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Category: Bowen Theory

Perceptions Matter

April 23, 2023Anxiety, emotional system
perception of social threats activate social genonmic networks
Perceptions matter - just ask your genes! A newer field of study in biology is called social genomics. It is the study of how and when different genes are activated based on social interactions. On one level, it is very obvious that relationships aff

Expectations and Emotional Demands

April 16, 2023Define self
I am your dream
Emotional demands and expectations go together For most organisms, including humans, the developmental trajectory involves an individual becoming more and more capable and responsible for taking care of their own needs. Maturation is associated with

Humans Dogs and Emotional Systems

March 30, 2023emotional system
border-collies-family
What can Parents Learn from Obedience Training? Humans domesticated dogs around 15,000 years ago. More recently, we have trained dogs to recognize the emotional state of individuals with PTSD in order to help those individuals cope with aspects of PT

Wise Selfishness: a Systems Perspective

March 26, 2023Define self
Me YOU graphic
Can one be selfishly wise? Dr. Kerr has a phrase that is familiar to those in the Bowen community: "How does one be for self without being selfish and be for others without being selfless? " Most of us do not see selfishness as good behaviour. On the

Hope for Parents

March 12, 2023Uncategorized
A Manualized Process to Give Parents Hope (This post provides some background for the April 17th conference on the Parent Hope Project). As a father, I know how hard it can be to raise a child. I have also seen the challenges - far greater than my ow

Using Triangles

February 26, 2023From the Archives, triangles
Triangles
Triangles are mechanisms to deal with the tension or discomfort that will inevitably arise in a two-person relationship. This is because most individuals are not highly differentiated. We have a level of immaturity that leads to tension in our relati

How emotionally mature are you?

February 14, 2023emotional system
me you head to head graphic
Emotional Maturity - What is it? A challenge with discussing Bowen Theory is that the terms emotion and emotional system mean something different from the usual understanding that equates them to feelings. Dr. Bowen believed emotions to be more like

Chronic Anxiety in Physical Illness

January 22, 2023From the Archives
Chronic Anxiety and balancing self in relationships
From the Archives - Chronic Anxiety in Physical Illness Dr. Bowen spoke at a conference on cancer in 1978 about his thinking of how a disease like cancer could develop. It was quite different thinking at the time. He started by making the point that

Function UP in 2023

January 14, 2023Define self
Define your self directed goals
Function UP in 2023 It's that time of year when I think about my intentions for functioning up in the coming year. A systems perspective has me thinking about how I'm functioning in my family and workplace systems. The concept of functioning is an im

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