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Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy pp 1–8Cite as

Bowen Family Systems Therapy with Couples

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Bowen Couple Therapy is more about the nature of being human than about couples or couple therapy. Murray Bowen conceptualized the couple and the family as an emotional unit and the family members were part of that unit and not just autonomous psychological individuals. Furthermore, there is the assumption that each family member is a product of evolution and that their behavior is regulated by the same processes that regulate behavior in all living systems. He based his theory on observable facts rather than on subjective experiences and feelings.

Bowen proposed that any change in the emotional functioning of each family member affects everyone in the system. The emotional functioning of every person impacts the occurrence of health problems or psychological issues in every other member. Feelings move from individual to individual by means of predictable and patterned emotional reactions such as distance, conflict, over functioning, underfunctioning, or triangling.

Bowen did not limit...

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Recommended Reading

  • Brown, J. (2012). Growing yourself up: How to bring your best to all of life’s relationships. Wollombi: Exisle Publishing Pty Ltd.

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  • Gilbert, R. M. (1992). Extraordinary relationships: A new way of thinking about human interactions. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kerr, M. E., & Bowen, M. (1988). Family evaluation: An approach based on Bowen theory. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

    Google Scholar 

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. California School of Professional Psychology, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Susan Regas

  2. Community Memorial Health Systems, Ventura, CA, USA

    Ronda Doonan

Authors
  1. Susan Regas
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  2. Ronda Doonan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Susan Regas .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Family Institute at Northwestern, Evanston, Illinois, USA

    Jay Lebow

  2. The Family Institute at Northwestern, Evanston, Illinois, USA

    Anthony Chambers

  3. The Family Institute at Northwestern, Evanston, Illinois, USA

    Douglas C. Breunlin

Section Editor information

  1. California School of Professional Psychology, Alliant International University, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Molly Gasbarrini Ph.D.

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© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

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Regas, S., Doonan, R. (2017). Bowen Family Systems Therapy with Couples. In: Lebow, J., Chambers, A., Breunlin, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_360-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_360-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-15877-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-15877-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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