Personal Counseling Philosophy
My Counseling Experience
My counseling experience began in Russia. I have been working in a private practice with diverse populations of clients and running psychological training groups related to emotion regulation and interpersonal communication. Additionally, I have obtained further counseling coursework and experience in the U.S. during my doctoral program, including advanced family counseling. I have also completed intensive training in crisis counseling through the Alachua County Crisis Center and have obtained a certificate as a crisis phone counselor. I plan to participate in training related to domestic violence and become an advocate for domestic violence. As a counselor educator and as an emerging leader, I have a goal to promote awareness about family violence and engage counselors in appropriate training activities. This goal is supported by my counseling approach focused on Bowen’s family systems theory.
Goals of Bowen’s Theory
Murrey Bowen stated that the development of self occurs through relationships with other members of the family system (Bowen, 1974). This connection helps us to survive and satisfy our motivation of affiliation. However, sometimes family connections develop in an unhealthy way, hindering personality development through comparing our thoughts and emotions with parental opinions. Additionally, Bowen (1974) proposed that emotional and cognitive systems govern our life choices. He aimed to show that the decisions we make should be based on thinking, rather than feeling. Furthermore, Bowen’s approach focused on improving the intergenerational transmission process (Gilbert, 2006).
Emotional Field
The family is an emotional field. The term “field” indicates the complexity of emotional stimuli transmitted and perceived by family members at different levels of interaction (Varga, Chamitova, 2005). Two opposite forces govern emotional system: (a) the desire for compatibility, in maximum – to merge with others emotionally, to be enmeshed, and (b) the desire for individuality with complete isolation. A man who lives under the laws of the emotional system is seen as impulsive and reactive, while the one whose life is governed more by the cognitive system is rational and non-reactive. This relates to eight essential concepts of Bowen Theory (Gilbert, 2006): (a) nuclear family emotional system; (b) the differentiation of self scale; (c) triangles; (d) cutoff; (e) family projection process; (f) multigenerational transmission process, (g) sibling position, and (h) societal emotional processes.
When working with clients in Bowenian Theory, I aim at achieving specific goals, such as: (a) raising the level of emotional awareness, (b) increasing the amount of functional behavior based on critical thinking, (c) decreasing emotional reactivity, and (d) developing coping skills repertoire. I obtain an extensive family history from the client’s perspective by interviewing the client. Another intervention I would rely on would be a family genogram, which is created in collaboration with a client. The genogram highlights names, occupations, dates of birth, and dates and issues related to the anxiety and other relevant issues in the family. My way of raising awareness towards emotion reactivity is through emotion observation. The client would be asked to observe her emotional experiences in a particular sequence, which would be related to the components of the emotional reaction. Finally, I firmly believe in psychoeducation, and emotion coaching that is aimed at developing emotion regulation skills, which would help my client to decrease emotional reactivity and increase the amount of functional behavior based on critical thinking. Finally, I often encourage my clients to explore emotional cut-offs and develop strategies to re-establish communication with particular family member.
References
Baker, C., Varga, A.Y. (2008) Murrey Bowen family systems theory. Main concepts, methods and clinical practice. Moscow: Cogito Center, ISBN 978-5-89353-243-2
Brennstuhl, M. J., Tarquinio, C., Strub, L., Montel, S., Rydberg, J. A., & Kapoula, Z. (2013). Benefits of immediate EMDR vs. Eclectic therapy intervention for victims of physical violence and accidents at the workplace: A pilot study. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 34(6), 425-34. doi:10.3109/01612840.2012.759633
Bowen, M. (1974). Toward the differentiation of self in one’s family of origin. Family therapy in clinical practice (reprint ed.), Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield (published 2004), pp. 529–547, ISBN 0-87668-761-3
Gilbert, R.M. (2006). The eight concepts of Bowen theory. Washington: Bowen Center. ISBN-13: 978-0976345510
Harris, Russ. ACT Made Simple: An Easy-To-Read Primer on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (The New Harbinger Made Simple Series) (Kindle Locations 243-244). New Harbinger Publications. Kindle Edition
Knudson-Martin, C. (1994). The female voice: Applications to Bowen’s family systems theory. Journal of Marital & Family Therapy, 20, 35-46. doi:10.1111/j.1752-0606.1994.tb01009.x
Luepnitz, D., 1988. The Family interpreted: psychoanalysis, feminism and family therapy, NY, Basic Books
Varga, A.Y., Chamitova, I. (2005) Bowen’s theory of family systems. Journal of Practical Psychology and Psychoanalysis. 4, 25-35
Young, P. (1991). Families with Adolescents. In F. Herz Brown, Reweaving The Family Tapestry, NY, Norton
