Category: Blog

[Blog post written by Jenny Brown] With our conference on systems leadership just around the corner I have been thinking lots about the difference between systems leadership in the family and systems leadership at work. In many ways I think they are the same. The leader is one who works on their own differentiation of […]

Excerpt from Walter Howard Smith Jnr PhD’s conference presentation 2011. Edited for this blog by Jenny Brown This excerpt opens up fascinating insights into systems leadership. Dr Smith talks about how he manages himself as Executive Director of a not for profit child and family services organisation with a staff of around 230 people. Many at […]

by Jenny Brown & Linda MacKay “To be more differentiated in the supervisory (or any) relationship it will require an individual to develop and to own their thinking rather borrow it from another.”  It’s been fascinating to review the history of collaborative approaches in family therapy supervision and to position Bowen theory into this spectrum. […]

Blog post by Jenny Brown.  —Murray Bowen MD Our upcoming workshop on a family systems understanding of loss and grief explores the variations in family reactions to death, the factors important to grieving and recovery, family of origin patterns of grieving and understanding the family emotional shock wave. The following excerpt from my book, “Growing […]

Photo by Andrea Schara

Blog post by Jenny Brown What a satisfying experience to read: The Origins of Family Psychotherapy, This book contains the key research papers from the NIMH* project led by Dr Murray Bowen in the latter 1950s. (Edited by Jack Butler PhD) Why, you may well ask, was this high on my summer reading list? Don’t I […]

Another new year has rolled around with disconcerting speed.  I do love this time of year with a break from work and, in our beautiful part of the world, long leisurely summer days.  While listening to the radio during my morning dog walk I got engaged in discussions about the latest New Year resolution diet […]

Here’s a short blog – since that’s all there’s time for at this busy Christmas season. Our team recently shared lots of fascinating recollections of family Christmas and holidays at our end of year get together. There were stories of maggots in Christmas puddings and a range of unique customs.   All good fun and great […]

Reflections on the 50th Bowen Centre Symposium, Arlington – November 2013. By Jenny Brown I have recently returned from Washington DC where I attended and presented at the Bowen Centre’s 50th Symposium. It was a privilege to participate in such a long standing gathering of systems thinkers. The 50th anniversary celebration and some of the […]

By Lily Mailler I have been studying and applying Dr Bowen’s theory for the past 13 years and it took me a while to understand the idea of emotional sensitivity that is so central to the theory. Seeing emotional sensitivity in action in me was a big step in beginning to understand the impact it […]

By Jenny Brown In his family systems theory Dr Murray Bowen talks about the goal of getting more neutral or objective about the people we consult to and their families. This goal also applies to members of a clinician’s/person’s own family.  What does this actually entail? And what is it that makes it so difficult? […]