Bringing Systems Thinking to Life: Expanding the Horizons for Bowen Family Systems Theory

by Bregman; Ona Cohn

• ISBN13: 9780415800471
• ISBN10: 0415800471
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2010-10-19
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

In a single volume, Bringing Systems Thinking to Life: Expanding the Horizons for Bowen Family Systems Theory presents the extraordinary diversity and breadth of Bowen theory applications that address human functioning in various relationship systems across a broad spectrum of professions, disciplines, cultures, and nations. Providing three chapters of never-before-published material by Dr. Bowen, the book also demonstrates the transcendent nature and versatility of Bowen theory-based social assessment and its extension into fields of study and practice far beyond the original psychiatric context in which it was first formulated including social work, psychology, nursing, education, literary studies, pastoral care and counseling, sociology, business and management, leadership studies, distance learning, ecological science, and evolutionary biology - and providing ample evidence that Bowen theory has joined that elite class of theories that have enjoyed broad application to social phenomena while lending credibility to the claim that Bowen theory is one of the previous and current centuries' most significant social-behavioral theories. More than a 'œresource manual' for Bowen theory enthusiasts, this book helps put a new great theory on the intellectual landscape.

Author Biography

Ona Cohn Bregman, MSS, is a retired associate professor of social work at Syracuse University. She served as Chair of the School of Social Work's Family Mental Health Concentration from 1991 to 1998, and served on the board of the Syracuse Family Center from 1991 to 2001. She continues a small clinical and supervisory practice in semi-retirement. Charles M. White, MSW, is currently a social work field liaison with Rutgers University's School of Social Work (New Brunswick and Newark, NJ) and a doctoral student at Rutgers University's Graduate School-New Brunswick. He also maintains a Bowen theory-based psychotherapy, supervision, consultation, and training practice in Westfield, NJ.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. xiii
Preface	p. xv
Acknowledgments	p. xxiii
Editors	p. xxix
Contributors	p. xxxi
Theoretical Considerations in Learning Systems Thinking and Bowen Theory	p. 1
Observing Emotional Functioning in Human Relationship Systems: Lessons From Murray Bowen's Writings	p. 3
Various Theoretical Points People Miss: A Training Session by Dr. Murray Bowen at the Minnesota Institute of Family Dynamics	p. 31
An Obstacle to "Hearing" Bowen Theory	p. 61
Responsibility for Self	p. 67
Live Learning: Differentiation of Self as the Basis for Learning	p. 75
A Systems View of the Training Program at the Bowen Center: Guiding Principles (1990-2003)	p. 89
Managing Self in Emotional Fields When Presenting Bowen Theory	p. 103
Established Domains for Systems Thinking and Bowen Theory	p. 115
Learners Without Teachers: The Simultaneous Learning About Self-Functioning and Bowen Theory by Supervisor, Staff, Interns, and Clients in an Outpatient Program	p. 117
Clarifying Principles for Investing in Self	p. 137
Can Undergraduates Learn Bowen Theory?	p. 147
Incorporating Bowen Theory Into an Undergraduate Social Work Curriculum: An Exercise in the Responsible Management of Self	p. 159
Bowen Theory in Undergraduate and Graduate Nursing Education	p. 173
Thinking Systems in Pastoral Training	p. 187
Across the Generations: The Training of Clergy and Congregations	p. 197
How Bowen Theory Can Be Useful to People in the Workplace: A Conversation Between
Bringing Bowen Theory to Family Business	p. 219
Bowen Theory and the Chain Reaction of Bad Leadership and Good Leadership	p. 229
Introducing Bowen Theory to Business Leaders	p. 239
Misunderstandings From the Family Field: Selected Segments by Dr. Murray Bowen at the Minnesota Institute of Family Dynamics	p. 249
New Horizons for Systems Thinking and Bowen Theory	p. 259
Integrating Bowen Theory With Academic Research, Teaching, and Service	p. 261
The Critical Reader as Scientist: Approaching Literature From the Perspective of Bowen Theory	p. 273
A Supervision Model Based in Bowen Theory and Language	p. 281
Introducing Adolescents to Systems Thinking: Learning to See the Self as Part of a System	p. 293
Bowen Theory in Russia: A Training Program for Russian Psychologists	p. 307
Restless Bedfellows: Taking Bowen Theory Into a Child-Focused Adolescent Treatment Unit in Australia	p. 319
Learning Bowen Theory From a Distance	p. 329
Bowen Theory and Zulu Understanding of Family	p. 335
Building Bridges to the Natural Sciences: Field Research on Harvester Ants	p. 347
Social Behavior in Nonhuman Animals: A Behavioral Model of Proximate Mechanisms Based on Bowen Theory	p. 357
A Science of Human Behavior for the Future: Selected Segments by Dr. Murray Bowen at the Minnesota Institute of Family Dynamics	p. 369
Appendix: Bowen Theory Training Centers and Contributor Organizations	p. 377
Index	p. 381
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