Annual Conferences Archives - Center for Family ConsultationCenter for Family Consultation

2025 Midwest Symposium

Post Date March 6, 2025

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Author Justin Reed

Category Annual Conferences, Events

42nd Annual Midwest Symposium: Bowen Family Systems Theory and Therapy
Friday May 2 – Saturday May 3, 2025Evanston, Illinois

This is a hybrid (in-person or online) event.

Register Now Via Eventbrite

Established in 1984 with Murray Bowen as the sole presenter, the symposium has evolved to feature Dan Papero as the primary speaker and, since 1990, a guest scientist each year. The event ensures Bowen family systems theory remains grounded in the natural sciences by inviting experts from fields such as neuroscience, evolutionary …

Frans de Waal, Our First Symposium Speaker

Post Date April 3, 2024

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Author Center for Family Consultation

Category Annual Conferences, Annual Midwest Symposium, Bowen Family Systems Theory, Sydney K. Reed

Frans de Waal, 75, Who Believed Apes Had Cognition, Dies so said the obituary by Alex Traub in the New York Times on Saturday, March 23, 2024.

“Frans de Waal, who used his study of the inner life of animals to build a powerful case that apes think, feel, strategize pass down culture and act on moral sentiments – and that humans are not quite as special as many like to think- died on March 14 at his home in Stone Mountain, Ga.”

2024 Midwest Symposium

Post Date March 18, 2024

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Author Justin Reed

Category Annual Conferences, Events

41st Annual Midwest Symposium: Bowen Family Systems Theory and Therapy
Friday May 3 – Saturday May 4, 2024 Evanston, Illinois

This is a hybrid (In-person or online) event

The 41st Midwest Symposium is focused on exploring the complexities of the family emotional system and the interplay among individuals, relationships, and society. The family and its functioning in the larger social environment will be discussed in terms of its influence on well-being and stress-related illnesses. …

Why I spent Christmas 2023 in the Mayo Clinic Hospital

Post Date January 31, 2024

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Author Sydney Reed

Category Acute Anxiety, Annual Conferences, Death & Chronic Illness, Emotional Triangles, Family Emotional Process, Sydney K. Reed, Systems Theory of Cancer

Due to the amputation of my husband’s foot, we spent Christmas this past year in the Mayo Clinic hospital. This is the twelfth year of a long story. David has had a pain in his left foot when he walked on it for the last 12 years. Medical opinion assumed the problem was neurological. He was referred to countless doctors who referred him for x-rays, CT and MRI scans. No one could find anything to explain the pain. One pain clinic installed a nerve stimulator in his back that was controlled by a technician at Abbot Labs who determined the dosage and the frequency of the nerve jolts. It didn’t work!

2025 Clinical Application of Bowen Theory

Post Date December 21, 2023

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Author Justin Reed

Category Annual Conferences

CFC’s 27th Annual Day of Workshops
Tickets Available via Eventbrite

Keynote presentation from CFC faculty member Kelly Matthews-Pluta:

Emotional Inheritance: Bowen Theory and the Multigenerational Transmission Process

“The family of origin is a resource for learning more about oneself” (Kerr, 275). Humans seem to have a love/hate relationship with the emotional interdependence we have with one another, particularly in our families. When relationships are going smoothly, we have plenty of warm, comfortable feelings about our connections. When relationships are strained, we can feel anxious and stressed about our own …

Integration of Research in Practice: Reflections on the CFC Fall Conference

Post Date October 7, 2023

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Author Stephanie Ferrera

Category Annual Conferences, Annual Fall Conference, Events, Family Sysytems Theory Research, Stephanie Ferrera

What does the word “research” bring to mind for you? Images of scientists in lab coats, doing things with test tubes? Creating experiments with control groups? Data mapped on charts and graphs? That dreaded required course in college? A formidable enterprise to be sure.

For those who attended the CFC Fall Conference, “Integration of Research in Practice,” the word, “research” took on a larger meaning. Four Bowen theory researchers presented their studies, each illustrating a different and creative approach.

The Emotional Side of Socioeconomic Status: A review of the CFC Summer Conference with Dr. Laurie Lassiter

Post Date August 1, 2023

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Author Stephanie Ferrera

Category Annual Conferences, Events, Stephanie Ferrera

“The Emotional Side of Socioeconomic Status” was the title of Dr. Laurie Lassiter’s presentation at the Center for Family Consultation’s annual summer conference on July 14. It is also the title of an article by Lassiter published in a recent issue of the journal, Family Systems. Dr. Lassiter has reviewed a wide range of research to help us understand how social status impacts our health, relationships, and quality of life. As a scholar of Bowen theory, she brings knowledge of emotional systems and differentiation of self to her study of social status. Drawing from both her conference presentation and her article, I have chosen the following highlights.

Michael Kerr, A Review and Presentation on Leonard Mlodinow’s book, “Emotional: How Feelings Shape Our Thinking”

Post Date June 2, 2022

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Author Center for Family Consultation

Category Annual Conferences, Bowen Family Systems Theory, Differentiation of Self, Ethan Strauss, Family Emotional Process, Terri C. Pilarski

Dr. Kerr’s presentation at the Midwest Symposium on May 6, 2022, on Leonard Mlodinow’s book, “Emotional: How Feelings Shape Our Thinking” focused on a key component of Bowen Systems Theory: developing the capacity for self-regulation and the impact of anxiety on one’s ability to self-regulate. Mlodinow discusses the impact of anxiety on brain function writing: “an anxious state leads to pessimistic cognitive bias – when an anxious brain processes ambiguous information it tends to choose the more pessimistic among the likely interpretations.” (Chapter 4, How Emotions Guide Thought). Kerr emphasized two aspects from Mlodinow’s book: Motivation and Determination.

The Composition of the Family System and Adaptive Success

Post Date May 20, 2022

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Author Center for Family Consultation

Category Annual Conferences, Differentiation of Self, Ethan Strauss, Family Emotional Process, Post Graduate Training

This presentation by Dr. Dan Papero focused primarily on how concepts related to adaptive success or failure apply to the family system. Dr. Papero observes that the human family faces similar pressures to adapt to changes in the environment as all living things do. One way that helps me to think about this concept is to relate it to the functioning of ant colonies that are discussed in Chapter 12 of “The Family Emotional System”, edited by Robert J. Noone and Daniel V. Papero. The ant colonies clearly do not function as a collection of individuals working toward a common goal, but more as a single organism with each individual as more of an appendage. The human family faces similar pressures from the environment, which require a response from the system if it is going to survive and thrive.

Searching for Nature’s Rules

Post Date October 4, 2021

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Author Stephanie Ferrera

Category Annual Conferences, Stephanie Ferrera

“When we ponder the workings of the human body or of the life of the Serengeti National Park, the details would seem overwhelming, the parts too numerous, and their interactions too complex. The power of a small number of rules…is their ability to reduce complex phenomena to a simpler logic of life.” (10) With this thought, Sean B. Carroll introduces his book, The Serengeti Rules: The Quest to Discover How Life Works and Why It Matters.

Reflections on a Presentation by James P. Curley, PhD: Power Differentials in Social Hierarchies, Why and How They Emerge and Their Consequences for Behavior and Health

Post Date May 15, 2021

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Author Center for Family Consultation

Category Annual Conferences, Bowen Family Systems Theory, Emotional Triangles, Leadership, Rosalyn Chrenka

This report on the keynote address given at the Midwest Symposium on May 7 2021 was prepared by Dr. Rosalyn Chrenka, a student of the CFC Post-graduate Training program. I took notes and have commented below on some things that struck me as interesting in relation to theory.

Bowen Theory Conferences Adapt to Pandemic Conditions

Post Date May 4, 2020

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Author Stephanie Ferrera

Category Annual Conferences, Bowen Family Systems Theory, Climate Change, Environmental Crisis, Stephanie Ferrera

For all of its tragic impacts on humanity, the coronavirus pandemic is presenting us with an opportunity and impetus to take time out for serious thinking. Since the time of social distancing began several weeks ago, two important Bowen theory network events have taken place: the annual Spring Conference of the Bowen Center for the Study of the Family (April 3-4) and the 37th Midwest Symposium of the Center for Family Consultation (May 1). Both were originally planned as onsite conferences but converted to online. In so doing, the conferences became very different experiences for all involved–planners, presenters, and audience members—and much was learned in the process. This essay offers thoughts on what was learned, particularly in the area of human behavior and human response to threat.

Family, the Brain, and Differentiation of Self

Post Date April 16, 2020

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Author Center for Family Consultation

Category Annual Conferences, Bowen Family Systems Theory, Events, Evolution & Family Systems Theory, Robert J. Noone

The concept of differentiation of self entails two primary aspects based on the observations of Dr. Bowen. The first is that individuals vary in the degree to which they differentiate or develop emotional autonomy in relation to the family in which they grew up. The second aspect is the degree to which an individual’s higher cortical systems, referred to by Bowen as the intellectual system, differentiate over the course of development. The differentiation of this function underlies an individual’s capacity to utilize the intellectual system in self-regulation and self-direction over their life course. This presentation will describe the above and place these processes in the context of the co-evolution of the family and the brain.

Family-of-Origin Work: The Road to Maturity

Post Date June 24, 2019

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Author Stephanie Ferrera

Category Annual Conferences, Bowen Family Systems Theory, Differentiation of Self, Family of Origin, Stephanie Ferrera

At the Family Research Conference in 1967, Murray Bowen gave a presentation that was unusual for a professional meeting. He had been seeking a way to teach family systems theory in a way that trainees could grasp. He had also been “working intensively in a new phase of a long-term effort to differentiate my own ‘self’ from my parental extended family.”* He had reached a “dramatic breakthrough”* shortly before the conference. He decided to present his experience in his own family to his colleagues. It was a very different kind presentation than expected and sparked surprise and much interest from the audience. He described it as “a practical application of the major concepts in my theoretical and therapeutic systems (page 468).”* It was premised on the concept that the family emotional system is universal in all families, including those of family therapists. Taking responsibility for defining oneself in one’s own family translates into greater maturity in one’s life overall, and is key to one’s effectiveness as a clinician.

Highlights of the Presentation by Michael E. Kerr, MD on TOFT (Tissue Organization Field Theory): Relevance to Cancer and to Bowen Theory

Post Date May 25, 2019

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Author Leslie Fox

Category Annual Conferences, Leslie Ann Fox, Systems Theory of Cancer, Unidisease

It was another compelling presentation by Michael Kerr, MD, President of the Bowen Theory Academy that captivated the audience at the CFC Midwest Symposium on May 3, 2019 and evoked an engrossing discussion afterward. Dr. Kerr has captured our attention for many years by sharing his work investigating scientific evidence that would support a potential new concept to add to Bowen theory. He calls it “the unidisease concept” and first described it in the book Family Evaluation (Kerr& Bowen, 1988).

Select Abstracts from the upcoming 36th Midwest Symposium on Bowen Family Systems Theory and Therapy May 3rd & 4th, 2019

Post Date April 3, 2019

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Author Center for Family Consultation

Category Annual Conferences, Bowen Family Systems Theory, Events

During the month of April, we will be sharing the abstracts of presentations that will be given at the Midwest Symposium, May 3 and 4, at the Lakeview Center in Gilson Park in Wilmette, Il. We continue with the abstract by Victoria Harrison.

The Family In Society: Navigating Through Turbulent Times

Post Date February 12, 2019

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Author Stephanie Ferrera

Category Annual Conferences, Bowen Family Systems Theory, Events, Societal Emotional Process, Stephanie Ferrera

Dr. Murray Bowen originated a theory of human behavior in the 1950’s and continued to work on it until his death in 1990. Bowen Family Systems Theory is based on his view of the family as a natural system that functions as an emotional unit. Bowen described emotional process in families and how it shapes and is shaped by the responses of each family member.

SES, ACE, and Differentiation

Post Date June 5, 2018

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Author Center for Family Consultation

Category Annual Conferences, Bowen Family Systems Theory, Differentiation of Self, Jim Edd Jones

Authored by Jim Edd Jones, Ph. D.

At the 2018 Midwest Symposium on Family Theory and Family Therapy in Willmette, Ilinois this past May, Peter Gianaros from the University of Pittsburgh cogently argued that SES (Socio-Economic Status determined with a composite measure) partially predicts (correlation approximately 0.30) adult serious physiological symptoms, indicators of risk for serious symptoms, and neurobiological indicators of chronic stress/anxiety. Notice that the correlation is modest, with many exceptions to the correlation.

I would expect that level of differentiation of the individual and/or the …

Science & Bowen Family Systems Theory

Post Date May 15, 2018

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Author Center for Family Consultation

Category Annual Conferences, Bowen Family Systems Theory, Cecilia Guzman, Leslie Ann Fox, Robert J. Noone, Sydney K. Reed

Dr. Murray Bowen was well known to be extremely interested and well read in the natural sciences. One of his main goals was to connect the study of human behavior and functioning to the natural sciences including neuroscience, immunology, genetics, & evolutionary biology to name a few. To this end he established the tradition of hosting annual symposia in which a well-established scientist would be invited to present his/her work to the Bowen community. According to Dr. Robert Noone, “Dr. Bowen was keeping the theory …

The Family Emotional System and the Functioning of Slave Owners, Slaves and their Descendants

Post Date March 17, 2018

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Author Center for Family Consultation

Category Annual Conferences, Bowen Family Systems Theory, Differentiation of Self, Mignonette N. Keller

Authored by Mignonette N. Keller, Ph. D.

(Abstract of paper to be presented at the 35th Midwest Symposium May 4th, 2018)

This study applies Bowen family systems theory to investigate the factors influencing the functioning of slave owners, slaves and their descendants from a systems perspective. The findings in this investigation reveal the extent to which there is a direct correlation between the quality of a person’s family relationships and how that person functions. In effect it is an attempt to answer a basic research question asked …