About Us

About The New England Seminar on Bowen Theory

Since 2006, we have focused at least one conference a year on examining social issues through the lens of Bowen theory. In 2016, we added a second annual conference to address climate change. The issues we’ve explored include racism, terrorism, the history anti-Semitism, aspects of pre-Soviet Russian history, participatory democracy, land ownership issues, the Supreme Court and the role of the news media. A current project is envisioning how democracy might look if built on the concepts of Bowen theory.

For most of that time, we’ve drawn limited interest from the Bowen network. Dr. Bowen was late in his career when he introduced his concept of emotional process in society late i and it remains one of the least developed of his eight concepts.

But interest in the concept has intensified of late. The election of Trump and the rise of Trumpism, Covid and Covid-denial, and the intensifying symptoms of climate change have enlivened interest how Bowen theory works at the level of society.

We want to leverage NESBT’s nearly 16 years of experience in this area of inquiry to contribute to the broader, public discussion. We want to act as a catalyst and a convener for discussion about societal process through our conferences, discussions on the website and promotion of the work of theorists beyond our group. We want to encourage collaboration with the Bowen centers around the country and around the world.

We are exploring ways to interest journalists, political and government leaders, scientists, educators and others in Bowen theory, and encourage them to think how it might apply to the issues that concern them.

Board Members