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Home > ... > Illustration and Critique > The Theory > Children in Bowen's Therapy

Bowen Family Systems Theory and Practice: Illustration and Critique

Children in Bowen's Therapy

A surprising feature of Bowen's family therapy is his tendency to minimise the involvement of children.

While Bowen might include children in the beginning stage of therapy, he would soon dismiss them, focusing on the adults as the most influential members of a family system (Bowen, 1975 in Bowen, 1978: 298).

Excluding a child from therapy responsibility is viewed as a detriangling manoeuvre.

When parents cannot use the child as a 'triangle person' for issues between them, and the therapist resists taking the replacement role in the triangle, parents can begin differentiating their respective selves from one other.

Therapist Activity

Table of Contents

Family Evaluation

This paper was written by Jenny Brown and was originally published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy (ANZJFT, 1999, Vol.20, No.2, pp 94-103).

The full paper is available as a pdf (221K - 10 pages - 2 columns per page).

Please contact us if you would like a printed copy sent in the post.

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