Case Study: Bowen Family Therapy

Bowen Family Therapy

Introduction

Bowen family therapy is a hypothesis of individual behaviour that sights the family is an expressive unit, which utilizes systems thinking for explaining the emotional connections in the family unit. In a family unit, members are strongly attached emotionally. Sometimes people feel disconnected or distant from their families, but this is more emotion than reality. Family members so intensely affect each other's feelings, thoughts and actions that it usually looks like as if they are living under the same emotional skin.

In this case study, I have discussed the story of 14 years old girl named Samantha who was facing psychological disorder due to the worst conditions of her family relationships. Bowen Therapy is applicable to this case. Bowen therapy can bring changes in the mental condition of Samantha. The therapy suggests such people to separate their feelings from thoughts because people who are flooded with emotions cannot think logically; they always go with their feelings. Undifferentiated people never think their own they always look towards their families to take decisions even to make a perception about people and their experiences.

Discussion

Case

This is the story of a 14 year old girl named Samantha. Her mother is immensely concerned about her. She is getting depressed from a long time, and for that her mother took an appointment from a counsellor to discuss the problems. When she went to the counsellor's office, she started telling him the entire story to analyse the case of her daughter. According to her mother she was her little princess and a blessing to her. She told that her daughter was very sweet, and she cannot subsist without her. She told that her brother is sixteen years old, but he always behaved like a child. He is a wayward guy, who never cares for her mother. He drinks excessively on weekends, and some time will not go to school. When she tries to convince him, he just tells her to be quiet and leave him alone when she tries to get him out of bed he behaves terrible. She told that when he was at the Sammy's age she used to grab him by the feet and pull him out of bed but, now he is too tall. Last time when she attempts it was about 6 months ago. She grabbed his feet, and he kicked her in the stomach real hard, and she fell over the wall and put her elbow through it. She told him that he has to pay to get it fixed, but he just tells her to piss off. When she was telling the entire story, Samantha was looking at her feet and seems to be wholly detached from the dialogue and miles away from the whole conversation.

She further said that his son is an untruthful man. He gets it from his father because he was also a dishonest man who never cares for his family. He was always belligerent. We used to have big fights, saying this ...