Murray Bowen Family Therapy

The goal of Bowen’ theory is to review developmental patterns within the familial system and the stress centered around the anxiety caused by closeness or the lack thereof (Penny, 1999). Bowen’s theory works to facilitate a decline in stress and anxiety by enabling the clients with education as to how the emotional system works and focusing on how to modify self perceptional behaviors instead of working to change others within the system (Penny, 1999).

The systems Perspective sees human behavior as the outcome of interactions within and among systems with interrelated and interdependent parts; as defined by its boundaries. Changing one part of the system affects other parts and the whole system, with predictable patterns of behavior (Hutchinson, 2015). The family system has been a widely used theory of family interventions and assessment. The family systems theory is focused on the family dynamic, involving structures, roles, communication patterns, boundaries, and power relation (Rothbaum, 2004). Many theorist such as Bowen, developed the systems theory that focuses on how a

Prior to establishing his theory post-World War II, Bowen studied the origins of schizophrenia and postulated that transgenerational maternal enmeshment was its cause. Bowen’s thoughts on this were similar to those on individuation. Though he believed psychoanalysis was too individualized for family therapy, the psychoanalytic notion that one’s interactions are driven by unconscious motivation was the theory’s germ of inspiration. Goldenberg & Goldenberg (2012) write that the most essential piece Bowen’s family systems theory is that the individual needs to resolve anxiety arising from their family of origin to find a sense of individuality. This concept is traceable to Bowen’s psychoanalytic roots as a psychiatrist.

Falicov, C.J., & Brudner-White, L. (1983). The shifting family triangle: The issue of cultural and

In the system of family therapy Dr Murray Bowen developed a new approach to family therapy that was different from other family theorist because it emphasized on the family’s emotional system and its history that may be traced through the family dynamics of the parents, and grandparents. His approach looks at human emotions and the patterns that are commonly developed and similar in all family systems.

This paper will summarize the theory of family systems developed by Murray Bowen. It will describe the eight key components to Bowenian therapy and the techniques used during practice. Strengths and limitations will be exposed, followed by a summary of the importance of integration between psychology and family systems theory.

Murray Bowen was born in 1913 in Tennessee and died in 1990. He was the oldest child in a large cohesive family. He trained as a psychiatrist and originally practiced within the psychoanalytic model. In his practice he involved mothers in the investigation of schizophrenic patients. He thought that the cause of schizophrenia begun in mother-child symbiosis which created an anxious and unhealthy attachment. His devotion to his own psychoanalytic training was set aside after his move to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in 1954 as he begun to shift from an individual focus to an appreciation of the dimensions of families as systems. He began to include more family members in his research and psychotherapy

For this assignment, two different theoretical approaches will be discussed, Bowenian family therapy and structural family therapy, and they will be used individually to construct a treatment plan to help clients reach their goals. Within each treatment plan discussed, short-term and long-term goals of therapy will be established and the family’s presenting problems will be defined. Two techniques that will be assigned to help them reach their therapeutic goals and any expected outcome from using those techniques will be discussed.

Bohlinger (n.d.) states, “The Bowenian therapist would work to impart three important lessons to their clients: self-determination, self-advocacy, and re-engaging with the self in relationship” (Bohlinger, n.d.). The structural therapist is interested in boundaries between the client and the others around them, as oppose to the client’s intrinsic self. (Bohlinger, n.d.). Bowenian therapists work to help clients maintain and balance relationships, unlike the experimental therapist, who confronts the client on strengths and weaknesses, in hopes that they will accept both aspects of individuality (Bohlinger, n.d). Also, Bowenian therapy is interested in “historical” processes, instead of historical emotions and problems (Bohlinger, n.d.). An interesting aspect of Bowenian therapy is the lack of termination. Bowen believed differentiation is an ongoing process, unlike majority of family therapies (Walsh, Harrigan, 2003, p.

In conceptualising the development of the family system, Bowenian therapists are past-focused. They believe that emotional fusion that is passed down from one generation to the next is the cause of psychological problems (Nichols, 2010, pp 119-122). Normal family development according to Solution Focused therapist produces families with flexible structures, clear boundaries and well-organised hierarchies. This is quite similar to Bowenian’s concept of normal family development. Differentiated individuals after all need to have clear boundaries. Similarly, flexible structures and well-organised hierarchies do promote low anxiety and therefore generate positive emotional contact between family members. The difference is that instead of being past-focused, Solution Focused therapy assiduously avoids the past and focuses their clients as much as possible on the present and future. (Nichols, 2010, pp 321).

Dr. Murray Bowen, a psychiatrist, offered us the family systems theory. This theory views the family as an emotional unit, further providing a thinking systems approach to describe the complex interactions in the unit. Bowen offered, “A change in one person’s functioning is predictably followed by a reciprocal change in the functioning of others” (Kerr, 2000). If one person within the family unit is having a difficult time, it effects everyone within the family unit. An example of this would be a father who is the primary breadwinner for his family suddenly loosing his job. Prior

Additionally, Murray Bowen had an extensive background in understanding the family function of individuals and how they tend to act in structured and unstructured settings (D.V. Papero, 2006). He proposed a theory called the differentiation of self, which is the trademark of the Murray Bowen theory and therapy (D.V.Papero, 2006). Differentiation of self is known as the ability to function independently without being emotionally dependent upon your family, which some individuals can manage how they feel in situations that are prone to create anxiety(D.V. Paper, 2006).

In The Family Crucible, Augustus Napier and Carl Whitaker’s form of therapy was strongly influenced by family systems theory, a burgeoning theory of the time. General systems theory examines relationships between elements that constitute a whole (Andreae, 2011, p. 243). When applied to families, this theory views the family as an emotional unit and uses systems thinking to describe the complex interactions in the unit (The

The family system is founded on the notions that for change to occur in the life of an individual, the therapist must understand and work with the family as a whole. In working with the family, the therapist can understand how the individual in counseling functions within his family system and how the client’s behaviors connect to other people in the family. This theory also holds the perception that symptoms are a set of family habits and patterns passed down by generation and not a result of a psychological problem or an inability to change (Corey, 2017). Furthermore, the family system theory holds the idea that when a change occurs everyone in the unit is affected by the change.

Bowenian family therapy views human beings not simply as individual parts that make up a collective whole, but as a collective whole made up of various parts. That is, human beings are relational from birth and belong to a family or some other type of collective system where the joys and problems they experience are done not in a vacuum, but are shared and passed along from generation to generation. “The main goal…is to reduce chronic anxiety by 1) facilitating awareness of how the emotional system functions; and 2) increasing levels of differentiation, [with] focus on making changes for the self rather than on trying to change others” (Brown, 1999, p. 95).