This is one of four videos of the 2018 BTA conference entitled “The Hidden Life of Families.” In this video Ms. Kathleen Kerr, MSN, MA, CNS, explains how symptoms occur as an outcome of a family emotional process. Her theoretical orientation is Bowen theory, which postulates that the family is an emotional unit; behavioral, emotional and physical symptoms are better understood through the lens of the family emotional process.
According to Ms. Kerr, when the “balance of relationships is disturbed” by a significant event in a family, such as a child leaving home, a loss of an important family member, or a death, symptoms may occur. The disturbance increases anxiety, and chronic anxiety impacts physiology. The person with the symptom is often the family member, who has been overly adaptive to others. The way the family responds to challenging events may either contribute to a further decline in the family functioning or help the family re-stabilize.
Ms. Kerr uses a case example of a three-generation family and highlights some of the facts of functioning, events, and reactions that contribute to physical, emotional, and behavior systems. She highlights patterns of behaviors that proceed the development of a cancer and death, with a focus on the family emotional process.
Bowen theory suggests that symptoms are driven by a disturbance in the balance of the family. This video is an example of how one generation impacts the next, patterns continue, and less responsible decisions contribute to the further decline of the functioning of the system. Although other symptoms are described, the video focuses on the development of cancer from the perspective of Bowen theory. The implication is made that if one person is better able to be less reactive and more thoughtful, it helps stabilize the family unit.
This video will interest those seeking to understand cancer and Bowen theory. Ms. Kerr gives an example in the case study of facts that contribute to anxiety, the way the individual reacts, and the impact on emotional, social and physical responses, which in turn is associated with symptoms. This presentation concludes with a panel discussion and audience discussion that explores the connection with family emotional process, cancer and anxiety from the perspective of Bowen theory.
Bowen theory was developed by psychiatrist Murray Bowen, MD. It is based on research Bowen conducted which involved having family members live on a psychiatric ward with a family member, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Bowen observed that the family worked as an emotional unit, and that the symptom expressed in an individual is reflective of the functioning of the overall relationship system. Bowen describes the family emotional process as important to understanding family relationships, and individual family functioning. He observed the facts of functioning as important to understanding the system.
