Bowenian Theory: An Intergenerational Family

Bowenian theory is an intergenerational family systems therapy that views individuals and their accompanying behaviors as belonging to and being a product of one’s family of origin: Both immediate and extended. Titelman posits that a family member’s behavior influences the functionality of the family unit across generations (Titelman, 1998, pp. 9-10). Moreover, Bowen theory seeks to locate specific behavioral patterns within the multigenerational family as a means of identifying and assisting family members understand how their present problems may be rooted in the past. For example, the anxiety a person experiences today and how it is dealt with may be attributed to the coping methods from previous generations.
Many of Bowen’s theoretical constructs can be discerned in Scripture such as the “emotional triangle”, “emotional cutoffs”, “sibling position”, and the “nuclear family emotional process” (Titelman, 1998, p. 13). One example for the above constructs is seen with Adam and Eve and their sons Cain and Abel. Through the parent’s problematic behavior (the Fall) intimate partner conflict surely developed. Furthermore, an emotional triangle among Adam, Eve, and God or among Adam, Eve and Abel may have formed due to Adam and Eve’s disobedience or the favor the Lord found with Abel. For the latter, this most

So for the rest of his days, Cain was cursed to wander the earth contending with not only being cut off from his immediate family, but also struggling with the memory of murdering his own brother. However, Cain did eventually settle down in the land of Nod and even began his own lineage, but surely the emotional cutoff along with his past violent, evil behavior affected him in some way or another. And by extension, if his behavior was never properly addressed then his issues most likely became his family’s issues such as physical fights and verbal arguments and criticism and further