Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) National Practice Exam 2025 – The Comprehensive All-In-One Guide for Your Exam Success!

The theorist most commonly associated with the concepts of power and control in family therapy is Jay Haley. His work, particularly in Strategic Family Therapy, emphasizes the role of power dynamics and control within family systems. Haley focused on how families operate based on interactions and the influence of hierarchies, presenting the idea that individuals often use strategies to gain or maintain power within their relationships. His techniques often involved directly addressing these power dynamics and encouraging structural change to alter problematic interactions.

Salvador Minuchin, while also influential in family therapy, specifically emphasized the importance of structure within family systems rather than solely focusing on power dynamics. He developed the Structural Family Therapy model, which examines how family structures contribute to issues but does not analyze control and power to the extent that Haley does. The Milan Group is more associated with systemic therapy and the concept of circular questioning, stressing the interplay of family myths and beliefs, rather than a direct focus on power and control. Chloe Madanas is not widely recognized in the context of power and control concepts in family therapy.

Thus, Haley's emphasis on tactical intervention in addressing the prevailing power struggles within families makes him the prominent figure for this specific theoretical lens in family therapy.