Exploring the interplay of culture, societal process and the Family System
Dr Bowen described the family as an emotional system governed by instinctual, emotional forces at a natural systems level; he viewed these as biological forces, transcending cultural differences and even species.
This workshop explores a Family Systems view of the role of culture in the therapy process. It explores how causal explanations based on culture can get in the way of the resolution of dilemmas clients bring to therapy. It looks at the interplay between family emotional process and the bigger picture societal emotional process, within which culture is embedded. It explores the self of the therapist, through their family emotional process and culture and discusses how this insight or lack of may impact the therapy process. Finally it looks at the process of migration from a systems perspective and reviews the nascent cross-cultural research on the differentiation of self construct.
PROGRAM:
A Family Systems view of symptoms
- The family as an emotional system
- The forces of separateness and togetherness
- Understanding anxiety systemically. Chronic and acute anxiety.
- The concept of fusion
- Differentiation of self
- Emotional cut off
- Societal regression
A Family Systems view of culture
- Culture and societal emotional process,.
- Variation in the expression of Tog/Sep forces across cultures, ex: Collectivist vs Individualistic cultures.
- Cultural prescriptions as anxiety binders.
- Culture as the “Garb” of the societal emotional process.
- Interaction between culture and the individual’s emotional system.
The role of the therapist
- Defining self in the emotional process of one’s family and observing the forces.
- Identifying our own culture’s “Garb”, chronic anxiety and anxiety binders.
- Observing and reflecting on the interaction between our family’s emotional process and our culture’s emotional process.
Implications for therapy
- Linear /causal explanations of culture versus a Bowen family systems view.
- Managing emotional reactions in the therapist in the face of clients’ anxious system.
Cross cultural research findings on the “Differentiation of Self” construct. Dr Elizabeth Skowron’s research.
Click here for Cost & to Register Online for this Training
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