Ch. 3 Transgenerational Models: Bowenian Family Therapy Flashcards
In which theories do the transgenerational models have roots?
Psychoanalytic and object relations – which emphasize intrapsychic conflict of the individual
Insight and working through
Transgenerational models require people to have insight about their problems so they can work through them (find new productive ways of dealing with issues).
How do symptoms develop in transgenerational models?
When the transgenerational issues remain unconscious
What is the best way to treat the symptomatic child in transgenerational models?
To work with the parents. Like Structural therapy, it searches for the structures underlying the presenting problem.
- therapy usually lasts 2 years - not brief!
Important practitioners of transgenerational models
- Murray Bowen and his followers:
- Philip Guerin
- Betty Carter
- Norman Paul
- Monica McGoldrick
- Nagy (contextual family therapy)
- James Framo (combining intergenerational and object relations approaches
- Fairbairn, Dicks and Scharff and Schraff
Bowenian Family therapy: intro
- Worked at NIMH
- studied schizophrenics and is known for hospitalizing full families for observation and research
- observed the patterns of familial closeness and distance – formed the construct of “differentiation of self”
- Ts need to not get sucked into the family process (undifferentiated ego mass)
- Ts differentiation from his/her own FOO determines his/her success in resisting the tendency to become emotionally reactive with clients
- In supervision he worked with supervisees to improve their relationships with their FOO
Bowenian FT: Theory of Normal Development and Dysfunction
Highly differentiated individuals v. Poorly differentiated individuals
highly:
- react to the world rationally and enter into relationships while balancing competing needs for belonging and individuality
poorly:
- Ruled by their emotions
- lives center around acceptance and being loved
Bowenian FT: Theory of Normal Development and Dysfunction
solid self v. pseudo-self
solid self:
- more differentiated and functions based on a personally defined set of values, beliefs, and convictions,
pseudo self (externalized self):
- not differentiated and may be fused with someone else
- borrows values from someone else
- makes emotionally reactive choices
Bowenian FT: Theory of Normal Development and Dysfunction
optimal family develop occurs when…
- Family members are relatively differentiated
- anxiety is low
- when the parents are in good emotional contact with their own FOOs
inverse relationship between levels of differentiation in family members and chronic anxiety
Bowenian FT: Theory of Normal Development and Dysfunction
Dysfunction occurs from…
a lack of differentiation
Bowenian FT: Theory of Normal Development and Dysfunction
3 places symptoms can be manifested in the system
- in the marital relationship
- in the health of one of the partners (physical or mental)
- in one of the children
Bowenian FT: Theory of Normal Development and Dysfunction
Differentiation of self: 2 competing needs
belong to the group v. be an individual separate from it
Bowenian FT: Theory of Normal Development and Dysfunction
3 results of people who are emotionally reactive in the face of chronic anxiety
- dependent
- distant
- avoidant
Bowenian FT: Theory of Normal Development and Dysfunction
Differentiated people in relationships
- don’t feel at risk of losing themselves
- enjoy closeness and tolerate the small degree of fusion with partner
- retain the essential self as differentiated from the other
Bowenian FT: Theory of Normal Development and Dysfunction
Undifferentiated people in relationships
- cannot think clearly for themselves and tend to be emotionally reactive
- respond in patterned behaviors learned within their FOO
- objective in relationships is to see love, approval, security and comfort
- emotionally fused with partner and have little energy for other goal-directed activities
- social dysfunction, and physical and emotional symptoms can be result of chronic disruption of the relationship.
Bowenian FT: Theory of Normal Development and Dysfunction
Triangles
- Bowenian concept
- the smallest stable emotional unit in a family
- describes a process by which two people will recruit a third person into the system to mediate the level of conflict or tension between them
- how sibling rivalry starts
Bowenian FT: Theory of Normal Development and Dysfunction
Nuclear Family Emotional Process (Undifferentiated Ego Mass)
- Bowenian concept
- A fused family that is unstable and unable to cop with stress
- characterized by conflict and dysfunction that are transmitted across generations
Bowenian FT: Theory of Normal Development and Dysfunction
Family Projection Process
- Bowen
- the lack of differentiation in parents often result in one of the parents becoming dysfunctional, immature, and fused with one of the children.
- conflict in the parental sub-unit is avoided, but the kid’s emotional growth is sacrificed.
- Symptoms and lack of differentiation is transmitted from parents to children
Bowenian FT: Theory of Normal Development and Dyfunction
Multigenerational Transmission Process
- Bowen
- Process by which roles, patterns, emotional reactivity, and family structure are passed from one generation to another
- Poorly differentiated individuals tend to marry one another, and over several generations, produce offspring who are increasingly less differentiated and as a result suffer from severe mental disorders (including schiz.)
Bowenian FT: Theory of Normal Development and Dysfunction
Sibling position
- Bowen believed that sibling position was one factor that should be considered while understanding a family’s functioning
- birth order tends to exert and influence on the characteristics that children develop
- sib position could determine one’s level of diff.
Bowen: Assessment and Treatment
Basics
- if you differentiate from your FOO all your other relationships will improve
- flexible and creative when determining the unit of treatment
- worked with individuals, couples, nuclear families, multiple generations, multiple families
- this model does NOT require all family members to be present
- BUT family members need to understand how the entire system operates across multiple generations
Bowen: Assessment and treatment
Tools he used
- Education.. taught about function of triangle, coached them to be able to extricate themselves from existing triangles and avoid being pulled into another
- Differentiation of self scale
- Genogram to track triangles and patterns
- Emotional cut off: just triangulates next least diff. person; doesn’t solve issue
- Role of therapist: triangulate into the dyad but remain unreactive to induce a change in the relationship
- Decrease emotional reactivity
- Ask Process Questions
- Person-to-person relationships (daughter who is triangulated meet with each parent separately and not talk to the other about it)
- Coaching (not a solution focused model but a growth model. T teaches clients about family process and coaches them in their efforts to change)
- I Position
- Encourages discussion of facts rather than feelings
Extensions of Bowen’s Model:
Philip Guerin
- 1970s
- Renamed and elaborated on the use of the genogram
- Developed situation-specific techniques… in couple’s therapy he developed the “displacement story” = helps family members gain distance from their problems so they can become self-reflective and less blaming
- Displacement story uses similar situation but in media or a different family
Extensions of Bowen’s Model:
Betty Carter
- Feminist who specializes in treatment with couples
- Believes that issues of gender inequality must be considered and discussed with families
Extensions of Bowen’s Model:
Monica McGoldrick
- Extended Bowneian model to include the role ethnicity plays in families
- Feminist and believes Ts should not remain neutral regarding gender based imbalances in the family and economic disparity
- Vastly increased the awareness of the powerful impact of culture and ethnicity on how families function and on what constitute culturally appropriate therapy
What are Bowen’s 6 interrelated theoretic concepts?
- differentiation of self-scale
- nuclear family emotional system
- family projection process
- multigenerational transmission process
- sibling position profiles
- triangles
Differentiation is facilitated by the development of what kind of relationship?
- person-to-person relationships with as many people in the FOO
Bowen: the 4 parts of a Ts stance and tasks
- T controls the emotional tone in the session, keeping it emotionally alive enough to be meaningful and toned down enough to minimize reactivity. Direct the flow of conversation towards T so the couple does not become emotionally reactive and can objectively hear one another.
- The T maintains a de-triangulated stance with the couple
- The T establishes a differentiated I position with them, opening the way for them to take I positions with each other.
- T teaches them how emotional systems operate and initiates the work of differentiation from their respective FOO
