Presenter: Randall T. Frost, MDiv

Faith and Functioning

Murray Bowen stated that his theory of family systems is based on facts and facts alone.  Can facts be observed in how faith functions among different families, individuals, and communities of faith?  What may Bowen theory contribute to those who seek to function according to the ideals of the best of their religious traditions? 

This meeting will build on the two-day conference that precedes it.  The conference will include videotaped interviews with people from two different families for whom both religious faith and Bowen theory have been important.   

El Instituto Iberoamericano del Bowen Center ofrece esta Sexta Conferencia con el objetivo de difundir los aportes que la teoría de Bowen ofrece a las grandes interrogantes y desafíos de salud mental en nuestros tiempos. 

En esta oportunidad, se abordará cómo la teoría de Bowen ofrece un marco distintivo de comprensión del proceso ansioso respecto de otras propuestas que abordan la salud mental en las personas.  Para ello, además de revisar algunas de sus premisas y conceptos fundamentales, se discutirán los determinantes relacionales, históricos y evolutivos del proceso ansioso en la especie humana. 

Las preguntas que guiarán esta conferencia serán: 

a) ¿Cómo se entiende el proceso ansioso en la Teoría de Bowen? 

b) ¿Cuáles son los factores que facilitan que la respuesta ansiosa se vuelva poco adaptativa? 

c) ¿Cómo esta comprensión de la ansiedad puede guiar una aproximación terapéutica orientada al cambio? 

Applications for the Learning and Development Programs open April 1st!

The Two Hierarchies

Presenter: Laurie Lassiter, PhD, MSW

Presentation description: “The Two Hierarchies” offers a broad exploratory discussion of the variation in differentiation of self on the one hand and the variation in socioeconomic status on the other. As Murray Bowen posited, the natural process of variation in level of differentiation of self is independent of social status, beauty, intelligence, or talent. Roughly equivalent to emotional maturity, it is a separate characteristic that has to do with the degree that an individual can sustain a separate self while engaging in relationships with others.

While hierarchies based on social status have been more researched, I propose that the natural process of variation in differentiation of self, especially as it can be observed in the human, is also a social hierarchy of sorts. There is no doubt that level of differentiation of self is a determining factor in life outcome. Those with higher levels of self, all things being equal, are more likely to be invited to social events, to be hired and promoted in a job, and to receive romantic interest, marriage proposals, and success in any endeavor that involves the respect and admiration of other people. In addition to their social skills and appeal, these are people who tend to be effective in what they set out to do. One’s level of differentiation is automatically assessed and compared to others regardless of whether the observers have ever heard of Bowen’s concept.

While both kinds of hierarchy, variation in differentiation of self, and variation in social status, show up in the individual, they are the result of processes at the level of the group. What are these automatic processes that take place at the level of the family in one case, and at the level of society in the other? How are they different, and what may they have in common? What are their functions? If there are similarities at the biological molecular level, at the level of physiological health, or at the level of relationship, could the study of one be enriched by the study of the other?

Presenter: Jake Morrill, MDiv, MA

Clinically Deft": Play and Anxiety in a Coaching Session

Effective coaching can interrupt the client's self-sustaining and unproductive patterns of thought, as well as interrupting the automatic processes in the relationship. One approach to such interruption is the clinical use of strategic playfulness. Across species, social play functions in part to develop the capacity to countenance ambiguity, complexity, and uncertainty, and to manage one's own anxiety. This Clinical Conference will engage attendees in reflection on the potential, and risks, of the clinical use of play. 

From sleuths to saints, authors write about every genre under the sun. How does the writing process help in defining a self? Creating a self? Insights from the works of Dorothy Sayers and other writers will be reviewed.   

Dr. Laymon is a writer, grandmother, researcher, licensed professional counselor, and faculty member at the Bowen Center for the Study of the Family. With a PhD from the Pastoral Counseling Department of Loyola University, Maryland, she aims to be a thoughtful presence, offering new perspectives with a wry sense of humor. Her most recent book, All the Families of the Earth, is a biblical fiction published by Wipf and Stock in October 2023.  She and her husband live in Washington, DC, where they are avid Nationals baseball fans, hoping for a miracle. 

Presenter: Robert J. Noone, PhD

Bowen theory Development and Psychology

Murray Bowen developed a new formal theory of the family and human behavior. The theory was based on his observations, experiments, and conceptualizations along with a survey of the scientific literature while he was at the Menninger Foundation, NIMH, and Georgetown University. His research went hand-in-glove with the practice of psychotherapy. In this clinical conference the effort to move toward science and a theory-based family systems psychotherapy will be discussed. A brief description of one of Bowen’s experiments will be included. 

Cities, Climate Change, and Disease: How Science Can Help Humanity Solve Big Problems.

Presenter: Christa Brelslford, PhD

Quantifying interactions between social systems and the physical environment we live within has long been a major scientific challenge. A better empirical understanding of dynamic interactions between the physical or natural context and urban social structure is necessary to support predictions of how people and cities might respond to climate change, disease, and other emergent threats, ensure energy and water security for their residents, and to facilitate urban sustainability and resilience. In her lecture, Dr. Brelsford will describe research focusing on Diphtheria cases in the early 1900s, recent COVID-19 cases, and predictions of the urban built environment. These projects use different datasets, methods, and theoretical backgrounds, but are all aimed at developing empirical strategies to increase our understanding of how social and physical systems are coupled. 

Christa Brelsford, PhD,  is a Research Scientist in the Geospatial Science and Human Security Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.  Her research uses data science tools from economics, geography, network science and spatial statistics to describe the co-evolutionary processes between human systems and the built and natural environment.   These analyses have been particularly focused on urban contexts; exploring themes of urban water management, infrastructure provisioning and resilience, and human behavioral responses to surprising events.  Dr. Brelsford was previously the Liane Russell Fellow at ORNL, and a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Santa Fe Institute. She obtained her PhD from the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University in 2014 for research on the determinants of residential water demand. Dr. Brelsford is currently leading efforts to use novel data sources such as digital trace data to generate real-time measures of community structure and behavior change and to describe the drivers and consequences of those outcomes from a national security perspective. 

Presenter: Amie Post, MS, LCMFT

Tango Through Transitions with the Thinking Bowen theory Provides

Life is full of transitions - from single to partnered, additions of new family members, losses of important relationships, changes in work and community. Conventional theory would consider the external stressors and invite taking time for self, connection with caring others and perhaps even cutting out the changes that are too much. Bowen theory helps us think beyond a one size fits all set of solutions. This clinical conference will consider the variation in response to life transition and explore how differentiation of self provides a way of thinking about how to navigate with increased flexibility and resiliency.  

Bowen Theory and the Geometry of Crafting Fictional Families

Presenter: Michelle Brafman

Faculty member Priscilla Friesen joins novelist Michelle Brafman to discuss how she relies on Bowen theory to create and intubate her characters. Brafman’s newest book, Swimming with Ghosts, explores how addiction operates within the context of a family system and in turn a broader tightly knit community. Her goal is to write “no fault fiction,” where there are no villains or heroes, just regular folks trying to understand, manage, and often transcend their multi-generational triangles.   

Bio: Michelle is a writer and teacher. Her debut novel, Washing the Dead, was included in Book Riot’s list of 100 must-read books about women and religion. Her second book, Bertrand Court, features stories that have won numerous awards including a Special Mention in the Pushcart Prize Anthology. Her essays and short fiction have appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books, Slate, LitHub, Tablet, The Nervous Breakdown, The Forward, and elsewhere. Michelle teaches fiction writing at the Johns Hopkins MA in Writing program and also founded the Glen Echo Workshops where she leads monthly multi-genre workshops and teaches summer college essay writing classes. 

Presenter: Daniel Papero, PhD

Triangle Theory in Family Psychotherapy

The process of family psychotherapy aims to assist a motivated family member shift functioning within a significant family triangle.  If that triangle can attain a higher level of differentiated functioning, the effects ripple through the entire family emotional system.  This clinical day will explore the theory of the triangle and its role in the clinical process. 

How Bowen Theory Helps Facilitators and Board Chairpersons Manage Emotionally Charged Groups.

Presenter: Robert L. Davis, DMin

Dr. Robert Davis will discuss how he has utilized Bowen theory to inform his efforts to be a more effective facilitator of community-led initiatives. He will present on how he uses Bowen theory to assist in his work organizing and leading the Denver Task Force to Reimagine Policing and Public Safety to bring together community organizations, activists, community leaders, and city officials to develop over 112 public safety policy recommendations. He’ll also talk about using theory to inform his other facilitation responsibilities such as the Colorado's Healthy Start, Community Action Network (CAN) initiative.  

Bio: Robert L. Davis, DMin is founder and Executive Director of Seasoned with Grace UnBoxed, a nonprofit committed to helping develop strong authentic leaders who create healthy workplace cultures, as well bringing communities together to develop solutions around public safety and policing. He has over 20 years of experience as a senior pastor, Family Life Educator, hospice chaplain, bereavement coordinator, and community leader. Dr. Davis also serves as project coordinator for the Denver Task Force to Reimagine Policing and Public Safety.   

El Instituto Iberoamericano del Bowen Center ofrece esta quinta conferencia con el objetivo de seguir avanzando en difundir e introducir al oyente hispanoparlante en las premisas de la teoría de Bowen y su aporte a las problemáticas clínicas y sociales actuales.  

En esta oportunidad, se abordará el carácter distintivo de la teoría de Bowen respecto de otras propuestas teórico terapéuticas denominadas sistémicas o familiares. Para ello, además de revisar algunas de sus premisas y conceptos fundamentales, se invitará a dos terapeutas latinoamericanos a compartir sus experiencias profesionales y personales en torno a la teoría de Bowen y qué razones los han llevado a mantenerse trabajando con ella. 

Las preguntas que guiarán la conversación serán: 

a) ¿Qué es lo que caracteriza la Teoría de Bowen y la terapia basada en ella? ¿Qué es lo que hace única esta aproximación para la comprensión del trabajo con familias? 

 b) ¿Qué ha encontrado en la Teoría de Bowen que sea tan atrayente como para centrar parte de su vida profesional en ella? ¿Qué es lo que ha mantenido su atención durante todos estos años?  

c) ¿Cómo aplica la teoría en su ámbito profesional? 

Cutoff, estrangement, and going no contact is something therapists and clinicians hear their clients talking about on a regular basis. How does cutoff affect a family long term? What difference does it make to look at cutoff through a systems thinking lens? These are some of the questions that will be discussed in the conference. During this day leaders in family systems will share their thoughts and knowledge about cutoff and other concepts in Bowen Theory.

The Bowen Center’s Fall Fundamentals Conference provides background on family systems thinking related to a topic of current interest to therapists in clinical practice. This will be a hybrid conference held at the University of the District of Columbia and via Zoom.

The Bowen Center’s Fall Fundamentals Conference provides background on family systems thinking related to a topic of current interest to therapists in clinical practice. This will be a hybrid conference held at the University of the District of Columbia and via Zoom

Presenter: Douglas C. Murphy, MA, LCMFT

Clients Engagement with Bowen Family Systems theory

Clients referred to clinicians who utilize Bowen Family Systems Theory as the basis for their theoretical approach encounter a way of thinking and proceeding in understanding and engaging their difficulties that is often unfamiliar to their conceptualizations of “psychotherapy” or “counseling.” This Clinical Conference will explore these encounters.

Top 5 Questions About Bowen Family Systems theory Now and Then: Murray Bowen's Archival Letters from the Bowen Center Collection.

Presenter: Carrie Collier, PhD, LPC, CRC

The results from a 2022/2023 qualitative research analysis conducted by Dr. Collier and Dr. Ashley Mader demonstrates the importance of Bowen's correspondences and this collection to better understand systems thinking and Bowen Family Systems theory. Responses from Murray Bowen over a 20-year period and 800 letters, from the Bowen Center collection, reveal Bowen's consistency and clarity in his thinking. The letters offer Bowen's facts and thinking on some of the most tested constructs in Bowen Family Systems theory. The researcher's data collection processes and research analysis of the 400 archival letters will be reviewed and discussed.

Presenter: Randall T. Frost, MDiv

Clinical Research Based on Bowen theory

Murray Bowen entitled the epilogue to Family Evaluation, "An Odyssey Toward Science". When discussing the integration of theory and therapy as part of the odyssey he wrote, "There was theoretical evidence that theory might someday become a real science. Therapists could help if they could find a way to govern their thinking in a scientific direction." (Family Evaluation, pg. 365)

This conference will demonstrate the use of a model of clinical research that may help clinicians "govern their thinking in a more scientific direction." The model is derived from the same methodology that Bowen used to develop the theory in tandem with family psychotherapy.

Presenter: Anne McKnight, EdD, LCSW

What Difference Does it Make in One’s Life to Work on Differentiation of Self?

Bowen theory posits that the effort for Differentiation of Self in one’s family has an impact both on one’s own life and the life of one’s family. Differentiation of Self is not an endpoint but a process toward more mature functioning. In this conference, individuals will be interviewed who have made significant efforts toward differentiation. These efforts include gaining perspective and knowledge through research on their families, understanding triangles, bridging cutoff, and the work to define themselves in important relationships.

Life on the Campaign Trail: Running for Office in Anxious Times

Presenter: John Bell, MDiv

In 2021 John Bell ran for City Council. This presentation will explore the influence of the emotional process on the decision to run for office and the design and implementation of the campaign. Using Bowen theory as a lens, it will explore the interplay between differentiation of self, societal emotional process and community development approaches. It will answer the question, How might elected officials shift the way they relate and function with their constituents that leads to better problem solving?

Life at the Helm: What does the leader see (and not see)

This presentation will be an effort to describe what it means to lead self and not others in congregations, clinical settings, and organizations. Differentiation is the blueprint for managing self in a contagious environment where human beings work together. The presentation will describe the importance of making an effort in one’s own family in order to understand the importance of seeing patterns that one takes to the workplace. Also Included will be the pitfalls of not seeing these patterns in one’s own family. The importance of principles as a guide will be covered, and there will be plenty of time for discussion.

Presenter: Priscilla J. Friesen, LICSW

Growing Older with Bowen theory

The aging process varies between different individuals and within families. Bowen theory suggests that individuals and families adapt to this natural life process based upon their level of interdependence. Working on differentiation of self, however, is a lifelong process.

This Clinical Conference will explore the opportunities present to define a self as people age and face life challenges. What are the challenges for individuals as they age? What are the challenges for the family? How do families benefit from the older individual defining a self?

The focus is on how defining a self, informed by Bowen theory guides the thinking, feeling and actions when facing challenges of aging.

Bowen Family Systems theory in Toni Morrison's novel God Help the Child

Dr. Rhone Fraser is an independent scholar and taught on the faculty of Temple, Princeton, and Howard Universities. He is the author of Pauline Hopkins and Advocacy Journalism, which is a literary criticism of the four historical novels written by self published journalist Pauline Hopkins. He is the co-editor of Critical Responses about the Black Family in Toni Morrison's God Help the Child. He edited a special collection on the meaning of the fiction of novelist Elizabeth Nunez and he published an article about Marlon James's novel entitled A Brief History of Seven Killings. He is currently working on an edited collection about the scholarship of Dr. Tony Martin who is the editor of the Marcus Garvey Library.

Presenter: Victoria Harrison, MA, LMFT

What Changes in Bowen Family Systems Psychotherapy?

Ms. Harrison will talk with two clients who carefully documented changes in symptoms and functioning in the family while working on differentiation of self. Physiological reactions measured with biofeedback instruments, EEG and cortisol assay highlight interesting questions about evaluating the direction and outcome of therapy based in Bowen theory.

A digital copy of "Observations of Change While Working on Differentiation of Self: A Case Study based in Bowen Family Systems Theory and Therapy” will be provided all who register to attend this Clinical Conference.

The Emotional System in the Natural World and in the Human Family

This presentation addresses a concept, the emotional system, as central to the understanding of human functioning as well as other living species in the natural world. The human family adapts to the challenges it faces as do other species through the co-regulation of the individual’s behavior with the demands and pressures of the group. In the lecture, studies on the behavior of bees, chimpanzees, and a forest ecosystem as systems will be discussed. Research on the emotional system of a family, as viewed through the multigenerational patterns of handling stress and anxiety, will also be presented with the concept of differentiation of self as a uniquely human capacity.

Presenter: Daniel V. Papero, PhD

Fusion and Differentiation

In his writings, Murry Bowen uses the term fusion in at least two ways: 1. To refer to the blending or fusion of emotional and intellectual systems, and 2. To refer to the emotional fusion of people into a collective “oneness”. This clinical conference will explore the processes of fusion and the effort to “differentiate” oneself.