How to Coach Yourself and Others Coaching Families | Page 121

Murray Bowen’s approach operates on the premise that a family can best be understood when it is
analyzed from at least a three-generation perspective, because a predictable pattern of interpersonal
relationships connects the functioning of family members across generations.
According to Bowen, the cause of an individual's problems can be understood only by viewing the role of
the family as an emotional unit. A basic assumption in Bowen family therapy is that unresolved emotional
fusion (or attachment) to one's family must be addressed if one hopes to achieve a mature and unique
personality.

Areas of assessment
Bowen (1966, 1976) identifies eight key concepts as being central to his theory that can be grouped into
four areas of assessment:
1)
2)
3)
4)

Spousal relationships
de-triangulation (triangulation)
differentiation (differentiation of the self, sibling position, emotional cutoff).
emotional systems (the nuclear family emotional system, societal regression, the family projection
process and the multigenerational transmission process, sibling position),

Of these, the major contributions of Bowen's theory are the core concepts of differentiation of the self and
triangulation.
He focused on helping families develop individual identities for each member while maintaining a sense of
closeness and togetherness with their families.

1) Spousal relationships
Bowen paid attention to the spousal relationship and the definition and clarification of the couple's
relationship.
Interrelations emphasized more than components;
system wide ripples ("these cause each other") emphasized more than l