Sally and Josh share the belief that his difficult childhood influences his ability to form and maintain relationships. This shared belief about the origin of a problem is called a:

• A. Common factor
• B. Personal narrative
• C. Causal theory
• D. Bias

Answer: (A)

Understanding how a problem is caused is about a causal explanation or etiology. When Sally and Josh share that his difficult childhood influences his ability to form and maintain relationships, they’re expressing a causal theory about the issue’s origin. This shared view helps frame what the problem is and guides how they approach treatment, since the assumed cause can shape what kinds of interventions seem relevant.

Common factors, by contrast, are elements that tend to contribute to therapeutic change across many approaches (like the therapeutic relationship or expectancy) rather than a specific cause for the problem. Personal narrative would focus on the individual’s own story, not a jointly held explanation about why the problem exists. Bias refers to a distortion in judgment, not to an explanatory account of the problem’s origin. Therefore, the best-fit term for a shared belief about the problem’s origin is causal theory.