The Systems Thinker - Center for Family Consultation's blog

About Our Blog

An online forum to further the discussion of research and applications of systems thinking that continue to emerge from the ongoing study and practice of Bowen theory by family therapists, clergy, business leaders, consultants, and scientists.

Does Meditation Foster Differentiation of Self?

Post Date May 18, 2016
Comments 4 Comments
Author
Category Bowen Family Systems Theory, Differentiation of Self, Erik Thompson

Authored by:  Erik Thompson, M. A.

Licensed Psychologist-Masters

Principal, Thompson Leadership Development, Inc., and Executive Director, Vermont Center for Family Studies

“Just as a solid rock is not shaken by the storm, even so the wise are not affected by praise or blame.”

-The Yoga Vashishtha, 6th Century BC

Bowen theorists have developed a unique set of tools for expanding personal, family, and organizational health, including seeing the group as a system, managing self, de-triangling, and strengthening overall relationship capital with original members.  More “self” decreases chronic anxiety and reactivity …

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A Bowen theory perspective on Melvin Konner’s Women After All: Sex, Evolution and the End of Male Supremacy

Post Date May 11, 2016
Comments 1 Comment
Author
Category Bowen Family Systems Theory, Stephanie Ferrera

Authored by Stephanie Ferrera

Melvin Konner begins his book, Women After All: Sex, Evolution, and the End of Male Supremacy, stating: “This is a book with a very simple argument:  women are not equal to men; they are superior in many ways, and in most ways that will count in the future.”  (p. 3)  As part of his discussion on how humans evolved toward male supremacy, Konner introduces “an old distinction in sociology between gemeinschaft and gesellschaft—community and society.” (p. 159) Until about 10,000 years ago, …

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Mountains are Bigger than Me

Post Date December 28, 2015
Comments 1 Comment
Author
Category Bowen Family Systems Theory, Cecilia Guzman

Authored by Cecilia Guzman

This past summer my husband and I and two other couples hiked the Inca trail to see the ancient ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru. We talked about it and planned it thoroughly and I started my physical training 5 months before we departed. The hiking portion of our trip consisted of a 4 day, 3 night journey through the Andes Mountains reaching a height of almost 14,000 feet. The adventure outfitters provided a local guide and 12 native Inca porters who …

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Fooling Self and Others: Self-Deception in the Practice of Differentiation of Self

Post Date June 3, 2015
Comments 0 Comments
Author
Category Bowen Family Systems Theory, Differentiation of Self, Jim Smith

Authored by Jim Smith, M. S.

In this presentation I did a brief review of the extensive literature on self-deception in the evolutionary biology literature, including evolutionary biologist Robert Triver’s theory of self-deception. I then discussed self-deception from the perspective of Bowen’s idea of the pseudo-self, using examples from my effort to define a self in my own family.

“Deceitful behavior has a long and storied history in the evolution of social life, and the more sophisticated the animal, it seems, the more commonplace the con games, …

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Back to the beginning of life on earth with Dr. Jan Sapp

Post Date May 11, 2015
Comments 1 Comment
Author
Category Evolution & Family Systems Theory, Stephanie Ferrera

Authored by Stephanie Ferrera

Dr. Jan Sapp, Professor of biology at York University in Toronto, was the guest scientist at the Center for Family Consultation’s 2015 Midwest Symposium. He kept the audience wide awake with his presentation, “Symbiotic Nature: The Ecology of Self.” Dr. Sapp is an authority on symbiosis as a force in evolution and also an authority on the history of symbiosis theory. Along with his presentation of the science of symbiosis, he told the fascinating story of the scientists who pioneered this work …

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What Spock Taught Me About Being More Differentiated

Post Date April 9, 2015
Comments 2 Comments
Author
Category Bowen Family Systems Theory, Cecilia Guzman, Differentiation of Self

Authored by Cecilia Guzman

“Logic is the beginning of wisdom, not the end.”
—Spock

It was 1969 and I was seven years old watching the TV show Star Trek for the first time and feeling as if my world changed. I was enthralled by this creature named Spock who was always so calm and intelligent. I didn’t realize it at the time, but as I matured the relationship between Captain Kirk (full human) and Spock (half human, half Vulcan) began to influence the way I defined …

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Fiction as a Regulator of the Mental Health Field: The Case of Sybill

Post Date September 3, 2014
Comments 0 Comments
Author
Category Bowen Family Systems Theory, Family Therapy, Margaret Otto

Authored by Margaret Otto

Murray Bowen, MD developed the concept of differentiation and societal emotional process. The basic idea is that emotional forces in families correlate to emotional forces in society. This process can be progressive or regressive with individuals and families at the lower level of differentiation being the most vulnerable to environmental influence.  As anxiety increases and individuality decreases, functioning lowers and symptom severity increases. Broader societal processes and the stressed emotional fields created can have a debilitating effect on individuals and the social functioning …

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“Toward a Systems Theory of Cancer”, Summary of a presentation by Michael E. Kerr, M.D.

Post Date May 31, 2014
Comments 6 Comments
Author
Category Bowen Family Systems Theory, Bowen Theory Research, Stephanie Ferrera, Systems Theory of Cancer

Authored by Stephanie Ferrera

At the Annual Midwest Symposium on Bowen Theory, May 2 -3, 2014, Dr. Kerr presented on his longstanding interest in the relationship between health, illness, and the family emotional system, and has done extensive research with cancer patients and their families.  In this presentation, he gave an overview of the systems thinking that researchers are bringing to the study of cancer, and showed how this fits with the systems thinking in Bowen theory.

Dr. Kerr began his presentation with the idea of an …

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Dr. Raison’s Invitation to Bowen Theory Researchers for Collaboration

Post Date May 13, 2014
Comments 3 Comments
Author
Category Bowen Family Systems Theory, Bowen Theory Research, Family Therapy, Sydney K. Reed

Authored by Sydney K. Reed, M.S.W.

In the previous blog post, Leslie Fox highlighted interesting points from Dr. Raison’s talk.    He warned us that he might be entertaining, an adaptation useful in a career of teaching undergraduates.  In deed, he had us laughing frequently.  It made me think about the notions of the origins of laughter.  Some think that laughter evolved as a signal mechanism to tell the group that they were out of danger and could relax and connect socially, thus building community.

Dr.. Raison’s talk …

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Connecting Inflammation, Depression and Compassion Meditation Training

Post Date May 8, 2014
Comments 8 Comments
Author
Category Bowen Family Systems Theory, Family Therapy, Leslie Ann Fox

Authored by Leslie Ann Fox

Did you know that only 10% of the cells in our bodies are mammalian—that 90% are bacteria? When someone can think in evolutionary ways all the way back to when all life on earth was bacteria, and see that we humans are still primarily bacteria, it really gets you thinking differently about your family history…but I will leave that for another day.

At the 31st Annual Midwest Symposium in Wilmette, IL on May 2nd and 3rd, 2014, Charles Raison, MD presented his …

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