Bowen Family Therapy/Transgenerational Family Therapy was developed by psychiatrist Murray Bowen in the late 1940s-1950s when he was working at the Menninger Clinic, in Topeka Kansas. I fully agree with Bowen in that he believed that people can fully mature emotionally during their lifetime and have healthy intimate relationships, manage reactions and behaviors, and develop a sense of full individuality (differentiation: a key term in his theory). This family therapy approach focuses on the past and past origin of family and present emotional attachment to one’s family of origin. The theory is that families pass down a learned way of being to the next generation, etc. Keys terms in this approach to family therapy are genogram (family map), triangles/triangulation (people in conflict will pull in a 3rd person to relieve or freeze conflict: similar to a scapegoat), emotional cutoff (individually cut off from the family of origin), and fusion (a family member is upset, and you get upset because they are upset for example). The role of the therapist is like a coach yet non-confrontational and very supportive. The goals of therapy are anxiety reduction, system relief, and increased self-differentiation to name a few. We focus on “I”statements, reopening cut off family relationships and resolve issues – all with a key focus on what parents are passing down to kids and with the understanding that the parents are the core of the family. The Bowenian Family therapist believes that change happens when understanding multigenerational roles and dynamics.
