Overview
An Introduction To Bowen Theory
Murray Bowen, MD developed a theory of human behavior based on a view of the family as a multigenerational system governed by the same laws of nature that govern all of life. He considered individual life to be guided in large part by what he termed the “emotional system.” His concept of “Differentiation of Self” described the capacity of an individual within a family to be responsible both for self and for the overall good of the group in the face of emotional pressure.
Overview
In the early 1950’s, Bowen conducted research at the National Institute of Mental Health where he studied entire families on a psychiatric ward. He was able to observe how the family functions as a unit and how an individual may function as part of a larger emotional system without being aware of it. Bowen’s book, Family Therapy in Clinical Practice, is a collection of articles over two decades from 1956 to 1976. His theoretical perspective has been widely applied in a number of different fields including religion, business and organizational management, and mental health.
Introductory Videos
Leading Publications on Bowen Theory
Leading a Business in Anxious Times
(2009) Chicago: Care Communications Press by Leslie Ann Fox and Katharine Gratwick Baker
Triangles: Bowen Family Systems Theory Perspectives
(2008) New York: The Haworth Press edited by Peter Titelman
Emotional Cutoff: Bowen Family Systems Theory Perspectives
(2003) New York: The Haworth Press edited by Peter Titelman
Clinical Application of Bowen Family Systems Theory
(1998) New York: The Haworth Press edited by Peter Titelman
Bringing Systems Thinking to Life
edited by Ona Cohn Bergman and Charles White
Articles
Bowen Theory
Bennett Tittler, Ph.D.
Bowen family systems theory grew from an effort to bring psychiatry and behavioral science more in line with the practice of the "hard sciences," especially biological science.
Lessons Learned from Behavioral Science
Bennett Tittler, Ph.D.
This is an excerpt of an address I recently gave at my brother's UU church in Barneveldt, NY. It grew out of a discussion with my brother in which I suggested that behavioral science had something useful to say about the current state of society...
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