MFT
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MFT is a trademark of its owner, which is not affiliated with and does not endorse Test Treasure Publication or TTP Prep.
10 sample questions for the MFT, with the correct answer and an explanation for each. No account needed. Try each one before you open the answer.
Sections covered on the exam: The Practice Of Systemic Therapy, Systemstheoryfoundations, Individual-Basedtheoriesandtherapymodels, Integratingindividualandsystemicapproaches, Humandevelopmentandthefamilylifecycle, Humansexuality, Assessing, Hypothesizing, And Diagnosing, Individualassessmentandmentalstatus, Managing Crisis Situations, Assessing, Hypothesizing, and Diagnosing, Substanceuseandprocessaddictions, Trauma,Violence,Andchildhoodadversity, Griefandbereavement, Hypothesisformationandcollaborativereferral, Designing And Conducting Treatment, Treatmentplanningandtherapeuticcontracts, Safetyplanning, Structural,Strategic,Andmilanmodels, Designing and Conducting Treatment, Postmodernandsolution-Focusedmodels, Substanceusetreatmentandrecovery-Orientedcare, Psychotropicmedicationsandsideeffects, Grouptherapy, Evaluating Ongoing Process And, Researchparadigmsanddesigns, Therapyresearchandevidence-Basedpractice, Progressmonitoring, Modifyingtreatmentanddeliverymodality, Terminationandmaintenance, Suicideriskassessment, Violence,Abuse,Andneglect, Suicideandself-Harmintervention, Violencepreventionanddutytoprotect, Levelsofcare,Referral,Andcollaboration, Maintaining Ethical, Legal, And, Scope,Competence,Andtheaamftcode, Licensing,Regulation,Andsupervision, Landmarkcasesandfederallaw, Malpractice,Riskmanagement,Andbusinesspractice, Maintaining Ethical, Legal, and Professional Standards, Informedconsentandclientrights, Technologyandteletherapy, The Practice of Systemic Therapy.
Question 1 · The Practice Of Systemic Therapy
Twelve-year-old Mateo's stomachaches kept him home from school for several months. After a pediatric workup found no medical cause, he returned to school, and his parents' arguing, which had been quiet during his illness, sharply escalated. Within two weeks the stomachaches returned. From a systems perspective, which hypothesis BEST accounts for this sequence?
Answer: D. The symptom detours marital conflict, and the family is restoring its prior balance
When improvement in the identified patient is followed by escalating conflict elsewhere and then a return of the symptom, the symptom is serving a homeostatic function, so the family is restoring its prior balance by detouring marital conflict through Mateo. The somatic symptom disorder hypothesis explains Mateo in isolation and ignores the timing of the parents' arguing.
Question 2 · Individualassessmentandmentalstatus
On a standardized measure based on Olson's Circumplex Model, the Brennan family scores very high on cohesion and very low on flexibility. Members say they do everything together and that 'rules never change in this house.' How is the family BEST described?
Answer: A. Enmeshed and rigid
In the Circumplex Model, extremely high cohesion is enmeshment and extremely low flexibility is rigidity, so the Brennans are enmeshed and rigid. Enmeshed and chaotic is tempting because the cohesion label is correct, but chaos reflects extremely high flexibility with unstable rules and roles. Balanced families fall in the moderate range on both dimensions.
Question 3 · Designing and Conducting Treatment
Imelda and Kwame describe a pattern in which Imelda criticizes and pursues while Kwame shuts down and leaves the room. In the early sessions of Emotionally Focused Therapy, what should the therapist do FIRST?
Answer: D. Track the pursue–withdraw cycle and help them see it, not each other, as the problem
Stage 1 of EFT is de-escalation. The therapist maps the negative cycle, reaches the attachment emotions underneath it, and frames the cycle as the shared enemy. A softening event belongs to stage 2 and cannot be staged before de-escalation. Teaching speaker–listener skills is a behavioral approach and does not work with the attachment emotions that drive the cycle.
Question 4 · Modifyingtreatmentanddeliverymodality
Family therapy with 16-year-old Imani and her parents has stalled because Imani refuses to speak when her parents are present. Which modification is MOST appropriate?
Answer: C. Add individual time with Imani after agreeing with all on how its content is handled
Adding individual time with the adolescent can rebuild engagement, but only after the whole family has agreed on how information from those sessions will be handled. Complete secrecy cannot be promised when safety might be at stake, and it undermines the family frame. Keeping only whole-family sessions ignores a stalemate that is blocking all progress.
Question 5 · Levelsofcare,Referral,Andcollaboration
An MFT learns that her client, Benjamin, is being discharged tomorrow from a psychiatric unit after a suicide attempt. Which action BEST supports a safe transition back to outpatient care?
Answer: B. Obtain a release, coordinate with the discharge team, and schedule a visit within days
Because risk is elevated right after discharge, best practice is to coordinate directly with the inpatient team and schedule a prompt follow-up appointment. Waiting for the client to call places the burden on him during a high-risk window and often results in a gap in care.
Question 6 · The Practice Of Systemic Therapy
Sixteen-year-old Jonah's mother tells him, 'Come talk to me about anything,' yet stiffens and looks away when he approaches; when he withdraws, she says he doesn't love her. If he comments on the contradiction, he is called ungrateful, and he cannot leave the relationship. Which communication concept BEST describes this pattern?
Answer: C. Double bind
A double bind involves contradictory messages at different levels, a prohibition on commenting on the contradiction, and an inability to leave the field, all of which Jonah faces. Pseudomutuality describes a facade of harmony that suppresses differences rather than conflicting injunctions to one person. Emotional cutoff is a Bowen concept about managing unresolved attachment through distance.
Question 7 · Individualassessmentandmentalstatus
A therapist assesses how the Oyelaran family identifies and resolves problems, communicates, allocates roles, responds emotionally, invests in one another's interests, and manages behavior. Which assessment framework organizes these six dimensions?
Answer: A. McMaster Model of Family Functioning
The McMaster Model assesses six dimensions: problem solving, communication, roles, affective responsiveness, affective involvement, and behavior control. Olson's Circumplex Model is tempting because it is also a family assessment framework, but it centers on cohesion and flexibility, with communication as a facilitating dimension. The Double ABCX Model describes family adaptation to stressors over time.
Question 8 · Designing and Conducting Treatment
Late in EFT, Naomi, who once attacked and criticized, turns to Felix in tears and says, "I get so scared you'll leave that I push harder. I need to know you're there." Felix moves closer and takes her hand. In EFT this event is BEST described as:
Answer: A. A blamer softening, a key change event in the second stage
A blamer softening happens when the former pursuer asks for attachment needs from a vulnerable place and the now-engaged partner responds. It is a key change event in stage 2. Withdrawer re-engagement is also a stage 2 event, but it involves the withdrawing partner (Felix) becoming more present and assertive, not the pursuer showing vulnerability.
Question 9 · Modifyingtreatmentanddeliverymodality
Wen, who is in individual therapy for anxiety, asks to bring her husband to two sessions so he can learn how to support her. What should the therapist clarify FIRST?
Answer: B. His role as a collateral participant, not a client, and how his input is handled
When a family member joins an individual client's therapy, everyone needs to understand at the start that he is a collateral participant. Wen remains the client, and his role, confidentiality, and records must be explained. Insurance and future couple work are secondary. Assessing the husband's own history would turn him into a client without his consent.
Question 10 · Levelsofcare,Referral,Andcollaboration
Esperanza, who has recent suicidal ideation, misses her scheduled appointment and does not answer the MFT's first call. Her safety plan lists her brother as an emergency contact she authorized. What is the MOST appropriate action?
Answer: B. Continue outreach promptly, contacting her brother as authorized and escalating if needed
When a client at elevated suicide risk misses an appointment and cannot be reached, prompt, persistent outreach using authorized contacts, with escalation to a welfare check if needed, is the standard of care. Waiting until the next appointment leaves a high-risk client unmonitored during a potentially dangerous gap.
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