bowen therapy melbourne- natural approach

Bowen Theory and Therapy

Bowen is a remedial body technique that is extremely gentle and relaxing. It empowers the body's own healing resources to achieve balance and

harmony.

The Breadth of a Bowenian Perspective

● Bowen theory is not about families, but about life.

● Bowen emphasized that humans have more in common "with other forms of protoplasm … and that traditional social science to emphasize differences have … increased our denial about what really makes us tick" (p. 135).

● The human animal is part of evolutionary emotional processes.

A Perspective of Universals● Bowen theory emphasizes universal continua rather

than discrete categories (i.e., nature/nurture, male/female, patient/therapist).

● Bowen theory embraces aspects of multiple social and behavioral sciences.

● The family is the unit of observation and treatment. Multigenerational forces can create symptoms at one of three locations:

● the marital relationship;● the health of one of the marital partners;● children.

● Implications of a "universal" perspective:● diminishes the importance of becoming an

"expert" in specific symptomatologies;● there are cross-cultural universal experiences.

The Emotional Being of the Therapist

● Differentiation of therapist is emphasized: "Bowen has consistently maintained that it is hard for the patient to mature beyond the maturity level of the therapist, no matter how good his or her technique" (p. 138).

● Capacity to apply Bowenian theory is a function of the therapist's own differentiation.

● "Maintaining a non-anxious presence … is connected to the being of the therapist, not to his or her know-how" (p. 138).

● Bowen and Kerr (1981) have suggested that learning Bowenian theory requires an emotional chance that is only possible by apprenticing with someone who is a "master" or a disciple of a "master".

Concepts in Bowen Theory

● Four Seminal Constructs● Differentiation● Emotional System● Multigenerational Transmission● Emotional Triangle

● These major constructs are interdependent.

Chronic Anxiety

● Anxiety is natural. It is an emotional and physical reactivity.

● Chronic anxiety is an "exaggeration of a basic rhythm of life: the instinctual, nonthinking response necessary of wilderness survival as well as the habits required for playing a sport" (p. 140).

● Anxiety is transmitted by families cumulatively and idiosyncratically.

● Chronic anxiety is considered to be the primary promoter of all symptoms.

Differentiation● A "lifelong process of striving to keep one's being

in balance through the reciprocal external and internal processes of definition and self-regulation" (p. 140).

● This refers to a process rather than a goal that can ever be achieved. It is a direction in life.

● Differentiation is not synonymous with● individuation,● autonomy,● independence.

● Differentiation includes a connectedness to others.● Differentiation is concerned with strength not

pathology.

Emotional System● Emotional system refers to any group of people

(or collection of animals, for that matter) that have developed emotional interdependencies.

● The group has an organized structure.● Family emotional system includes

● the members thoughts, feelings, emotions, fantasies, associations, and past connections (individual as well as group connections);

● the members physical makeup, genetic heritage, and current metabolic state;

● each individual sibling position and parents' sibling positions;

● the emotional history of the system itself.

Multigenerational Transmission● This does not simply refer to the influence of the

past. It is the "presence" of the past.● Nature and degree of intensity of emotional

responses are passed down from generation to generation.

● The distinction between generations is a false dichotomy because all generations are part of a continuous natural process.

● Family of origin work does not emphasize identifying relatives or even patterns of interactions. Rather, it is the process of connecting and re-connecting with the natural processes that go back generations.

● Self-differentiation is the process of getting in touch with intergenerational processes, to know them, to experience them, and to be emotionally affected by them.

Emotional Triangle(a/k/a "triangle")

● An emotional triangle is more complex than a triad.

● This refers to any three parts of an emotional system.

● It can include either three individuals or two individuals and an issue.

● Rules that govern emotional processes:● One person cannot change the relationship between

two others or between another person and her or his habit.

● The more you try to relationship of another, the more likely it is that you will reinforce the aspects of the relationship that you want to change.

Emotional Triangle(cont.)

● Clinical Implications:● If a clinician is recruited into a triangle

with a couple and is able to refrain from overfunctioning or emotionally reactive, the clinician can help facilitate change that would not be possible if the two had the same conversation alone.

● A clinician inducted into a triangle is likely to experience the stress of the couple. This is positional and should be expected.

● Clinical focus is on phenomenology rather than interpretation of other's motivation.

Bowen Therapy● Objectivity

● Objectivity does not refer to an intellectual/cerebral process. It is an emotional phenomenon.

● This refers to a clear headedness that is a prodict of differentiation.

● All procedures to maintain objectivity (differentiation) will help promote change.

● Procedures to foster an objective state:– mischievous, paradoxical responses;– avoiding interpretations;– diagramming;– telling (disguised) stories about other clients as projective

techniques;– make clear one's own positions;– ask questions (this is considered the major "intervention" in

Bowenian therapy).

Bowen Therapy(cont.)

● Proximity and Protoplasm● Lack of differentiation can be destructive.● Major problem of families: not to get them closer but

enable them to be clearer about where they end and others in their life begin.

● Therapeutic goal: encourage self-differentiation of individual members.

● Healing is a Self-Regenerative Phenomenon● A Natural Systems View of Pathology

● Inability to differentiate self from others causes problems.

● Inability to regulate self prevents maturity.● Problems that persist continue because others tolerate

them.


● A Natural Systems View of Healing● Health is natural.● Therapeutic processes:

– reduce chronic anxiety than inhibits healing by being a well-differentiated, nonanxious presence;

– stimulate the clients own resources.


● Therapy Process:● Longevity in therapeutic contact promotes deeper

involvement with multigenerational processes.– Change is not equated with symptom relief or feeling better but

with an increase in differentiation level of the family.– Frequency of sessions is less important than time in therapy

(over time, clients may have longer time between sessions). Increased time between sessions may reduce dependency.

● Time frame for evaluating change:– Bowen suggested that it takes four years to help a family so that

multigenerational patterns will not automatically continue to the next generation -- an four years is not a guarantee.

– Two criteria for evaluating fundamental change in a family:– Change associated with one's own family of origin that also

influences the nuclear family is likely to be "fundamental" change.– Change associated with adapting to a symptom or symptom

bearer is unlikely to last.

For More Information About Bowen Therapy Melbourne, Visit:

http://www.naturalapproach.com.au/

bowen therapy melbourne- natural approach

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