Growing up Emotionally: One Man’s Effort

Conference Details

Video Recording Available 

Date: Oct 16, 2021.
Time: 8:45 am – 4:00 pm
Speakers: Ron Richardson
Location: On-Line via Zoom
Limited in-person attendance.
2945 McLean Mgm Studies Lab,
SFU Harbour Centre, Vancouver.

Conference Summary

In this conference, Ron will speak, in-depth, about the way he went about growing up in his own family. He will tell about the challenges he faced and how he worked with them to achieve a new kind of relationship with his family members. He will describe the various kinds of pitfalls one can encounter in doing this work and how he managed them for himself in his family. Those attending this conference may gain insight into how to proceed with their own family work.

Get the Conference Recording 

A video recording of this event is available for download.   The fee for the recording is $100.00 CDN.

Please email us to arrange for Interac payment and to then get a link to the recordings:  info@livingsystems.ca

Conference Leader

Ronald W. Richardson is former Training Director of the North Shore Counseling Center, pastoral counselor, author of many books on family systems theory and is currently a retired pastor living in West Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Richardson attended UCLA where he received his BA in English Literature in 1962. He then went on to Princeton Theological Seminary and received his M.Div in Biblical Studies in 1966. Later, he finished his studies at Colgate/Rochester Divinity School receiving his Doctorate in 1976.

Ron Richardson is the author of Family Ties That Bind: A Self-Help Guide to Change through Family of Origin Therapy (Self Counsel Press 1984), Birth Order and You: How Your Sex and Position in the Family Affect Your Personality and Relationships (Self Counsel Press 1990), and Creating a Healthier Church: Family Systems Theory, Leadership, and Congregational Life (Fortress Press 1996).

Conference Description

Almost all of us grow up physically to the stature and appearance of our genetic inheritance. Given enough protection from diseases and other threats in childhood, and adequate nutrition and nurture by our family, we automatically achieve full-grown physical adulthood.

Growing up emotionally is a different matter. Entering into close emotional relationships like falling in love and creating our own family is not as easy as growing up physically. We experience certain kinds of limitations and difficulties that make it challenging for us to achieve the full maturity of caring and loving relationships.

As a doctoral level psychotherapist, I learned a number of ways of helping people achieve their hopes in close relationships. However, I was not doing that well in my own marriage, and in my relationship with my family of origin. This kept me from providing my clients with the kind of help they needed in their own lives. Learning Bowen family systems theory made a big difference for me personally and in my clinical work with clients.

We tend to inherit our emotional limitations within our family of origin and carry them into our grown-up adult relationships. One way of growing up emotionally is to address these limitations within our family of origin, learn how they came about, and change the way we are present in our families. Bowen theory offers a way of thinking about this and suggests ways to proceed.

In this conference, I will speak, in-depth, about the way I went about this in my own family. I will tell about the challenges I faced and how I worked with them to achieve a new kind of relationship with my family members. I will describe the various kinds of pitfalls one can encounter in doing this work and how I managed them for myself in my family. Those attending this conference may gain insight into how to proceed with their own family work.