Delivery date
The theory was developed to explain human behavior. It mainly focuses on the influence of the family unit to the behavior of family members. According to the theory, since family members are related, they have an emotional attachment to each other. The emotional attachment is what influences how different members of the family behave. They tend to influence each other’s feelings, emotions, thoughts and actions. They also support each other, provide needs and wants of the other person, as well as give attention to the other members as they desire or deserve it. Due to this connection and influence they have over each other’s emotion, a change in one person, whether of emotional condition or sickness of one member, can be directly linked to changes in other family members’ behavior. For instance, they give less attention, less support, fail to provide basic needs or wants of the person among other options.
The first time of encountering the patient was at the age of eight years. Mary had been brought to the hospital due to recent changes in behavior. For instance, she had tantrums, failed to obey the parents, poor performance at school among other characteristics. The mother is the person who had brought her to the hospital. Mary was born as a firstborn child in the family of Mr. and Mrs. James. They were a young couple who were recently married. They stayed together with the extended family, which consisted of Mary’s grandmother, grandfather, two aunts and two uncles. She was an only child of her parents, thus everyone was eager to take care of her when she was young.
As she grew older, the family included her in the daily tasks of the house. They taught her how to be responsible. She started by helping the mother, aunts and grandparents with the house chores. She could wash the dishes together with whoever was doing so on each particular day. As the grandmother loved to cook so much, Mary could help her prepare the food. It was one of the things she looked forward to every day. She enjoyed cooking with the grandmother so much that she started developing recipe books on her own to impress her granny. The mother went to work every morning and came back in the evening. The father, grandfather, uncles and aunts also did the same. Therefore, while not at school, Mary was left with her grandmother at home who took care of her till the rest of the family was back in the evening.
The whole family, both nuclear and extended, thus depended on each other. There was a slight difference between Mary’s nuclear family and the extended family. They all enjoyed meals together and come to the house in the evening to share how their day was. However, this situation did not last for a very long. Mary’s parents had some unresolved issue that cropped up in their marital affairs which led to the separation of the two. Mary’s mum thus left home with Mary and together they began a new family on their own. Mary no longer had the grandparents, the uncles, the aunties, nor her father by her side. She only had her mother who demanded obedience from her. She also demanded her to do exactly what she said was to be done. Sometimes, she would be left at their new neighbor’s place or by herself while the mother was away at work and she was not at school. The sudden change simulated changes in the moods, anxiety as well as opposition to Mary.
During the first clinical encounter, Mary’s mother described her as having great mood changes, lots of anxiety, and opposition to her rules. After listening to the family history and the recent changes which the family had undergone, the diagnosis was that Mary was suffering from, oppositional defiant disorder, attention deficit disorder, and mood disorder. She was used to living with her father and other members of her extended family till recently. The changes affected her emotionally, and the mother was too busy at work to provide all the attention she needed and was used to having. The mother also demanded obedience and performance of certain activities Mary was not used to doing. In return, she threw tantrums and opposed her mother’s advice. She was also used to having the whole family with her. The absence of her whole family, thus led to the changes in moods as she relied on them all. She wanted to live with them once more which was not possible due to the parents’ unresolved marital issues. Her mother told her nothing about what happened. She did not even dare to talk about it and thus ignored Mary’s feelings and emotions which were related to the other family members, especially her dad and grandmother.
Bowen’s family system theory consists of eight concepts that help to explain human behavior. They include family projection process, sibling position, triangles, multigenerational transmission process, cutoff, differentiation of self and societal emotional process. . Let’s consider the concept of the triangle from Bowen’s theory. The concept explains that the relationship between people is based on three people. Whenever a two-person dyad experiences anxiety, a third person steps in to complete a triangle and doing so helps deal with the anxiety. However, this only applies when the third person can offer balance and together they can relieve the anxiety.
The concept of triangles applies to the Mary’s case. In this case, Mary’s triangles were many. The first was her relationship with her nuclear family, and it extended to the other extended family members. When the parents parted, the triangle broke, and a two-person dyad resulted. She was confused about her new roles and responsibilities in the new family. The emotional detachment to the other family members also resulted in the disorders she was having. The concept can be used in this case to conclude that the disorders resulted from the breakage of Mary’s family triangles. She depended on them day to day, but since she only depended on the mother now, her emotional problems resulted. Her anxiety also increased as well as higher demand for attention which the mother failed to offer in full.
During the clinical engagement with Mary and her mother, Mary’s mum was advised to consider her role in causing Mary’s disorders. To complete the diagnosis, other family members had to appear for therapy as well. They all played a significant role in Mary’s recovery, thus their necessity during the therapy sessions. Their presence worked very well towards Mary’s full recovery. Helping Mary attains self-differentiation also worked very well. She was able to understand her role as an individual and what she ought to do in such encounters. Confronting the parents directly and telling them what they did wrong was one mistake made in this case. The parents should be left to discover their mistake on their own other than telling them directly. It should also be a step by step process. It was the one thing that didn’t work immediately though it did eventually. It was the one thing that should be done differently.
References
Haefner, J. (2014, October). An Application of Bowen Family Systems Theory. Mental Health Nursing, pp. 835–841.
Kott, K. (2014). Applying Bowen Theory to Work Systems. OD Practitioner: Vol. 46, No. 3, pp. 76-82.
Winek, J. (2009). Bowenian Family Therapy. In J. Winek, First Generaion Models of Marriage and Family Therapy (pp. 81-105).
