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The role of the therapist is to connect with a family without becoming emotionally reactive.
Emphasis is given to the therapist maintaining a 'differentiated' stance. This means that the therapist is not drawn into an over responsible / under responsible reciprocity in attempts to be helpful. A therapist position of calm and interested investigation is important, so that the family begins to learn about itself as an emotional system.
Bowen instructs therapists to move out of a healing or helping position, where families passively wait for a cure, 'to getting the family into position to accept responsibility for its own change' (Bowen, 1971 in Bowen, 1978: 246).
Bowen warns of the problems of therapists losing sight of their part in the system of interactions, where they may be inducted into a mediating role in a triangle with the family. Hence there is a high priority given to understanding and making changes within the therapist's own family of origin.
In training, the emphasis is on the trainees' level of differentiation, and not on therapeutic technique. The therapist's resolution of family of origin issues is reflected in the:
...ability to be in emotional contact with a difficult, emotionally charged problem and not feel compelled to preach about what others should do, not rush in to fix the problem and not pretend to be detached by emotionally insulating oneself (Kerr and Bowen, 1988: 108). |
