Family relationships are always dynamic, unique and just like DNA, each of them contains their identity. For instance, individual families are faced with the challenges of hostility and anger while others find it a struggle dealing with day to day issues. Family systems get their shapes from both previous generations and by elements of ethnicity, culture, gender, race, values, and morals as well as their religious beliefs. There is a crucial role that every element plays in the molding of a functional and sound family system. Importantly, the foundation of the family always remains although the elements may develop over a lifespan and the members of the family may also separate from the household to form their families. The concept of Bowen generally focuses on the generational relationships in the past as it also examines the present relationships and histories existing within the family system. In a bid to re-examine unresolved emotional connections and attachments and repair relationships successfully, the negative areas of history of the family are properly examined and followed towards the present.
Keywords: family systems, Bowen, individuality, dysfunction, relationships.
Family Counseling Approach: A Bowen Perspective
Family counseling refers to the form of psychotherapy that helps in the evaluation of the negative and health functioning that present themselves in a family system. According to Goldenberg and Goldenberg, a family may be compared to the human body in the essence that it consists of various components that form a whole transcending the sum of all the separate parts (p. 91). The development of the members of the family is significantly influenced by the relationship present within the family unit. In fact, every member plays a critical role in either breaking the family apart or holding it together. Although external factors may influence the dynamics presented between the members of the family, it is majorly upon the members to ensure the maintenance of a healthy relationship. In most families, there is a division of responsibilities such that the father who is the household provides for the family, the mother takes cares of everything in the family as the children have various responsibilities both in and out of the home depending on their age (Goldenberg " Goldenberg, 2014).
There have been evaluations of various concepts of family therapy to come up with resources that may benefit the counselors in rendering assistance to the families in need. The application of methods such as experimental, structural, and psychoanalytic approaches have been helpful. However, the Browenian therapy remarkably outstands as a front-runner in the family therapy. The contributions of Murray Browen and others in the approach in question exposed the advantage of looking into the past for solutions for the present problems and that deter the family from achieving its full potential in the time to come leading to the repetition of negative patterns rather than solving the problem (Goldenberg " Goldenberg, 2014). This essay examines the development and history of the Bowenian theory, the contributors to the approach in question, and interventions as well as techniques that are put to use today in assisting in creating a well-balanced environment for families.
History of the Bowenian Approach
Bowen Murray's family theory is among the applicable by counselors today in assisting families to understand and to change the unproductive patterns that affect the family unity and autonomy. Bowen's interest in psychiatry began as early as the 1940s when he first began his studies with a high interest in patients with schizophrenia (Goldenberg " Goldenberg, 2014). While working with mentally ill, Bowen observed the interaction between a Schizophrenic child and the mother and later included the father when examining the relationship. With the progression of time, the interest of the scholar in question shifted from the emotional dilemmas experienced by an individual in the family to a broader generational family entity.
The researcher mostly concentrated on understanding the patterns that developed within a family with the aim of formulating a method of curbing or reducing anxiety. He aimed to comprehend the emotional process that takes place in the more significant and central family entity. Scholar Bowen (as cited by Charles, 2001) contemplates that, "...the family as a system is likely to be unstable unless each member of that family is well differentiated" (p. 281). It is similar to the concept of two people who become involved and portray the same personality traits. The two people eventually clash because of their similarities in everything.
In case of anxiety become a primary component of a family, the cause is traced to either excessive togetherness to the extent of suffocation or the opposite that is little or no interactions at all. Goldenberg and Goldenberg (2014) pointed out that, “This attempt to balance two life forces-family togetherness and individual autonomy- was for Bowen the core issue for all humans” (p. 205). Different levels of anxiety are experienced by each family and the members about the external environment that leads some of the family members to become sensitive to particular matters that are digressed from the past generations. There may be lack of room for growth, and the patterns may also remain the same in scenarios where a family member does not possess the ability to express responses that are reasonable during the predicaments and sensitive topics that affect the family. The therapy of Bowen works to assist both families and individuals as a whole, in the illustration of the importance of an individual’s creation of change before the involvement of the whole family.
Currently, the ideas of Bowen are still applied in several therapeutic avenues like the counseling of couples through play therapy. According to Nims and Duba (2011), Bowen was never keen on the idea of the incorporation of children into the process of therapy. There was a recommendation of the beginning process to be a form of accessing the family together. The ideas and principles have been of help in the navigation of family therapy when the children are present through the introduction of new ideas like play therapy. The concept of play therapy is almost directed to specific counseling of children. However, studies have depicted the impact of this therapy that involves both the children and parents. According to Nims and Duba (2011), the incorporation of Bowen’s approach in the play therapy helps in facilitating personal growth, understanding of the family, and the alleviation of symptoms (p. 84). Both the parents and their children are given the opportunity of expressing themselves through various avenues that otherwise would be impossible to be vocally expressed.
Notably, the theoretical works of Bowen have also proven to benefit in counseling both family and individuals. Fortunately, it has acted as an opener of various avenues in the communication between spouses and also families that otherwise would have been ignored in the past. The play therapy clearly shows Bowenian concept to connect the family as a whole in that member’s point of view or action affects the other members either positively or negatively. Bowen’s eight interlinking elements enabled him to portrait the family unit’s development as well as its functions that are either negative or positive. These functions presented the need for modification in a bid to successfully create the family system.
Key Concepts
The study of the discrete elements that are in a family unit helped Bowen to scrutinize the multifaceted interactions as well as their thinking patterns with one another. In several cases, disconnection is felt by the members of the family from the rest of the family; however, Bowen articulates these are just mere feelings that are far from facts. He believed that the systems were founded on the emotional relationships wherein he incorporated eight concepts to explain the dynamics within a family, starting with the past generations and the connections they hold with current relationships.
Differentiation of Self
The society influences the people’s thinking processes, feelings, and even their behavior towards other people and specific situations. At certain levels, an individual may become vulnerable to the way his fellows behave and think, in fact, the exertion of pressure for conformity by the society varies (Charles, 2001). The existing differences between people and their surrounding peers, display the variances in those people’s level of differentiation of self. In case an individual’s ability to maintain a sense of "self" is limited, the people become more vulnerable in giving others the chance of influencing their behaviors and thoughts (Charles, 2001, p. 281). For approval, they rely on both their peers and parents to feel accepted or even attempt dominating others into how they think to satisfy their needs. The fundamental step in the development of a strong sense of "sense" usually takes place during the first two stages of a person's lifespan in the home, the childhood and the adolescence stages. A permanent stamp is formed by this initial process on their development except if they choose to make changes later in life (Goldenberg " Goldenberg, 2014).
Triangulation
Bowen viewed triangulation as system existing between three individuals that are typically called the smallest relationship system (Charles, 2001, p. 281). Conflict tends to shift between either two individual like a couple or three that is a couple and therapist. Essentially, triangulation may exert control socially through interchanging to reduce the conflict within the system of the family and placing a single member of the triangle on the outside (Charles, 2001). For example, the parents in a family system could be at two different spectrums where they cannot relate to one another. In such a case, the two parents may fail to look for solace in one another and instead focus their attention on their children. The existence of only one child may cause a wider rift between the parents leading to the child's feeling of jealousy because of the relationship between the parents and their siblings or sense of abandonment (Klever, 2009, p. 143). Many times, the addition of more people to the triangle usually eases the present tension, which results in the creation of a more stable environment.
Emotional Cutoffs
This conception represents the idea that it usually is more comfortable for people to learn to work through the various unresolved emotional baggage alongside their nuclear families through the reduction or elimination of the contact with them (Nims " Duba, 2011). The avoidance of situations that can entice specific sensitive issues or keeping off particular family members are some of the ways to deal with unresolved conflicts and diffuse the problems; however, the bone of contentment remains. The disadvantage is that one may be forced to depend heavily on either the father or sister in case the person distanced himself from the mother. Besides, although it may be comfortable at the beginning to form new relationships, the same issues that existed in the family before may resurface in the new relationships (Nims " Duba, 2011).
Sibling Position
Bowen keenly observed the sibling position to comprehend its influence on the formation of personality (Goldenberg " Goldenberg, 2014). Bowen incorporated his ideas of the sibling position and applied them in the Toman’s concept. He came up with suggestions that the same personality traits may be exuded by those brought up in a similar sibling position. For instance, the older siblings in the family mostly enjoy having authority and domination of the younger ones, while the younger siblings mimic and follow the older ones (Goldenberg " Goldenberg, 2014, p. 219).
Multigenerational Transmission Process
The idea here is that the small differences existing between children and their parents are passed on from one generation to another. Every generation tends to have a different level of dysfunction that is passed on from the previous generation (Goldenberg " Goldenberg, 2014). Nonetheless, the only way of eliminating the harmful components is identifying and working on unresolved emotional attachments and ensuring they are handled successfully. Following Nims and Duba (2011), "...family emotional patterns tend to either remain close to the same in several generations or may result in one of the family members becoming unfavorably ill with either schizophrenia or a major illness, or sometimes a major social dysfunction" (p. 88). In case a family unit fails to work on changing these repetitive patterns that have existed from previous generations it may further deteriorate the relationships and even the interactions within the system. Family life becomes more chaotic often resulting in disturbances to mental functioning due to lack of the family's emotional stability.
Family Projection Process
The process of projection illustrates the way a parent(s) can transfer their emotional baggage to their children. This process of transfer enables the parents to cripple a child's ability to successfully function as well as increase the child's probability of developing mental or health conditions (MacKay, 2012, p. 234). Most weaknesses and strengths in children are inherited and are a direct result of the existing connections with their parents. High anxiety can leave children vulnerable to forming maladaptive behaviors, which lead to chronic anxiety in the family system.
Societal Emotional Process
The societal emotional process refers to a broader emotional entity involving an individual's cultural background and ethnicity. Bowen stated that there is a similarity between a family and a society since both can experience a rise in anxiety levels that affects the one member and spreads to the other in the same system (Nims " Duba, 2011).additionally, because the society tends to be a larger entity, there may be recorded significant increase in the levels of anxiety to a higher degree that may lead to "crisis-like" situations (Nims " Duba, 2011, p. 88).
Nuclear Family Emotional System
Bowen emphasized that individuals who become involved or get married to a person possessing similar differentiation of "self" is has a higher chance of creating a family unit that comprises of high levels of anxiety. Accordingly, high tensions that are exhibited in the household eventually causes a wider distance and constant fighting between members of the family. Such behaviors and attitudes often repeat themselves from the previous generations, hence, continues ultimately to the next generation. Klever (2004), put emphasis on this point when he stated that "in case one or more of the patterns of the nuclear family— dysfunctional spouse, marital instability, or child focus—were in an individual's family predominantly, that person would be more likely to repeat that pattern in his/her developing nuclear family" (p. 338). Most discords within the family system occur with dysfunctional spouses or problematic children (Nims " Duba, 2011).
Bowen's fundamental concepts focus on forming a balance between closeness and independence. For a successful functioning of the family, the ability to co-exist with each other has to be developed by the members. However, Bowen warns that if the members practice extreme closeness within the family, their ability may be limited in the creation of separate identity out of the system of the family, which may also cause other problems (Goldenberg " Goldenberg, 2014). Also, excessive individuality or distance prevents the emotional connections from forming, thus causing strain. Because the basis of Bowen's theory relates to the past as well as the family as a unit, Bowen developed specific goals and techniques to assists families, couples, and individuals throughout the therapeutic process.
Goals and Techniques
Therapeutic goals and techniques vary and depend on the individual or family seeking counseling. The goal in Bowen's approach is first to reduce the anxiety levels that exist within the family system, and secondly to assist each family member in their differentiation of "self" (Goldenberg " Goldenberg, 2014, p. 227). A conventional technique used to achieve this goal is through genograms.
Genograms are a representative of a family and their relationships with one another throughout typically three generations (McGoldrick, Gerson, " Petry, 2008). It is useful in counseling settings as it allows counselors or clinicians to quickly review and access different relationships, their connections, attitudes, and dysfunctional patterns that may presently affect the family or progress into the future. For instance, genograms include essential dates (marriage, divorce, and deaths), relationships between family members, health issues, and addictions, such gambling or alcoholism (McGoldrick, Gerson, " Petry, 2008).
Another technique often used in Bowenian therapy is questioning. Questioning is an insight-based approach, which allows clients to gain understanding. The therapist begins on a reasonable and mechanical level but later proceeds to an emotional level. The gathering of information is done about the family's or the client's histories that lead to the client's exploration of their feelings regarding the past generations. In a bid to avoid countertransference, the therapist is ordinarily cautious to remain in control and set boundaries. Through questioning clients, these therapists can identify the areas with problems that affect the family system, the couple or the client.
Although Bowen developed several techniques, a combination of questioning and genogram is useful in uncovering specific issues that exist in the family but are not being considered by the family. Mikesell, Lustennan, and McDaniel (1995) suggest:
Although transgenerational patterns are linked to present concerns, the therapist is less likely to focus on interventions that directly address the problem as it exists in the present. Instead, the therapist addresses family of origin issues that are impinging on the present. (p. 9)
As such, Bowen's approach and techniques differ from other contributors to family therapy, such as the ones developing the psychodynamic and structural approach to family therapy, although the ultimate goal doe not change.
Bowen’s Theory and Other Family Approaches
Some critiques note similarities between Bowen's Theory and the psychodynamics approach to family therapy. For instance, Goldenberg and Goldenberg (2014) pointed out that
the theoretical contributions of Bowen as well as his therapeutic efforts, only bridge the approaches that are psychodynamically oriented and that emphasizes the importance of the past family relationships on an individual on the one hand and the systems approach that focuses on the family unit as it is presently constituted and currently interacting on the other. (p. 204)
The psychodynamic approach centers around a client, couple, or family's self-awareness and their perception of the effect the past has on the present. Both approaches seek to gain insight into past generations so that maladaptive characteristics, relationships, and family interactions can be minimized or removed from the healthy family system to exist.
The structural family approach, on the other hand, contends that families tend to "group" themselves together through acting ignorant of the boundary lines and rules that are relevant to the growth of each member (Nichols " Schwartz, 2004). Emphasis is put on the need for reconstructing the family dynamics hence making the therapist an essential component throughout the process of therapy. For the therapist to understand the established rules and boundaries controlling the family, he attempts to enjoin himself with the family. In doing so, the therapist becomes successful in breaking the dysfunctional relationships that exist in the family and causes such a family to be healthier and with more functional patterns (Nichols " Schwartz, 2004). The family then gains a better understanding to the concept applied in evading pain or developing methods of defense when it starts to recognize recurring patterns that exist within the system; this helps in supporting them when taking the proper actions to change flawed patterns (Nichols " Schwartz, 2004).
Conclusion
Traditional therapy focuses on a person's psyche to change relationships, Bowen concentrates on developing better structure and behavioral patterns within a family unit. The importance of family is evident no matter which viewpoint is observed. Bowen emphasized the ideas that counselors should first examine their generational patterns, ethnic, cultural, gender, and religious affiliations before involving a family in a counseling relationship. It further helps those counseling to gain an in-depth understanding of the changes and influences that occur from the previous generations to the new ones. A family system works as a single entity regardless of the number of members in the family unit. Every individual plays a role and has significant responsibilities in contributing to the family system. Although some characteristic traits may affect the family negatively, various factors and techniques are useful in assisting families in regaining control, allow a healthy and respectful environment in developing "self," and resolving old wounds.
References
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Klever, P. (2009). The original triangle and variation in nuclear family functioning.Contemporary Family Therapy, 31(2), 140-159. Retrieved from http://link.springer.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/article/10.1007%2Fs10591-008-9082-2
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