Which assessment approach develops systemic hypotheses through circular questioning?

Which assessment approach develops systemic hypotheses through circular questioning?

• A. Behavioral tasks
• B. Extinction
• C. Milan Assessment
• D. Reciprocal Inhibition

Answer: (C)

The key idea is using circular questioning to surface how family members influence one another and to generate hypotheses about the whole system. In the Milan Approach, therapists guide the family through questions that shift focus from one person’s problem to how interactions among members sustain it. By asking each person to describe the others’ behaviors and the consequences within different family situations, patterns of cause and effect become circular rather than linear. This reveals rules, alliances, and feedback loops that maintain symptoms, allowing clinicians to propose systemic hypotheses about how the family structure creates and preserves the problem. This contrasts with approaches centered on individual behavior change or conditioned responses, which look at isolated actions or single-subject processes rather than relational dynamics.

The key idea is using circular questioning to surface how family members influence one another and to generate hypotheses about the whole system. In the Milan Approach, therapists guide the family through questions that shift focus from one person’s problem to how interactions among members sustain it. By asking each person to describe the others’ behaviors and the consequences within different family situations, patterns of cause and effect become circular rather than linear. This reveals rules, alliances, and feedback loops that maintain symptoms, allowing clinicians to propose systemic hypotheses about how the family structure creates and preserves the problem. This contrasts with approaches centered on individual behavior change or conditioned responses, which look at isolated actions or single-subject processes rather than relational dynamics.