7 june 2022

We will soon meet in Sörbyn

We will soon meet in Sörbyn!

About a hundred people will gather in northern Sweden to take part in Bowen's theory in all its forms. Participants will be both those who for many years have walked the paths of this new approach and those who will have their first contact with a theory that shifts the focus from the individual to context and system. Its complexity speaks to the long-term impact of the Bowen theory. The range of the presenters below illustrates its breadth and enriching applications.

Monday 16.00 – 16.45
Ann-Christine Haupt
Worked for 38 years at Luleå University of Technology.
In connection with film studies in Inari, Finland and at the Department of Music and Media at Luleå University of Technology, the film "My grandmother and I" was created, it was completed in 1976. The film is still considered a classic in the Sami film world.

Kerstin Sofia Andersson, MBE
Studied Bowen's theory for 4 years at the Georgetown Family Center, Washington D.C., USA.

The conditions for the Sami people and culture, a digital story about Muonio Sami village
With the film "My grandmother and I" we get an insight into a family system from Muonio Sami village in Sweden. Ann-Christine's grandmother left Muonio Sami village but kept her love for the forest Sami. After getting married, her grandmother moved from Muonio Sami village. She never talked about her past but showed her love for the Sami through her craftsmanship and everyday activities. With her film, Ann-Christines shows her love for her and for the forest Sami culture. Finally, Kerstin Sofia shows Ann-Christine's family diagram and tries to follow how her grandmother's strategies affect the emotional context and the generations after her.

Tuesday 13.15 – 13.45
Laura R. Brooks, MSW, LCSWC-C
Private practice of Psychotherapy, more than 30 years, Ellicott City. MD Services include consultations with individuals, couples, and families. Faculty member at Bowen Center for the Study of the Family, Washington, DC.

Family Emotional Process, Epigenetics, and the Emotional System in the Adoptive family
This presentation will explore the relationship between family emotional process and epigenetics in the adoptive family. Family emotional process defines the flow of emotional process or patterns of emotional functioning in the nuclear as well as multi-generational family. Bowen Theory posits that this process is governed by the same laws that govern all living things throughout evolutionary history. Epigenetic research includes cross-fostering studies in the human as well as in other species.

These studies demonstrate the plasticity of gene expression. In non-human species, results have pointed to how a shift in the environment impacts genetic expression in the emotional unit. In the human adoptive family, a natural cross-fostering study of its own, the family emotional process intersects with the birth family emotional process of the adopted child. While the gene expression is affected, the adoptive family emotional process significantly impacts the development and differentiation of the adopted child.

Tuesday 15.25-15.55
Anna-Karin Andersson
Anna-Karin Andersson, is an engineer and also trained in Bowen's systems theory for 4 years at the Bowen Center, Georgetown, Washington DC.
Anna-Karin has more than 35 years of professional experience. Many of these years of having worked as a project manager and process manager in various major construction projects over the years. She has also been a director in various consulting companies with project managers as employees. Since 2010, Anna-Karin runs her own consulting business in these areas.

The complexity of project organizations and how Bowen's system thinking can help understand the processes that take place
From a system perspective, Anna-Karin will show the project organization as an emotional system. Specifically, the complexity of the project organization, which comes primarily from each participant's dual dependency, partly to one’s employer and partly to the project, but also to one’s own family system. She will show how systems thinking can be useful in managing and in participation in project organizations based on how one can relate to this complexity.

Facts:
The Bowen Theory is developed by Dr. Murray Bowen, an American psychiatrist and a professor in psychiatry at Georgetown University. The Systems Theory is developed through practical work with clients during several decades. Dr. Bowen analyzed families, congregations, organizations and societies as emotional units. Instead of the individual perspective, focus was set on how relations are built and changed depending on context and various levels of anxiety. Dr. Bowen begun his research during the 1940’s at the Menninger Clinic, Later he continued at the Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA, where he also founded the Bowen Center for the Study of the Family.

Bowen Center i Washington: thebowencenter.org.