Bowen/Intergenerational

Question 1

Theorists of Intergenerational/Bowen:

Answer 1

1. Bowen
2. Fogarty
3. Guerin

Question 2

Major Concepts of Intergenerational/Bowen:

Answer 2

1. Chronic Anxiety
2. Emotional System
3. Family Projection Process
4. Nuclear Family Emotional System
5. Sibling Position
6. Societal Regression

Question 3

Theory of Dysfunction in Intergenerational/Bowen:

Answer 3

Symptoms develop when the level of anxiety exceeds the system’s ability to handle it.

Lack of differentiation results in marital conflict, dysfunction in a spouse, or symptoms of dysfunction in one or more children

Question 4

Theory of Change in Intergenerational/Bowen:

Answer 4

Lowering anxiety and increasing self-focus – the ability to see one’s role in interpersonal processes, distinguish between thoughts and feelings of self and others

=

Better ability to direct one’s life and solve problems

Question 5

Stages of Therapy in Intergenerational/Bowen:

Answer 5

1. Emphasis on the extended family, presence of entire family not required.
2. Creation of a genogram through questioning designed to tease out patterns of relationships.
3. Reduce anxiety levels and increase differentiation.
4. Open currently closed communication, and resolve triangles in the extended family.

Question 6

Stance of Therapist in Intergenerational/Bowen:

Answer 6

1. Neutral and objective teacher
2. Coach (not telling people what to do but helping people figure out their role in family problems; growth model over solving problems)

Question 7

Methods/Techniques in Intergenerational/Bowen:

Answer 7

1. Focus on process not content (what’s going on inside and between people).
2. Genogram, extensive history taking
3. “I” position
4. Detriangulate
5. Create therapy triangle
6. Relationship experiment

Therapy is often long-term, includes trips home to FOO especially during times of upheaval when the family will be more open to change

Question 8

Diagnosis/Assessment in Intergenerational/Bowen:

Answer 8

1. Extensive self-report data on family history
2. Level of differentiation of family members
3. Degree of cut-off
4. Level of family anxiety and emotional reactivity
5. Triangles
6. Differentiation of Self Scale (0-100)

Question 9

What are the characteristics of high differentiation? (Bowen)

Answer 9

1. Balance thinking and feeling, show restraint and resist the pull of emotional impulses.
2. Tend to be autonomous, stating “I” beliefs in the midst of “we” demands
3. Can tolerate natural small degree of fusion in relationships while retaining essential self as differentiated
4. Person-to-person interactions absent of triangulation

Question 10

What are the characteristics of low differentiation? (Bowen)

Answer 10

1. Cannot think clearly for themselves and emotionally reactive.
2. Lack autonomous identity and tend to parrot the views they have heard
3. In relationships, their objective is to seek love, approval, security and comfort, and they tend to be fused with the other person while having little energy for other goal-directed activities

Question 11

What are the characteristics of triangles? (Bowen normal development)

Answer 11

1. Smallest unit of family system, homeostasis
2. Form out of the anxiety caused by two-person system, to stabilize relationship must bring in an outsider (triggered by least-differentiated partner)
3. Sibling rivalry is an outgrowth of triangular family structure
4. Triangles lessen anxiety but do not solve the basic problem (predictable patterns over time)
5. Can cross generational boundaries

Question 12

What is the Nuclear Family Emotional Process? (Bowen, normal AND dysfunctional development)

Answer 12

Families evolve their own specific organization and develop a set of rules and patterns that are stable over time.

Dysfunction:
Undifferentiated individuals tend to cut themselves off emotionally and sometimes geographically from FOO (undifferentiated ego mass)

Question 13

What is Family Projection Process? (Bowen)

Answer 13

Undifferentiated parents transmit their immaturity to their children through fusion/distance.

Usually one child is selected to be triangulated to reduce anxiety at the cost of the child’s differentiation.

Ex. Distant husband causes anxious wife to overly fuse with child

Question 14

What is Multigenerational Transmission Process? (Bowen)

Answer 14

Part of Family Projection Process.

Continuous natural process where emotional responses are passed down between generations, tending to move towards a lower level of differentiation with each generation until unresolved emotional attachments and fusion are successfully resolved.

Ex. Most fused child tends to marry someone that also lacks differentiation and may cut off from FOO.

Question 15

Describe the importance of sibling position in Bowen:

Answer 15

Birth order tends to influence the characteristics that children develop and thus impact their level of differentiation

First= identify with power authority
Later= identify with the oppressed, question the status quo, and more open to experience

Question 16

Primary goal of Intergenerational/Bowen:

Answer 16

Differentiation of self for individual family members, regardless of modality (i.e. not all members need to be present to enact change as long as there is an understanding of how the entire system operates)

When the triangular emotional pattern is modified in a family and members remain in emotional contact with the rest of the family, other triangles will automatically change in reaction to the first.

Question 17

Describe characteristics of Emotional Cut-Off (Bowen)

Answer 17

1. May decrease anxiety but does not resolve fusion
2. Likely to be replicated elsewhere (note genogram)
3. Least differentiated are most susceptible
4. Role of therapist is key (must be differentiated) to traingulate between dyads in therapy and induce change by reducing anxiety

Question 18

What is the use of process questions in Bowen?

Answer 18

1. Decrease emotional reactivity by increasing understanding of part each person plays in maintaining a problem.
2. Slow down, diminish anxiety (ex. talk to therapist instead of each other)
3. Optimal balance of energy between emotion and understanding

Question 19

Describe the “I” position technique used by Bowen:

Answer 19

1. Therapist coaches clients to make statements that promote differentiation; take ownership of thoughts and feelings.
2. Method for therapist to stay de-triangulated by avoiding taking sides
3. Direct way to break cycles of emotional reactivity

Question 20

Philip Guerin is known for:

Answer 20

1. Extending Bowenian therapy
2. Renamed genogram
3. Developed displacement story (gain emotional distance from problems by discussing others or films with similar issues)

Question 21

Monica McGoldrick is known for:

Answer 21

1. Extendend Bowenian model to include the role of ethnicity in families
2. Feminist believed therapist should not remain neutral regarding gender-based imbalances and economic disparities

Question 22

Benefits of genogram (Bowen):

Answer 22

1. In the language of the family
2. Reduce emotional reactivity by focusing on past patterns
3. Diagnostic and treatment tool

Question 23

Differentiation of Self Scale (Bowen)

Answer 23

1. Measures basic self - beliefs and convictions held by a person (higher differentiation = more basic self, lower differentiation = psuedo-self)
2. Highlight awareness of difference between what one thinks and feels
3. Stable and accurate

Question 24

What is the Nuclear Family Emotional System?

Answer 24

BOWEN

1. Describe all systems with triangular patterns
2. Undifferentiation and fusion tend to be expressed in (1) marital conflict, (2) dysfunction of a spouse, or (3) projection onto one or more children
3. Pseudo-selves may merge into a common self where one partner can have a higher level of functioning (avoids conflict, permits closeness)

Question 25

What is the purpose of a relationship experiment in Bowen therapy?

Answer 25

After process questions help clients see it is not just what other people do but how we respond that perpetuates problems, these experiments are designed to try something different from the usually emotional response. Resist being driven by emotions.