Overview

Drawing from rich archival material, this book provides unprecedented access to the professional documents and historical context surrounding the life’s work of Dr. Murray Bowen (1913-1990), medical doctor, psychiatrist, and pioneering researcher of Family Systems Theory. To understand the origins and evolution of this theory, Catherine Rakow explores Bowen’s early years as a psychiatrist at the Menninger Foundation - at which time he became curious about the possibility of determining a factual basis for psychoanalytic theory - and explains how this research would foreground Bowen’s lifelong study of the family unit at the National Institute of Mental Health. From those seminal years of study and observation, Rakow explains how Bowen developed Family Systems Theory: A theory of human functioning that conceives of family as a naturally occurring, regenerating system. Rakow’s close engagement with Bowen’s practice and influences at this time allows for a fulsome account of the research process that Bowen undertook to develop this innovatory approach. In this book, Rakow demonstrates the value of Bowen’s work as a model and research methodology for those exploring the role of theory in improving family relationships, making it essential reading for marriage and family therapists, mental health professionals, students, those interested in the history of medicine, and curious individuals alike.

Full Product Details

9780367461522

Table of Contents

Reviews

Catherine Rakow's present work fills a void on the progress and thinking of Dr. Bowen before his NIMH Family Study Project. Her work is a seminal contribution towards the understanding of Bowen's development of his theory and applications of family psychotherapy. John F. Butler, Rose Street Mental Health Care, Wichita Falls, TX Rakow has cast a broad net, using extensive archival materials to document Bowen's process at arriving at a theory, which is much broader than his 8 concepts. A theory based on factual clinical observations that led to keeping the transference in the family , non-mothering attitude , functions of symptoms. The book will challenge the reader's assumptions and principles of one's life and work. Clarence Boyd, editor, Commitment to Principles, the letters of Murray Bowen, M.D. An important contribution to the foundation of facts of how Bowen theory developed over time and clues for where development can continue. Consistent with Bowen theory, this work does little to tell the reader how or what to think but invites curiosity and provokes theoretical inquiry. Amie Post, Faculty, The Bowen Center for the Study of the Family, Washington DC

Author Information

Catherine M. Rakow is an independent researcher, has spent nearly 30 years reviewing Murray Bowen archival materials at the National Library of Medicine, History of Medicine Division in Bethesda, MD and the Bowen family collection in Williamsburg, VA.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available