The 2008 - 2009 Annual Fund
for the Advancement of Bowen Theory

December, 2008

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

Writing this letter asking for your support comes at a time of serious financial uncertainty.  Bowen theory’s concept of societal regression helps to explain how this unsettled time has come to be.  The work of the Center in developing a theory that speaks to an individual’s responsibility within a system relates directly to the current situation and is a reminder of the importance of the Center’s mission.  Former chairman of the Federal Reserve, Paul Volcker, said the following about the financial meltdown: “What has plainly been at risk is a disorderly unraveling of the mutual trust among respected market participants upon which any strong and efficient financial system must rest.”  What factors have contributed to this mistrust?  I believe that economic factors alone are insufficient to explain it.  Economic processes have been intertwined with powerful emotional processes.

Timely, but planned well in advance of the recent financial upheaval, is the 2009 conference on Societal Emotional Process that will be held on April 18-19.  Bowen wrote that as society emerges from regression, “a higher percentage of people will be responsible for self and others, and for the environment.”  The conference will emphasize that the principal obstacles to solving current social and environmental problems are more emotional than technological.

We continue to expand our capacity to disseminate information about Bowen theory.  This includes webcasting, the website, the journal, and the audiovisual archives.  Many of the new attendees at conferences, new trainees in the postgraduate program, and people accessing teaching materials are learning about the Bowen Center from these efforts.  The Annual Symposium, Thursday Professional Lectures, and the Clinical Conference Series all continue.  Expanding the distribution of Family Matters, our television show jointly produced with the University of the District of Columbia, and making our sliding fee scale clinic more widely known contribute to our efforts in the local community.  The Annual Fund is critically important for supporting all of these activities.

Our fundraising goal for this year is $125,000.  Despite these troubled financial times, we are asking if you can contribute $400 as so many were able to do last year.  Contributions in other amounts are, of course, appreciated and welcome.  As Murray Bowen so aptly said, “The world will always need differentiation of self,” and perhaps now more than ever.

In appreciation,

 

Michael E. Kerr, M.D.
Director