Bowenian Family Theory

Case

Triangles

Bowenian Family Theory

Bowen Concepts Applied

3) Parents & Sister vs. Maria

• Causing grief on family

4) Mom & Maria vs. Dad

• Gender themes
• Feelings of emptiness and directionless

• Sibling position
• Family projection process
• Triangulation
• Multigenerational transmission process

Research: Differentiation of Self

Research: Family Dynamics & Pathology

• Differentiation of Self Inventory—Revised
• Validating Bowen Theory Construct
• Intra- and interpersonal dimensions
• balancing relational separateness and togetherness
• "...which prompted Bowen to posit that increasing DoS, coincided with leaving home and living independently from one’s family of-origin; tasks typically associated with emerging adulthood." (p. 226).

Underlying conflicts

(Janowski & Hooper, 2012)

-Disruption to family alliances causes emotional reactivity among members

-Unbalanced family systems/triangles are linked to maladjustment in youth

-Child's needs are not being met which increases risk for psychopathology

-Effects of family conflict (i.e. marital, adjustment, etc.)

-Gender & Emotional Reactivity

Externalizing behavior-boys

Internalizing behavior- girls

(Lindahl, Bregman, & Malik, 2012)

Parent conflict - due to move

Internalizing behavior - sadness

Eating Disorder

Imbalanced family and more adjustment issues for family

Triangles

• Avoiding consequences of environmental adjustment
• Gender themes (losing identity)
• Mother-daughter: feel emptiness and directionless
• Transgenerational effects of "ideal beauty image"

Facts

1) Mom & dad vs. Maria

• Not taking responsibility for environmental change
• move caused reemergence of anorexia symptoms

2) Dad vs. Mom & Maria

• Multigenerational transmission process - Mom projected standards of ideal weight, messages of eating disorder in Maria

Therapist Interventions

• Maria
• 16 years old
• anorexia - hospitalized for low weight
• blames father for freedom taken away
• Roslyn
• moved away for medical school
• was a rebel now academic success
• Mr. Brown
• promotion led family to move to a new city
• Mrs. Brown
• left job as a nurse, has not worked since move

-Maintain neutrality as it creates safe space and reduces anxiety among family members

-Utilize genogram as an assessment tool (multigenerational assessment)

-Coach members about self differentiation

-Ask how each members feels regarding a specific client/conflict

-Deconstruct triangles

-Identify emotional cutoffs

-Decrease emotional reactions

-Educate clients to separate their own thoughts and feelings

-Educate clients on the effects of their multigenerational family processes

*Note: Therapist must be differentiated with clients and with his/her own family

Family Genogram

(see sheet)

Murray Bowen

• Developed family systems theory
• Served in military during WWII
• Menninger clinic - studied family relationships of schizophrenic patients
• transgenerational impact on mother-child symbiosis/ emotional fusion (p.205)
• NIMH work - Observed families in a hospital setting
• First president of American Family Therapy Association (1977)
• Family Therapy in Clinical Practice published (1978)

(Goldenberg & Goldenberg, 2013)

Theory Tenets

Research: Family Dynamics & Pathology

• Core issue is to balance family togetherness and individual autonomy
• 8 interlocking theoretical concepts
• ANXIETY
• 1) Differentiation of self
• 2) Triangles
• 3) Nuclear family emotional system
• 4) Family projection process
• 5) Emotional cutoff
• 6) Multigenerational transmission process
• 7) Sibling position
• 8) Societal regression

Introduction

"Converging evidence has indicated that families of girls with both subtypes of bulimia (i.e., anorexic and normal weight) experience a range of problems in the general functioning of their family systems " (p.198).

"Mothers who are highly concerned with thinness, dieting, and appearance may be more likely to have daughters who are disordered in their eating" (p.199).

(Goldenberg & Goldenberg, 2013)

Results: In comparison to the control group, the mothers of the girls in the disordered eating group, believed their daughters should still lose a significant amount of weight (p.201).

(Pike & Rodin, 1991)

Thank you!

Questions/Comments?

References

History

Goldenberg, H., & Goldenberg, I. (2013). Family Therapy: An overview (8th edition). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cale, Cengage Learning Publishers.

Jankowski, P. J., & Hooper, L. M. (2012). Differentiation of self: A validation study of the Bowen theory construct. Couple And Family Psychology: Research And Practice, 1(3), 226-243. doi:10.1037/a0027469

Lindahl, K. M., Bregman, H. R., & Malik, N. M. (2012). Family boundary structures and child adjustment: The indirect role of emotional reactivity. Journal Of Family Psychology, 26(6), 839-847.

Pike K, Rodin J. Mothers, daughters, and disordered eating. Journal Of Abnormal Psychology [serial online]. May 1991;100(2):198-204.

• Mother child enmeshment due to unresolved attachment issues between mother and child
• It was discovered that emotional reactivity and problems were in fact being translated to the entire family, and not just the mother and child (i..e father, siblings)
• Triangular alliances
• Conflict is due to lack of self-differentiation among members
• Treat the family, not just one patient

• Family systems as a natural systems theory
• natural laws
• new view on human behavior
• different from the cybernetic theories

(Goldenberg & Goldenberg, 2013)

PSGE 5625

Luis Diaz

Lauri Rosario

Bizu Solomon