family work the secrets policy must be clarified upfront.

Situations (harm to self/others, abuse, court order) where confidentiality must yield to legal/ethical duties.

A client's legal right to keep therapy communications out of court; held by the client and subject to exceptions.

A second role with a client (business, social, sexual) beyond the professional one that risks impaired judgment or exploitation.

Prohibited by the AAMFT Code; the prohibition extends for a defined period after termination.

Practicing only within the boundaries of one's training, experience, and supervised competence.

Maintaining and advancing professional skills through education, supervision, and research.

A confidentiality stance in couple/family therapy where the therapist will not keep individually disclosed secrets from other members.

Clarifying, in family/couple work, whether the client is an individual, the couple, or the whole family — central to ethical practice.

Written disclosure of fees, office policies, training, and expertise provided to clients.

Maintaining accurate, timely, secure, and confidential records, with lawful retention and disposal.

Reporting reasonable suspicion (not proof) of abuse promptly to authorities, as required by state law.

Maintaining awareness of how one's own family-of-origin, values, and biases influence the work.

Attending to one's own well-being to maintain competent, ethical practice.

Monitoring and mitigating any risk of exploiting clients for the therapist's benefit.

Adhering to the agreements made with clients about the parameters and conduct of treatment.

Honoring clients' autonomy, dignity, and rights throughout treatment.

Meeting legal obligations such as court-ordered cases, testimony, expert-witness work, and custody hearings competently.

Using technology (telehealth, records, communication) in accordance with legal, ethical, and professional standards.

Adhering to relevant statutes, case law, and licensing-board regulations affecting practice.

Respecting the roles and responsibilities of other professionals working with the client.

Consulting colleagues about clinical, ethical, and legal concerns as part of responsible practice.

Handling third-party insurance claims honestly and within ethical and legal standards.

Oversight by a qualified supervisor to ensure competent, ethical practice, especially during the pre-licensure period.

Acting for the client's benefit and well-being.

Avoiding harm to the client ('do no harm').

Respecting the client's right to make their own informed decisions.

Treating clients fairly and equitably in access and care.

Keeping commitments and being trustworthy in the professional relationship.

A crossing is a minor, sometimes helpful deviation from the norm; a violation harms or exploits the client.

Handling client gifts thoughtfully, considering cultural meaning and risk of boundary problems.

Exchanging services or goods for therapy only cautiously, when not exploitative or clinically contraindicated.

The professional obligation to provide competent care and not to abandon a client in need.

Navigating who consents and what stays confidential when treating minors, per state law and assent.

Disclosing records only with proper authorization; conjoint-therapy records need consent of the parties involved.

The ethical duty to provide services responsive to clients' cultural backgrounds and contexts.

Addressing the unethical or impaired practice of colleagues responsibly.