Clinical Applications of Family Systems Theory
Overview
How is a systems approach to therapy unique? What difference does it make to look at a client while keeping their family and relationship contexts in mind?
Dr. Murray Bowen spent years observing the human family and how it functioned as an emotional system, where “change in one part of the system is followed by compensatory change in other parts of the system.”
Conference Details
This conference will highlight the practical applications of Bowen theory in the clinical setting and the specific ways a systems perspective offers creativity, flexibility, and versatility, from conceptualizing the presenting problem, assessing the broader family system in a family diagram, to marking progress and shifts in patterns in the family and other relationships.
Date: March 7, 2025
Times: 9:00 am – 4:15 pm ( zoom opens at 8:45 am)
Location: This is an online only conference.
Fees
- FT Student 0r student in a Bowen Training Program: $100.00
- Early Bird General Admission: $195.00
- General Admission after Early Bird Date: $225.00
- Single Recording Only Fee: $195.00
- Group Rate (3 or more per agency): $165.00 per person
- Group Recording Fee: $1,170 (up to 12 people per organization)
(includes recording for 60 days)
Conference Agenda
9:00 am Welcome
9:15 am Dr. Kathleen Smith Part 1 – A New Flavour of Relating: The Flexibility and Creativity in a Family Systems Approach to Therapy
11:00 am Dr. Bruce Hiebert – Hidden Patterns and Constructive Insights: A Four Generation Family Analysis
12:00 pm Lunch
1:00 pm Dr. Kathleen Smith Part 2 – A New Flavour of Relating: The Flexibility and Creativity in a Family Systems Approach to Therapy
2:30 pm Katie White – Moving Around the System: A Way of Working Clinically using Bowen Family Systems Theory
3:30 pm Panel Discussion
About the Presenters
Kathleen Smith
PhD, LPC
Kathleen Smith is an author, licensed therapist, and member of the Bowen Center faculty. She helps individuals and organizations think differently about their relationship challenges and begin to operate more thoughtfully and less anxiously. Kathleen is the author of Everything Isn’t Terrible: Conquer Your Insecurities, Interrupt Your Anxiety, Finally Calm Down and True to You: A Therapist’s Guide to Stop Pleasing Others and Start Being Yourself. She also writes the popular newsletter, The Anxious Overachiever.
Katie White
RMFT, RCC
Katie White is a couple and family therapist who has been working clinically for over 20 years in the US, Australia and now in Vancouver, Canada. She has been studying and using Bowen Theory in her work and family life for 12 years. She is the Executive Director of Living Systems, where she also teaches and supervises trainees, as well as having a private practice for individuals, couples and families.
Bruce Hiebert
PhD, RCC
Bruce Hiebert is an Associate Professor at University Canada West, where he teaches business ethics and
strategy. He has a deep interest in how people make decisions in the context of family life and has used Bowen theory to guide his research into historical patterns of community decision making. After exposure to Bowen theory in the 1980s, Bruce began studies at Living Systems in 2017 and has his own private practice.
Kathleen Smith and Bowen Theory
Dr. Smith answers three key questions about her experience with Bowen Theory.
Who is this Workshop for
This workshop is suitable for clinicians, practitioners, and students from all backgrounds in counselling, psychology and psychotherapy, not just those with previous training in Bowen family systems theory. The basics of Bowen theory will be covered as well as more in-depth application of theory.
Learning Objectives
- How basic ideas of Bowen family systems theory can expand clinical thinking
- The usefulness a systems perspective for clients
- Practical ways to apply systems thinking in session
Letter of Attendance / CEU Credits
A refund is available before February 14, 2025, minus $30 Eventbrite/admin fee. There are no refunds after February 14, 2025 unless for an emergency as determined by Living Systems.
A Letter of Attendance is available for continuing education purposes. Please select this option when registering.
Registration
Early Bird Deadline is February 14, 2025
For inquiries, please email leila.howard@livingsystems.ca
Refunds
A refund is available before February 14, 2025, minus $30 Eventbrite/admin fee. There are no refunds after February 14, 2025 unless for an emergency as determined by Living Systems.
