This book serves as a highly readable and easily accessible gateway to the Bowen family systems theory. Once our basic needs are met, relationships are the most important factors in determining quality of life. At work, productivity and efficiency depend on relationships. At home, relationships with your spouse, children, and friends are key to success and happiness.
The Bowen Family Systems Theory is a theory put forward by Dr. Murray Bowen in the late 1960s. Dr. Bowen’s theory was based on the idea that human beings function as one emotional unit and it is easier to understand them and the issues that they are dealing with when they are viewed within the context of their family ties and relationships.
The foundation of Dr. Bowen’s theory is formed with eight interlocking principles.
- Triangles
- Differentiation of self
- Nuclear family emotional system
- Family projection process
- Multigenerational transmission process
- Emotional cut-off
- Sibling position
- Societal emotional process
If you are looking for a new way to address old patterns in relationships and you want to explore the role of self in your family, you may want to take a look at this book and gain some insight about how developing yourself could further develop your relationships.