Thoughts on Murray Bowen and Family Systems Theory
Firstly, I’ll explain a little bit about Murray Bowen and who he was. Murray Bowen was a psychiatrist by training; he was born in 1913 and died in 1990. Thinkers during Bowen’s era are considered very influential to the field of many sciences and social sciences because of their work on systems theory.
What is systems theory? Systems theory is based on cellular research during the 1950s. What do we know about cells? There are parts to each cell and each part of the cell plays a valuable function (think of 10th grade biology…the mitochondria is the “powerhouse” of the cell). Moreover, if something happens inside the cell, there is another reaction, and sometimes, there is even an opposite reaction. Systems or cells will always try to maintain the status quo, a state called homeostasis. It might sound like I am describing a family. That’s because the three ideas are very much related. Bowen took these ideas from systems theory and combined them with a systemic understanding of families, which he called family systems theory. Because of Bowen’s ideas related to family systems theory, he is considered to be the grandfather of family therapy.
How might this actually look in real life? A simplification of this theory might be a family dealing with alcoholism. We will name the parent struggling with alcoholism, parent #1. There is the spouse who is maybe preoccupied with the loved one’s addiction, who we will call parent #2. Maybe, the child is bearing the brunt of parent #1’s erratic behavior. Bowen would say, like a cell, everyone has a role to play in terms of the upkeep of the addiction. Perhaps, people are consciously or unconsciously invested in some level in terms of keeping parent #1 sick. This can be beneficial sometimes because then family members don’t have to examine their own patterns or problems. This describes homeostasis being maintained. Family members will often resist changes because change is scary, which again this describes homeostasis. If parent #1 decides to pursue sobriety, there will be reverberations felt throughout the family in various ways. So, to think systemically as Bowen encouraged, allows therapists and families to understand their patterns and ways of functioning.
About a year ago, I stumbled upon this quote by Murray Bowen, and I found myself deeply moved. It reads:
“There are those that might say, ‘life dealt you a hand of cards, and you ain’t gonna get no more. And it all depends on how you play it.’ I’ve worked on a theory that would say…there is a way to beat nature’s card game…to beat the dealer…if you know enough about the system. You don’t have to be the pawn of the system.”
What is Bowen really saying? Why is this so meaningful? He’s essentially saying that if you study and understand the familial pattern enough, you can overcome it. He’s saying that anything is possible. Even the most dysfunctional, maladaptive pattern can be overcome with a little bit of knowledge and hard work. We can draw on the wise words and shrewd thinking of our forebearers to gain inspiration as it relates to therapeutic work. How comforting to know that the grandfather of our profession took such a person-centered, empathetic, strengths-based, and empowered stance.
