Bowenian family therapy

Bowenian family therapy is a form of psychological treatment based on the idea that problem behaviors are connected to family relationships. It was developed by twentieth-century psychiatrist Murray Bowen. He theorized emotional responses and patterns of behavior developed over the course of various generations of a family and were passed from one generation to the next through attitudes and actions.

The purpose of this form of therapy is to identify the family patterns that are at the root of undesirable behaviors, break negative and toxic connections, improve communication between family members, and help each person become a strong part of the family unit. While the therapy often involves multiple members of a family, sometimes from several generations, it can also be accomplished with a single individual who is willing to delve into the connections between family members going back a few generations.

Bowenian family therapy is related to Bowen family systems theory and Bowen theory. These refer to the ongoing efforts to understand family dynamics and how they apply to an individual’s challenging behaviors. The therapy can be successful in dealing with issues related to communications, conflict resolution, anxiety, stress, addictions, and problems setting or keeping personal boundaries.

Background

Murray Bowen was an American psychiatrist who became interested in psychiatry while serving as an army physician during World War II. He was intrigued by the different ways that soldiers handled the trauma they were experiencing and he chose to study psychiatry. During his studies and early career in the 1940s and 1950s, Bowen developed a theory that the way a person handled the problems in their lives was tied to the family in which they grew up. This theory—which became known as the Bowen family systems theory or Bowen theory—was first published in 1966.

The theory was based on research and work done in a variety of American clinical and higher education settings, including the Georgetown University Medical Center and the Georgetown University Family Center as well as the Menninger Clinic and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). During his research with the NIMH, Bowen was able to observe family units as they lived in a research facility for a period of time. Through his observations, Bowen concluded that all families, when seen across generations, have the same types of people—rule followers and rule breakers, those who function well and experience success in life, and those who struggle with routine life or even develop addictions. He also observed family members on all ends of the social and financial scales, those who form strong relationships outside the family, and those who end up with broken relationships. What makes the difference, he said, was their level of differentiation, which he defined as their level of emotional maturity. This, Bowen believed, was the result of a combination of a person’s genetic makeup and their family background.

Overview

In the normal model for Bowenian family therapy, a number of members of the same family take part in therapy together with the intent of improving communications and reducing conflict for all. This can involve parents and children, blended families, and extended families with members from multiple generations. Couples can use it to help understand how their individual family backgrounds contribute to problems they are experiencing in their shared relationship. It can also be accomplished with a single individual who works with a therapist trained in Bowen theory to identify the family patterns and emotional responses that are contributing to the situation that brought the person to therapy.

Main Principles

There are eight main principles of Bowenian therapy:

• Self-differentiation, or a person’s sense of self as opposed to their sense of their connection to the family
• Relationship triangles, or the characteristics of relationships between three members of the family and how they affect other family relationships
• Nuclear family emotional processes, or the repeated behavioral and emotional patterns used by members of the family that affect the relationships between them
• Family projection process, or situations where parents displace their own feelings, fears, and aspirations on the next generation, who may repeat the pattern
• Multi-generational transmission process, or the ways problems with differentiating or separating between parents and children grow over time and spread to the next generation
• Sibling position, or the way birth order affects family relationships
• Emotional cutoff, when family dysfunction causes someone to completely severe ties with one or more members of the family
• Emotional processes in society, or the outside influences that also affect dynamics within a family.

While not all of these will be present in every family, Bowen determined that over a number of generations, most if not all will come into play and contribute to emotional and family issues.

Techniques

There are a number of techniques used by a Bowenian therapist. These include genograms, differentiating emotions and self-differentiation, I-statements, triangles, intergenerational patterns, and normalizing challenges. All of these are used in connection with talk therapy, or psychotherapy, where one or more people sit with a therapist for sessions of listening, discussing, expressing, and counseling.

Genograms are pictorial displays or charts that resemble a family tree but include much more information. Bowenian genograms include family history, relationships, mental health issues, and behavioral patterns. This is often the first step in Bowenian family therapy and is revised and added to as the therapy progresses and more information comes to light.

Differentiating emotions and self-differentiation in Bowenian theory are the emotions and emotional patterns that each member in the family dynamic uses. Self-differentiation refers to those used by each individual. The Bowen-trained therapist helps people identify and understand the emotions they use that contribute to problem behaviors.

I-statements focus on how something is affecting the person speaking, rather than on the actions of the other person or persons. For example, the therapist would encourage a person to say, “I get angry when you forget to take out the trash,” instead of “you always leave the trash for me.” These statements help avoid defensiveness and foster communication.

Triangles in Bowen theory are the stable emotional relationships formed between three members of a family unit. They help promote stability and a stronger support system. They are different from the psychological concept of triangulation, a manipulative technique where one person involved in a conflict with another tries to get a third person to side with them against the second person.

Intergenerational patterns identified in the genogram provide a basis for the Bowenian therapist to resolve problem behaviors. The patient/s and therapist will identify the patterns that lead to problem behaviors and should be eliminated. The therapist guides participants to ways to strengthen patterns that are helpful and extinguish ones that are not.

Normalizing challenges refers preparing participants to act in healthy ways when therapy has ended. Challenges will continue to arise, and it is easy to fall back into old patterns and ways of dealing with them. Normalizing these challenges helps to prepare the person and family to avoid falling into old patterns.

Effectiveness and benefits

Like many forms of psychotherapy, the effectiveness of Bowenian family therapy depends on a number of factors. One is the cooperation received from various participants. Psychotherapy always requires a commitment to working for change and a willingness to actively engage in the process. Bowenian therapy works best when many or all members of a family unit are willing to participate and adopt new ways of interacting and communicating, but this can be a challenging goal to accomplish. In addition, the intergenerational focus of Bowenian therapy can dredge up old traumas and hurts; this will add challenges that will need to be addressed before therapy can move forward with any measure of success.

Couples therapy is one area where Bowenian therapy can be especially beneficial. The therapist works with the partners to understand how each has been shaped by their family dynamic and how this affects the way they interact with each other. The use of I-statements and the ability to learn healthier ways to communicate and express emotions can be very beneficial even if no other family members participate. Bowenian family therapy can work in a similar way in blended family situations as well, by helping each member of the family see how past interactions are affecting their new situation.

Another area that has seen good success with this form of therapy is family reunification. When a child or children are removed from a family because the situation is unsuitable in some way, the goal is generally to reunite the family and restore the children to the household. Working with child protective services often provides an additional level of support as well as additional incentive for parents to identify and work to end family patterns of behavior that led to the children being removed.

Families that work together in Bowenian family therapy learn new techniques for dealing with each other that avoid feeding problem behaviors. They are taught new ways of communicating that improve not only the family dynamic but also their outside relationships as well. Family members come to understand how the things they experienced and reacted in the past contributed to the anxiety, stress, and conflict they are experiencing. They learn to use the triangles within the family unit for support and to strengthen all their relationships. In addition, each member of the family learns new ways to both be part of a strong, healthy family as well as a unique individual with their own identity.

While one of the principal reasons for using Bowenian family therapy is getting to the root of family conflict situations, it can also be used successfully to treat a number of other conditions. These include depression, personality disorders, bipolar disorder, and addictive or self-harming behaviors such as substance abuse and eating disorders. It can also be used to help a person cope with difficult emotions that arise from a physical disability or disorder.

Bibliography

“Bowen Family Systems Theory.” Western Pennsylvania Family Center, www.wpfc.net/theory/. Accessed 13 Dec. 2024.

“Bowenian Family Therapy.” Decision Point Center, www.decisionpointcenter.com/therapies/bowenian-family-therapy/. Accessed 13 Dec. 2024.

Bowen Theory Academy, bowentheoryacademy.org/. Accessed 13 Dec. 2024.

“Family Systems Therapy.” Psychology Today, www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapy-types/family-systems-therapy. Accessed 13 Dec. 2024.

“Introduction to the Eight Concepts.” Bowen Center for the Study of the Family, www.thebowencenter.org/introduction-eight-concepts. Accessed 13 Dec. 2024.

Marschall, Amy. “What Is Bowenian Family Therapy?” VeryWell Mind, 22 Nov. 2024, www.verywellmind.com/bowenian-family-therapy-definition-and-techniques-5214558?print. Accessed 13 Dec. 2024.

Marschall, Amy. “What Is a Genogram?” VeryWell Mind, 27 Feb. 2024, www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-genogram-5217739. Accessed 13 Dec. 2024.