The Professional Lecture Series

This series of speakers focuses on the family as a natural system and on knowledge from the study of other natural systems and the sciences. A distinctive feature of this meeting is the length of time the presenter is given to develop and illustrate ideas followed by audience discussion. The ideas presented are to encourage a broader way of thinking about the human as a product of evolution both in one's own family and in the natural world. Click here to view past Professional Lectures on our Youtube Channel.

• Professional Lectures are held online via Zoom 7:00pm - 8:30pm Eastern Time.

• Lectures are free and open to the public. 

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2025 - 2026 Professional Lectures

October | December | January | February | March | April | May

Upcoming

Being a Self from the Middle: Differentiation, Hierarchy, and the Work Environment 

Rev. Robert Abrams
Defining a self is a lifelong undertaking. In the workplace, this process presents unique challenges—including how one may think about self within a hierarchy. This presentation considers the benefits, pitfalls, and challenges of what it means to define a self “from the middle”: when accountability to a superior, and oversight of those lower in rank in the organization, are a reality of one’s work environment. 

Rev. Robert A. (Bob) Abrams serves as Assistant to the Bishop of the Southern Ohio Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, having been ordained after sixteen years of legal practice focusing on litigation. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Ohio Wesleyan University, a Juris Doctor from The Ohio State University College of Law, and a Master of Divinity from Trinity Lutheran Seminary. He is a graduate of the Natural Systems Academy of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, has completed two years of the Postgraduate Program at the Bowen Center, and remains in supervision with Bowen faculty. 

The Role of Mutualisms with Other Species in Human Mental Health and Well-Being 

Rob Dunn, PhD 
It is easy to imagine humans, and so too their well-being, to be separate from the rest of life. This assumption is false. Drawing on studies of the organisms that live on human bodies and in human homes (which have revealed hundreds of thousands of species living with us), Dunn considers the extent to which human well-being, identity, and even personality are dependent upon the identity of the species with which humans live. But it is not only which species surrounding us that matters. Our well-being also depends on how we perceive—or fail to perceive—the living world around us. Dr. Dunn will describe the type of organisms surrounding us and the role they play and conclude by describing ongoing interventions at NC State University designed to reconnect students to more of the rest of life.  This presentation will explore:  

1. The extent of human dependence on other species 

2. Some of the ways in which our daily interactions with other species affect well-being  

3. An understanding of the speed with which these interactions have changed 

4. Examples of successful interventions to better human relationships with the rest of life 

Dr. Dunn is the author of Never Home Alone: From Microbes to Millipedes, Camel Crickets, and Honeybees, the Natural History of Where We Live Learn More about him at https://robdunnlab.com/ 

Cooperation and Conflict in Animal Societies 

Kaia Tombak, PhD  

‘Why cooperate?’ is a long-standing question spanning centuries and academic fields, and is a central theme in animal behavior research. Dr. Tombak will describe the nature of this debate in evolutionary biology and relate it to her work on zebra social behavior, primate social networks, and how egalitarianism emerges in mammal societies. 

Three key points: 

• Four principal evolutionary forces are thought to affect group cohesion in most animal groups: food competition, disease risk, predation risk, and mate competition. 

• One way to mitigate the competition-related costs of group-living is to form a social hierarchy. However, the stability of hierarchies can be dynamic and depends on the frequency of domineering individuals in the population (from a game-theoretic perspective) and the degree to which subordinates are exploited relative to the costs of leaving the group. 

• Egalitarianism has been largely overlooked in animal behavior research, where it has been assumed to arise from random interactions, but structured, maintained egalitarianism has recently been found in a few species. 

Dr. Tombak is an evolutionary biologist focused on social evolution and the diversity of animal societies. She studied the evolutionary forces that affect group cohesion in zebras for her PhD at Princeton University and has also studied social behavior and evolution in primates (red colobus monkeys, lowland gorillas, and savanna chimpanzees) in the years before and since. A recent branch of her research has focused on comparative mammalogy and the (Western) social biases that affect evolutionary thought. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at University of Toronto, where she studies how egalitarianism emerges in mammal social groups. Learn more about Dr. Tombak

2025 - 2026 Past Lectures

Thinking Theory in an Elevator 

Dixie Vandersluys, MA, CCC and  Katherine White MS, RMFT

How would you describe differentiation of self to a stranger in a 30-second elevator ride? That is the challenge put out by the Living Systems podcast, Elevator Systems. This presentation will look at the usefulness and challenges of presenting Bowen theory in “brief and understandable” ways. Podcast hosts Dixie Vandersluys and Katie White will walk you through the format of the podcast, some of their favorite moments, as well as the impact this podcast has had on their own understanding of theory. Watch the YouTube video where Ms. Vandersluys and Ms. White introduce their presentation.

Ms. Vandersluys is a Canadian Certified Counsellor based in Manitoba, Canada. She has undergraduate degrees in history and philosophy and a Master of Arts in Counseling from Providence Theological Seminary.  Dixie enjoys seeing clients across Canada in her private practice, Storybrook Therapy. Dixie is also a faculty member at Living Systems Counseling and Training and is creator and host of the Elevator Systems podcast.   

Ms. White is a Marriage and Family Therapist registered in the US and Canada.  She has been working with individuals, couples and families in schools, clinics, and non-profit centers for twenty years in the US, Australia and Canada. In 2010, Katie began focusing her practice using Bowen family systems theory and has attended the Post-Graduate Program at the Bowen Center.  Katie is currently the Executive Director of Living Systems, a non-profit organization in Vancouver Canada which focuses on Bowen theory in its training and counselling practice. Katie teaches and supervises interns there, as well as managing a private practice in Vancouver.   

Five Misconceptions of Bowen Theory and Clinical Practice   

Vanessa Roulette Ellison, MSW, MDiv, LCSW

Misconceptions about Bowen theory can significantly influence whether clinicians view it as a viable theoretical framework to guide their clinical work – often beginning as early as graduate school. These misconceptions can also affect how clinicians not formally trained apply it in practice, as well as how both clinicians and non-clinicians make referrals to those who specialize in it. This presentation explores five misconceptions about clinical work grounded in Bowen theory: It 1) is limited to work with couples and families, 2) discounts technique, 3) dismisses emotions and feelings, 4) overly emphasizes individuality, and 5) neglects issues related to culture, sexuality, gender, and trauma. Participants – clinicians and non-clinicians alike – are invited to reflect on these ideas, consider which misconceptions they would or would not include, explore how their perspective might inform how their understanding and application of the Bowen Theory. 

Ms. Ellison is a licensed clinical social worker and Bowen theory consultant with a private practice in Midlothian, Virginia working with individuals, couples, and families. She serves on faculties for the Bowen Center and Leadership in Ministry and works with professional groups that utilize Bowen theory for leadership training. She has worked with people of various ages and multicultural backgrounds and in a group practice, university counseling services, and community-based services. Learn more on her faculty biography.

Joseph: Family Rupture, Reconciliation, Repair, and Redemption 

Rabbi Rachel Hersh, MSW, BCC  
In Jewish tradition, the Biblical Joseph is called "HaTzadik - the Righteous" by our rabbis. His story spreads across four sections of Torah reading, bringing the Book of Genesis to a stunning finale and laying the foundation for the Book of Exodus. Seen through the lens of family systems theory, this story highlights important ways that Joseph breaks some of the challenging family patterns in his own lineage and offers inspiration for us to reflect on our own. Come explore this remarkable piece of storytelling, engaging both classical rabbinic commentary and modern family systems theory as we seek to understand some of what this story teaches. Faculty member Barbara Laymon, PhD, MPH will contribute to the discussion.

Rabbi Hersh serves as director of Jewish enrichment and engagement at JSSA, a historically Jewish human service agency serving neighbors of all backgrounds across the national capital region. Through her work at JSSA, she integrates Jewish wisdom and tradition with clinical human service practice, spiritual care and mindfulness techniques for agency staff, clients, patients and community partners. Prior to her work at JSSA, Rabbi Hersh had a long tenure in synagogue spiritual leadership.

The Sexual Evolution: Why Sexual Diversity is Normal, Natural, and Advantageous 

Nathan H. Lents, PhD
From insects to apes, Professor Lents will present a fascinating journey through the animal world, revealing what the incredible array of sexual diversity can teach us about ourselves. Nature, it turns out, has made generous space for diverse genders and sexual behaviors. Why? Because when it comes to evolution—diversity wins. This conclusion is rooted in science and cultivated from understanding the full breadth of sexuality that exists throughout all species.  

Nathan H. Lents is Professor of Biology at John Jay College, where he is the director of the Cell and Molecular Biology program. His research lab studies human genetic evolution and forensic DNA technology. He also writes regular popular science articles and is the author of Not So Different: Finding Human Nature in Animals, Human Errors: A Panorama of Our Glitches, from Pointless Bones to Broken Genes, and The Sexual Evolution: How 500 Millions Years of Sex, Gender, and Mating Shape Modern Relationships. Learn more at www.linktr.ee/nathanlents