Clinical Conference

December 7 , 2007
The Relationship World of the Young Adult
Anne S. McKnight, LCSW, Ed.D

9:30-3:30
Metropolitan Memorial United Methodist Church
3401 Nebraska Avenue, NW, Washington, DC

Young adults separate from their families to begin work, support themselves, and establish relationships that will affect their future lives. The relationships they make are profoundly affected by the relationships in their original family, both as they were growing up and as they become adults. The complexity of their separation from the original family and its impact on them today, particularly in their choice of adult partners will be explored through clinical interviews.

Thursday Professional Lecture

December 6, 2007
Does It Matter Which Systems Theory You Use?
Kathleen B. Kerr, MSN, MA, The Bowen Center Faculty

7:30 PM
Georgetown Family Center

Systems theories other than Bowen theory do not lead to an understanding of the family as an emotional unit. Nor do they highlight the reciprocity of dyadic and triangular relationship patterns in the same way. In addition, these theories often infer intentionality rather than understanding behavior as automatic and instinctually driven.
For individuals working on themselves, for therapists lending a hand to families, and for people studying human behavior, these theoretical differences lead to different understandings of how human relationship systems work. When the family is seen as an emotional unit, deeply reciprocal relationship patterns are the focus of theory and therapy.