Bowen Theory

What is Bowen Theory?

Dr. Murray Bowen once said that a problem created in a relationship can be solved in a relationship. Here at New Life Counseling Center many therapists work from natural family systems theory, which was created by Dr. Murray Bowen (so, “Bowen Theory” for short). For additional information on the theory itself, see the resources at the end of this page.

What does Bowen Theory say about anxiety, depression, or other emotional symptoms?

This approach to therapy is built on a science of the family and the individual person, and addresses emotions, stress, and mental health symptoms primarily by looking at the symptom in the context of the person’s relationship system and own daily functioning. Symptoms are thought not to be a sign of pathology or disorder, but rather a sign of an over-stressed system (and individual).

To understand one’s options of what to do about the symptom, a Bowen therapist will consider the bigger picture of how stress operates in an individual’s life, along with how particular ways of responding to stress developed in the first place, which is considered to have been influenced by one’s formative years growing up in their family. The idea is that understanding how the human’s nervous system was originally wired is key to transforming mental health in the present day.

And this does not mean that "everyone is from a broken family”, or “everyone had a messed up childhood”. It doesn’t even mean that “all my problems can be traced back to childhood.” Rather, it means that everyone is human, and humans are wired emotionally in their formative years in the family unit, which is in turn connected to generations of humans. Thus, if you can learn how the human is wired, and what makes the human person (and family) healthy or sick, then you have a useful roadmap to navigate your own self from “sick” to “healthy”. At least that is one way of saying it.

What does Bowen Theory say about change?

Bowen Theory contends that change is more likely when a person can see and understand the current problem accurately. As someone comes to understand how this bigger picture of humans are wired and what that means for symptoms, and how their presenting issue is connected to that bigger picture, then, almost automatically, a variety of new options open for facing the current dilemma . And while it's not solution-focused brief therapy (typically clients finish their work in anywhere from several months to around a year, depending on acuity of symptoms), it is quite thorough in addressing the root of things. In this way, one can make progress toward the goal of emotional transformation and bringing one's most mature self to all relationships. If one person can change self while being open to good emotional contact with important others, there is a greater likelihood that others will also begin to change, and in this way, healthy change can spread throughout an entire family.

In sum, the more accurately a person can understand how humans function the more objective one can be about such facts, the more possible it is to change one’s daily choices and ultimately one’s life course. The idea would be that one person working on self, while being in deep relationship with others, ultimately has the potential to create positive ripple effects of growth in many relationships.

What is Bowen-based therapy like?

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Therapists working from Bowen theory supervise clients in their own effort to make progress toward the goal of changing oneself while staying connected to others and bringing one's most mature self to all relationships. From a Bowen perspective of understanding the challenges of being human, offering warmth and compassion comes naturally since all humans are up against the same struggle.

In this approach, it's the role of the therapist to maintain a calm, neutral position and offer systems thinking for the client to consider. It’s important for the client to consider the ideas for self, not just because a therapist says it. This way of thinking about stress and relationships can be quite different from mainstream ideas, so if it’s going to change someone’s life, one’s own thinking has to drive the change. For this reason, the expectation is also for the client to set their own goals, and work toward those goals in actual daily life outside of the coaching session. The client is considered the expert on his/her own life, and the Bowen therapist is there not to offer advice or “heal” the client, but rather to wake up the client’s own capacity to change for self.

One aspect of Bowen therapy is that the clinician coaches clients toward seeing and owning the clients’ responsibility and contribution toward the current problem, which is understood as a positive way to cultivate agency and influence. Oftentimes a significant contribution to stress is clients taking on more responsibility than is objectively theirs, or avoiding responsibility that does belong to them. All clients work to find objectivity around this and work only (and also work) on what belongs to them.

The goal is growth in the client’s emotional maturity which entails increasing one’s ability to manage and process stress, and also increasing one’s ability to be a solid self in important areas of life. This contributes to one’s own emotional transformation as well as transformation in the family.

When a Bowen therapist sees multiple people in couple’s or family therapy, “the client” is considered to be the family as a whole, and not any one individual. And while this approach can work quite well for families and couples, it is also efficacious for working with just individual clients as well.

For more information about Bowen Family Systems Theory, see here: https://www.thebowencenter.org/