Deck 24: Codependency and Enabling

Question 1

Enabling behaviors might be motivated by which of the following factors?

A)Pathological interdependency
B)Social pressure to be a "good" spouse
C)Being overly protective of one's partner
D)All of these answers are correct

Answer 1

All of these answers are correct

Question 2

Which of the following is NOT true of codependent persons?

A)They believe they are not as good as others.
B)They must accept responsibility for problems well beyond their control.
C)Codependent persons are born that way.
D)Codependent people have learned to be codependent.

Answer 2

Codependent people have learned to be codependent.

Question 3

Codependent persons are often taught

A)it is okay to express my anger toward the dysfunctional person's behavior.
B)it is not okay for me to have problems of my own.
C)I am always capable of dealing with an emergency.
D)it is possible to negotiate boundaries as I grow older and mature emotionally.

Answer 3

it is not okay for me to have problems of my own.

Question 4

Janis has been married to Paul, who struggles with alcoholism, for 34 years.Her role in her circle of friends is to help other wives of other alcoholic individuals and giving them empathy and support, while also telling regular stories of what Paul did that week due to his alcoholism and how she dealt with it.Her friends frequently tell her what a good, devoted wife she is.Janis is most likely utilizing which of the following coping styles described in your text?

A)Caretaker
B)Apathetic partner
C)Martyr
D)Approval seeker

Question 5

Codependency

A)is more commonly encountered in homes with an alcohol use disorder rather than a drug use disorder.
B)is more commonly encountered in homes with younger adults, such as those recently married.
C)is a construct that is useful for professionals who work with those struggling with substance use behaviors.
D)will be an accepted diagnostic category in the next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Question 6

The tendency of a codependent person to have poor boundaries and to be over-involved in the life of another (or several others) is called

A)enmeshment.
B)triangulation.
C)reaction formation.
D)projection.

Question 7

One criticism of the concept of codependency is that it rests upon

A)the unproven "family disease model" used in family therapy.
B)behavior modification approaches used to shape successive approximations to healthy behavior in marital counseling.
C)an unproven theory that codependents have a genetic predisposition toward such relationships.
D)the theory that the codependent is unconsciously angry at his or her partner and wants the partner to suffer for as long as possible.This is the motivation for his or her overly protective behaviors.

Question 8

Codependency is characterized by

A)preoccupation with "escape" behaviors to avoid blame for another person's SUD.
B)a consensus about how to spell the word by mental health professionals.
C)over-involvement with another person's behavior and attempting to control that person's substance use.
D)insensitivity to another person's behavior.

Question 9

Communication in codependent relationships is

A)limited to "safe" topics that avoid anger outburst or conflict.
B)expansive and addresses virtually every topic imaginable.
C)difficult to understand because of the different maturity levels of the various persons involved.
D)focused on individuation.

Question 10

According to Freud's "repetition compulsion," once the addict stops his or her dysfunctional behaviors, the codependent individual will

A)be cured.
B)begin to set appropriate boundaries.
C)give up control of the ex-addict's behaviors.
D)attempt to find someone else who is dysfunctional.

Question 11

According to your text, to "enable" another person is to

A)provide financial support to help tide him or her over in rough times, money that is in turn used to buy alcohol or drugs.
B)knowingly behave in a manner that makes it possible for another to misuse chemicals or to avoid consequences of such activities.
C)forcefully confront the person's substance use behaviors so he or she will seek professional help.
D)allow him or her to suffer the natural consequences for their behavior.

Question 12

Which of the following is NOT seen in codependency?

A)Measuring self-worth on the basis of how another person behaves
B)Leaving/ending the dysfunctional relationship
C)Making personal sacrifices to protect the dysfunctional person from the consequences of his or her behavior
D)Attempting to avoid confronting the reality of another person's addiction

Question 13

One of the important cornerstones of recovering from codependency is

A)gaining control over the addict person's behavior.
B)detachment from the addicted person's dysfunctional behavior.
C)protecting the addicted person from the consequences of his or her behavior.
D)removing the addicted person from one's life.

Question 14

According to your text, "codependency" and "enabling" are

A)constructs to help professionals categorize behavior more effectively.
B)frighteningly real concepts that ruin people's lives.
C)only seen in dysfunctional homes.
D)less common now than in the 1980s.

Question 15

Codependency and enabling

A)have continued to be popular topics for researchers.
B)are very nondistinct concepts that are defined differently by different people.
C)are as well accepted as real phenomenon as coronary artery disease.
D)have never been called addictive behaviors.

Question 16

Essentially, codependency might be viewed as

A)an exaggerated form of a normal relationship pattern.
B)an independent pattern of relating that exists outside of normal relationships.
C)a way for all involved to focus their attention on matters outside of the family.
D)an excuse for one person to remain in a dysfunctional relationship.

Question 17

One of the challenges to the concept of codependency is that

A)it frees family members from responsibility for their behavior.
B)people who have the problem have a difficult time seeing the behaviors as problematic.
C)it makes the dysfunctional person fully responsible for their behavior.
D)it is an either/or condition.

Question 18

The concept of codependency

A)forces offenders to take full responsibility for their behavior.
B)is based on the theories of personality put forward by Alfred Adler.
C)is an outgrowth of the concept of the co-addict popular in the 1950s.
D)is based on the personality theory of Otto Rank, presented in the 1930s.

Question 19

Critics of the concept of codependency argue that viewing codependency as a absolves the individual from any personal responsibility.

A)construct
B)model for healthy relationships
C)disease
D)model for entire communities

Question 20

By learning how to "let go" of their attempts to control a dysfunctional person's behavior, the codependent person is expressing

A)contempt for that person.
B)anger toward that person.
C)detachment from that person.
D)over-involvement with the dysfunctional person.

Question 21

Describe the cycle of codependency.

Question 22

An important reason mental health professionals are uncomfortable with the concept of codependency is that it gives too much power to the individual and removes the need to address family issues in counseling.

Question 23

A health care professional may behave in an enabling way by opting not to add an SUD diagnosis to a patient's profile.

Question 24

Discuss the "rules" of codependency and how they may reflect the dynamics within a dysfunctional family.

Question 25

One of the reasons why the concept of codependency has been challenged is because it turns the focus of blame to the family.

Question 26

The construct of "codependency" is controversial.What are some of the criticisms?

Question 27

The textbook discusses 11 different coping styles of a family member who is codependent.They are the apathetic partner, the approval seeker, the caretaker, the coconspirator, the controller, the family mascot/clown, the martyr, the messiah, the protector, the persecutor, and the separator.Choose six of these roles and discuss the goal of this coping style.Which of those six do you think is the healthiest or most useful for the person who is addicted to a substance?

Question 28

It is important to only use the term "codependency" when referring to family members, and avoid the terms "enabler" or "enabling."

Question 29

Define the term "enabling." What are some of the theoretical explanations for it?

Question 30

The person who acts as a "persecutor" in a codependent relationship blames everyone but the dysfunctional member for problems in the family.