This concept of Bowen's theory describes how patterns, themes and positions (roles) in a triangle are passed down from generation to generation through the projection from parent to child which was described earlier.

The impact will be different for each child depending on the degree of triangling they have with their parents.

Bowen's focus on at least three generations of a family when dealing with a presenting symptom is certainly a trademark of his theory.

The attention to family patterns over time is not just an evaluative tool, but an intervention that helps family members get sufficient distance from their current struggle with symptoms to see how they might change their own part in the transmission of anxiety over the generations.

As Monica McGoldrick (1995: 20) writes in applying Bowenian concepts: By learning about your family and its history and getting to know what made family members tick, how they related, and where they got stuck, you can consider your own role, not simply as victim or reactor to your experiences but as an active player in interactions that repeat themselves.