Coaching
It is one thing to read about family systems or watch videos about it. It’s quite another to start trying it in your own life! I’ve found that having a coach for this work makes a huge difference. Several faculty members at the Bowen Center for the Study of the Family offer coaching.
Many more can be found through the world-wide Bowen program network
Youtube
A wealth of material is available through the Bowen Center’s youtube channel. https://www.youtube.com/user/TheBowenCenter/playlists
In February 2024, I did a Thursday night lecture on The Writing Process and Defining a Self
What made me write my book - a two minute version of what I was thinking!
Books
A sampling of family systems books published in the last fifteen years or so.
Growing Yourself Up Jenny Brown tackles the problem each of us is looking at. https://www.amazon.com/Growing-Yourself-Up-bring-relationships/dp/1921497971
Family Systems and Congregational Life Robert Creech uses family systems thinking in biblical interpretation and guidance for daily life. https://www.amazon.com/Family-Systems-Congregational-Robert-Creech/dp/1540961575
The Family Diagram and Family Research: An illustrated guide to working on differentiation of self in one’s family Victoria Harrison covers the family diagram and much more. https://www.csnsf.org/bowen-theory/bowen-theory-resource-store/
Bowen Family Secrets Michael Kerr offers a review of the theory, the science, and fascinating case studies. https://www.amazon.com/Bowen-Theorys-Secrets-Revealing-Families/dp/0393708128
Family and Self: Bowen Theory and the Shaping of Adaptive Capacity Robert Noone discusses family systems processes in light of recent findings in the biological sciences. https://www.amazon.com/Family-Self-Shaping-Adaptive-Capacity/dp/1793628149
Becoming Your Best: A self-help guide for thinking people. Ronald Richardson unpacks character and emotional maturity from a family systems view. https://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Your-Best-Self-Help-Thinking/dp/0806680520
Everything Isn’t Terrible: Conquer your insecurities, interrupt your anxiety, and finally calm down Kathleen Smith tackles anxiety in today’s world with a family systems lens. https://www.amazon.com/Everything-Isnt-Terrible-Insecurities-Interrupt/dp/0316492531
Family Thoughts: Studies of the function of beliefs within the family unit. Robert Williamson uses case studies to understand the impact of beliefs on a family’s life over the generations. https://www.amazon.com/Family-Thoughts-Robert-Williamson/dp/1312499141