Skip to main content

How Relationships Impact Health

October 27, 2024Anxiety, Define self, health

New research shows how our thinking can impact our gut health and trigger an immune system reaction. Chronic anxiety in relationships can activate this pathway. Define self could be more important to overall health that most people realize.

Radical Acceptance and Bowen Theory

September 13, 2024Anxiety, attachment, cut off

A family system perspective can make all the difference to adopting radical acceptance of a situation. For many people, the shift from an individual model perspective to a family emotional systems perspective is a radical thing to accept. But the core of radical acceptance theory is understanding and acknowledging “what is”. What Dr. Bowen observed, understood and acknowledged was that families operate as an emotional unit.

Can anxiety be bound

July 15, 2024Anxiety, differentiation

YES. And anxiety binding has positive and negative aspects to it.

Dr. Kerr wrote a lot about anxiety binding behaviour. He is the author of Family Evaluation, one of the original “source materials” on Bowen Family Systems. The system’s idea that a behaviour can bind anxiety is important when trying to improve one’s functioning.

Don’t Fear Forgiveness

June 23, 2024Define self, forgiveness, triangles

Why is forgiveness important? Because it's good for us, whether it's forgiving someone else or yourself. But adopting a systems perspective around a wrongdoing is a big shift for anyone. The more intense the situation, the harder it can be. (Before you continue, please note that extreme events can be very hard for individuals to put into a systems perspective. A systems perspective can involve a long time frame and societal level processes preceding the event that affects an individual. A systems perspective doesn't ask why or if something is fair.)

Emotional Connection Theory

May 14, 2024emotional contact, fusion, togetherness

Emotional Connection Theory - what is it?

Emotional Connection theory is an attempt to explain the mother infant bonding process. The authors believe that the mother infant bonding is a learned or conditional response. This learning occurs during the natural process of mother and infant interactions. The mother and newborn develop a connection by touching, looking at each other, using familiar sounds, and speaking. It is an adaptive process to have the mother and infant automatically orient and approach to each other. Based on their findings, the authors suggest that the mother and fetus develop this adaptive orientation during a full-term pregnancy. If fact, it was Dr. Welch's work related to premature infants that let to the development of this theory.

Change a preterm brain

April 24, 2024emotional contact, fusion
Infant benefits

The Power of Emotional Connection

(Please note: This post could create powerful feelings in some individuals. The research references are listed below and will provide a more complete description of the material. They are quite easy to read and understand.)