Bowen Family Systems
Therapy
Nichols, M. P. & Schwartz, R. C. (2001).
Bowen family systems therapy. In M.
P. Nichols & R. C. Schwartz, Family
therapy: Concepts and methods (5th
ed., pp. 137-171). Boston: Allyn and
Bacon.
Introduction
 Bowen was one of the few early pioneers
who paid attention to the larger network of
family relationships.
 “Bowen family systems therapy has by far
the most comprehensive view of human
behavior and human problems of any
approach to family treatment” (p. 137).
Dr. Ronald Werner-Wilson
Sketches of Leading Figures
 Bowen family systems therapy evolved
from psychoanalytic principles and practice.
 Bowen was innovative and developed
comprehensive ideas.
 Bowen was the oldest child from a large
family in rural Tennessee.
 Many prominent MFTs trained with Bowen,
including many feminist therapists such as
Betty Carter and Monica McGoldrick.
Dr. Ronald Werner-Wilson
Theoretical Formulations
Differentiation of Self
 This is both an intrapsychic and
interpersonal concept.
 Intrapsychic aspect: ability to separate
feeling from thinking. “The differentiated
person isn’t a cold fish who only thinks and
never feels … he or she is capable of strong
emotion and spontaneity, but also capable of
the objectivity that comes with the ability to
resist the pull of emotional impulses” (p.
140).
Dr. Ronald Werner-Wilson
Differentiation of Self (cont.)
 Interpersonal aspect:
 Undifferentiated people react emotionally –
positively or negatively – to others.
 Undifferentiated people have limited
autonomous identity.
 Differentiated people are able to take principled
stands.
 Differentiated people are able to develop
intimacy without become reflexively shaped by
others.
 The process of differentiation promotes
personal responsibility.
Dr. Ronald Werner-Wilson
Triangles
 All emotionally significant relationships are
shadowed by third parties (including relatives,
friends, objects, work, memories).
 Relationships are dynamic; there are cycles of
closeness of distance. Triangles are likely to
develop during times of distance.
 In relationships, the partner who experiences the
most distress will often connect with someone else
as a way to gain an ally.
 Sometimes, significant others offer support when
they sense anxiety or conflict.
Dr. Ronald Werner-Wilson
Triangles (cont.)
 Triangulation lets off steam, but it freezes conflict
in place: “Unburdening yourself to a friend will
make you feel better. It will also lessen the
likelihood that you’ll engage the problem at its
source” (p. 141).
 Interlocking triangles are present in systems of
more than three.
 Rules that govern emotional processes:


One person cannot change the relationship between two
others or between another person and her or his habit.
The more you try to change the relationship of another,
the more likely it is that you will reinforce the aspects
of the relationship that you want to change.
Dr. Ronald Werner-Wilson
Nuclear Family Emotional
Processes
 Undifferentiated people experience
difficulty managing anxiety and stress.
 Lack of Differentiation X Anxiety = Fusion
Between Spouses.
 Emotional fusion is unstable. It tends to
produce:
 overt marital conflict;
 reactive emotional distance;
 physical or emotional symptoms
(usually the
more accommodating partner);
 projection of problems on to children.
Dr. Ronald Werner-Wilson
Family Projection Process
 Definition: “the process by which parents
project part of their immaturity to one or
more children” (Bowen, 1978, p. 477).
 The child who is the most emotionally
attached to parents is likely to be the object
of parental projection and, as a result, have
lower levels of differentiation (Bowen,
1978).
Dr. Ronald Werner-Wilson
Multigenerational Transmission
Process
 This refers to the transmission of a family
projection process.
 The nature and degree of intensity of
emotional responses are passed down from
generation to generation (Friedman, 1991).
 Levels of differentiation are affected
through generations based on levels of
differentiation of partners as they marry.
Dr. Ronald Werner-Wilson
Sibling Position
 Belief that personality characteristics are
influenced by sibling position. He also
believed that family functioning and other
variables influenced roles.
 Sibling conflict may often be the result of
triangular relationships (e.g., coalitions with
parents can foster sibling antagonism).
Dr. Ronald Werner-Wilson
Emotional Cutoff
 All people have some degree of unresolved
emotional attachment to their parents.
 Level of cutoff is influenced by degree of
differentiation: there is an attempt to
distance by avoiding contact.
Dr. Ronald Werner-Wilson
Societal Emotional Process
 Emotional processes in families influence
emotional processes in families.
 Social forces (including sexism, racism,
poverty) fundamentally influence how
families interact with each other.
Dr. Ronald Werner-Wilson
Normal Family Development
 Bowen believed that families varied on a
continuum from emotional fusion to
differentiation.
 Optimal Family Development: thought to take
place when



family members are relatively differentiated;
anxiety is low;
parents are in good emotional contact with their own
families of origin.
 Emotional attachment between spouses often is
similar to those from families of origin.
 Family development is a process of expansion,
contraction, and realignment that supports entry,
exit, and development of family members.
Dr. Ronald Werner-Wilson
Characteristics of Well-adjusted
Families (Fogarty, 1976a):
 They are balanced and can adapt to change.
 Emotional problems are seen as existing in the
whole group.
 They are connected across generations to all
family members.
 Minimum use of fusion or distance to solve
problems.
 Each dyad is capable of dealing with conflict
within it.
 Differences are tolerated.
 There is an awareness of what each person
receives from others.
Dr. Ronald Werner-Wilson
Characteristics of Well-adjusted
Families (cont.)
 Each person is allowed her/his own
emptiness.
 Preserving a positive emotional climate is
more important than doing what is popular
or socially appropriate.
 Each member thinks the family is a pretty
good place to live.
 Members use each other as sources for
feedback and learning, not as emotional
crutches.
Dr. Ronald Werner-Wilson
Development of Behavior
Disorders
 Symptoms develop from stress that exceeds
a person’s ability to handle it.
 Symptoms are a product of emotional
reactivity, acute or chronic.
 The ability to deal with stress is influenced
by level of differentiation.
 Remember,
differentiation is not a synonym for
maturity.
 It reflects both an intrapsychic and
interpersonal process. As a result, symptoms
also develop when stress exceeds a systems
ability to bind or neutralize it.
Dr. Ronald Werner-Wilson
Goals of Therapy
 Trace Family Patterns
 Pay attention to processes: patterns of
emotional reactivity.
 Pay attention to structure: patterns of
interlocking triangles.
 Goal of therapy: decrease anxiety and
increase differentiation of self.
 Goals become less specific over time.
Dr. Ronald Werner-Wilson
Goals of Therapy (cont.)
 Guerin’s approach:
 Place the presenting problems in
multigenerational context by completing a
thorough and accurate genogram.
 Connect with key family members: work to
calm their anxiety and level of emotional
arousal so that anxiety throughout the system
can be lowered.
 Define parameters of the central symptomatic
triangle
 Feminist approach: address inequality in
relationships.
Dr. Ronald Werner-Wilson
Conditions of Behavior Change
 Therapists must be able to tolerate anxiety.
 Therapists must practice differentiation and avoid
triangulation.
 Therapists ask questions to foster self-reflection
and direct them to individuals one-at-a-time.
 Individuals are encouraged to look for their own
role in processes.
 Therapy requires an awareness about the entire
family (even though it does not need to include the
presence of the entire family).
 Differentiation requires cultivating a personal
relationship with everyone in the extended family.
Dr. Ronald Werner-Wilson
Techniques
 Genogram: family diagram to collect and organize
information about the family.
 The therapy triangle: therapist should try to
remain free of emotional entanglements in order to
avoid feel stuck or stalemated.
 Relationship experiments: ask clients to try new
behaviors and pay attention to the processes.
 Coaching: ask process questions designed to help
clients cultivate responses.
 The “I-Position”: take a personal stance and say
what you feel.
Dr. Ronald Werner-Wilson
Techniques (cont.)
 Multiple family therapy: work with multiple
couples at once. Observing other couples
can be helpful.
 Displacement stories: tell stories (or
recommend movies) that minimize
defensiveness.
Dr. Ronald Werner-Wilson