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The 62nd Annual Symposium on Family Theory and Family Psychotherapy
November 7 - 8, 2025

Each Symposium features both a Guest Lecturer and a full roster of presentations from members of the Bowen network who present and discuss their latest research. Ample time is allowed for audience questions and discussion. Continuing education credits will be available.

Distinguished Guest Lecturer: Dr. Amy Arnsten. Dr. Arnsten is a Yale neuroscientist who studies the prefrontal cortex—the part of the brain that helps us focus, reason, and reflect. Her work shows how stress can disrupt our ability to think clearly and stay steady in our relationships. This research brings fresh insight to Bowen theory's central concept: differentiation of self.

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Dr Arnsten’s Presentations:

Friday: The Prefrontal Cortex and the Top-Down Regulation of Thought, Action, and Emotion
This first lecture will describe the functions, anatomy, and physiology of the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex has the remarkable ability to represent information without any sensory stimulation, the foundation for abstract thought, working memory, and the top-down control of attention, action, and emotion. The prefrontal cortex subserves the executive functions, e.g. planning and organization, and is critical for social cognition and appropriate social behavior, including metacognitive abilities such as Theory of Mind (knowing what someone else is thinking), empathy, insight about oneself and others, and remembering to remember. The prefrontal cortex in humans has hemispheric specialization, with the left hemisphere generating language in most people, and being our “cheerleader.” In contrast, the right hemisphere is specialized for inhibiting inappropriate actions, attention, and emotions.  

In this presentation, we will review the anatomical networks and local circuits that create these remarkable functions, including how prefrontal neurons excite each other to keep information “in mind” through glutamate synapses on dendritic spines. We will also review the circuits and mechanisms that generate emotion, how these are regulated by higher prefrontal cortical circuits, and how the prefrontal cortex dysfunctions in most neuropsychiatric and cognitive disorders. We will briefly review the evolution and development of the prefrontal cortex. It is the last brain area to fully mature, making it especially vulnerable to insults, and yet the first to degrade with age, starting in middle age. There are also changes in adolescence that make the prefrontal cortex especially vulnerable to dysfunction with stress, the topic of our second lecture. 

Saturday: Prefrontal Cortical Function is Impaired by Fatigue, Stress, and Inflammation: Molecular Mechanisms and Targets for Treatment
Although the prefrontal cortex subserves remarkable cognitive and executive abilities, it is also remarkably fragile. Indeed, the very molecular mechanisms that it needs to keep information “in mind” render it vulnerable to dysfunction and degeneration when these molecular actions are not tightly regulated, e.g. due to inflammation. Although many biological functions have an inverted U relationship to arousal state, the prefrontal cortex has a uniquely narrow inverted U, where either fatigue or uncontrollable stress impairs its functioning, and there is a narrow window for optimal function. A key aspect of stress effects on prefrontal function is that the subject must feel they have no control over the situation to induce detrimental actions, an arena where cultural factors interact with biological mechanisms. Chronic stress actually causes loss of prefrontal connections that can be seen on MRI as a loss of gray matter, especially in the frontal pole needed for metacognitive abilities such as insight, and top-down control, including top-down control of emotion that can increase risk of depression.  We have been learning about many of the molecular mechanisms that cause the prefrontal cortex to dysfunction with uncontrollable stress, down to the level of ion channels. This has allowed for the development of treatments for prefrontal disorders now in widespread use, e.g. prazosin and propranolol for the treatment of PTSD, and guanfacine (Intuniv) for the treatment of ADHD, trauma and a variety of related disorders, including new studies on “brain fog” from long-COVID and delirium.  

Questions and Updates

Contact us for questions about registration, accommodations, and other conference related topics.

Continuing Education Credit Information

This two-day conference provides a total of (tbd) Category 1 continuing education (CE) credit hours for counseling and social work. **Purchase of CE’s indicates you’ve read and accepted the CE requirements below.

REQUIREMENTS FOR CE ELIGIBILITY: 

  • Pay the CE fee of $30 at time of registration. Be sure to choose “Add On” when purchasing your ticket on Eventbrite. CEs are not sold the day of the conference.

  • Attend each live streamed or in-person class in its entirety. The CE coordinator will note your attendance. We do not offer partial credits for partial attendance.

  • If livestreamed, enable video and show your name on screen so that you are visible throughout the entirety of the conference, except during designated breaks or lunch.  

  • Submit a completed evaluation no more than 60 days after the event. Shortly after the submission of your completed evaluation, you will be emailed a certificate.  

POLICIES:

  • The Bowen Center does not offer refunds for CEs.

  • We are unable to offer CE credit for viewing any recordings.

  • We do not offer partial CE credit for partial event attendance.

  • It is the sole responsibility of the participant to verify their state’s professional licensure criteria for CE qualifications.  

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 

  • Invite experienced Bowen thinkers from around the US and internationally to present their application of Bowen theory to clinical, research, and theory applications. 

  • Invite a scientist to speak as a Distinguished Guest Lecturer to present latest research that has an interplay with Bowen theory. 

  • Generate lively discussion on the presentations with the goal of provoking new learning and connections in the application of Bowen theory. 

The Bowen Center for the Study of the Family/Georgetown Family Center is authorized by the Maryland Board of Social Work Examiners to provide continuing education credit. This program is a Category I offering.  

The Bowen Center for the Study of the Family/Georgetown Family Center has been approved by the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6225. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. The Bowen Center for the Study of the Family/Georgetown Family Center is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. 

If you have any questions about Continuing Education, please email ContinuingEducation@thebowencenter.org

ACEP No. 6225

Previous Symposiums