Averting a Cutoff in an Inherited Triangle

Post Date June 18, 2025
Comments 17 Comments
Author
Category Annual Conferences, Annual Summer Conference, Chronic Anxiety, Emotional Cut-Off, Emotional Fusion, Emotional Triangles, Family Emotional Process, Leslie Ann Fox

Summer 2025 has arrived. The beach, hiking trails, travel adventures and more beckon us. Unexpected upheaval and uncertainty gripped many countries around the world this past year. The time for some genuine rest and relaxation is overdue. Though CFC cannot offer you a day or week or month off, we have chosen a topic for our annual one-day Summer Conference this year that may get your mind off of the societal stressors for a day, and redirect your focus inward. While the conference focuses on how one bridges existing generational cutoffs, this essay is an example of a case study of an individual who inherits a position in a triangle after someone has died. The question is, must one inevitably accept that inheritance, and continue to amplify the anxiety in the system, or can one member of the new triangle avert the cutoff, thereby avoiding a downward spiral into a cutoff that will impact future generations of the family?

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Thoughts for Thanksgiving 2024

Post Date November 27, 2024
Comments 8 Comments
Author
Category Acute Anxiety, Bowen Family Systems Theory, Chronic Anxiety, Differentiation of Self, Emotional Cut-Off, Emotional Fusion, Terri C. Pilarski

Thanksgiving may be the one holiday that everyone can celebrate. It is an invitation to be grateful for all of life’s blessings. Well, everyone except Indigenous peoples who may prefer not to, all things considered. When I lived in Dearborn, Michigan, Thanksgiving was a big deal. It was common for the interfaith community to hold an interfaith worship service on the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving. We would all gather in one of the various houses of worship, a church or a mosque, and worship in English and Arabic, with Christian texts and readings from the Quran. And some time in that week, usually Sunday night, we would all share a big holiday meal of giving thanks. The events were spirit-filled, honing our sense of gratitude for the rich diversity of our community life. They were also a lot of work. Any time a group of people holding different values and beliefs gathers for a shared event there are challenges and also moments of joy.

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Cut-Off and the Role of a Bowen Coach

Post Date June 11, 2024
Comments 1 Comment
Author
Category Bowen Family Systems Theory, Cecilia Guzman, Chronic Anxiety, Differentiation of Self, Emotional Cut-Off, Emotional Fusion, Family Emotional Process

Bowen Family Systems Theory, developed by Dr. Murray Bowen in the mid-20th century, revolutionized the understanding of human behavior within the context of familial relationships. One of the key concepts within this theory is “emotional cut-off,” a phenomenon that describes how individuals manage unresolved emotional issues with family members by reducing or completely cutting off emotional contact. This blog delves into the concept of emotional cut-off, its implications, underlying mechanisms, and its impact on individuals and family dynamics.

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