57th Symposium on Family Theory and Family Psychotherapy - Saturday Afternoon

Includes the following presentations:

Moderator: Amie Post, MA, LCMFT

Family Survival: How to Create Emotional Family Pattern Interruptions - Carrie E. Collier, PhD, LPC, CRC

“Who is the family and what is an emotional system?” “What is important about knowing the composition of the human family and the history of family interactions?” are examples of the questions addressed by this researcher in her 2019 parenting study. Possible parental moves to interrupt the transfer of anxiety in the nuclear family will be outlined and the importance of defining the family system and the mechanisms that keep the family alive will be explored.

Convergent Spouse Functioning and Nuclear Family Emotional Process - Phillip Klever, MSW

One of the outcomes of the nuclear family emotional process in a longitudinal research sample was spouses functioning at a similar level or convergent spouse functioning. This presentation describes the researcher’s observations and the theoretical underpinnings.

Discussion

Emotional Shockwave in the Family Unit - Laura R. Brooks, LCSW-C

This presentation provides evidence for family emotional shockwaves that resulted from the premature deaths of two grandfathers. Shockwaves in the family reveal the underlying interconnectedness of relationships that comprise an emotional unit. Examples of shifts in relationships in non-human emotional units anchor this presentation in a biological view of the human family. *

* Please contact info@thebowencenter.org and Lbrooks@thebowencenter.org for permission to view.

Is Bowen Theory a Natural Systems Theory of the Family and If So, What Difference Does It Make? - Randall T. Frost, MDiv

Murray Bowen wrote that “he fashioned a natural systems theory designed to fit precisely with the principles of evolution and the human as an evolutionary being”. Did he succeed? This presentation will review evidence that supports the proposition that Bowen theory is a natural systems theory and suggest why that is important.

Discussion