Family Systems Theory Vs Transgenerational Model

Family therapy has been around since the early 20th century, formal development dates to the 1940s and early 1950s when the American Association of Marriage Counselors and other institutions began their work with couples and families. Just as in individual therapy, family therapy has a vast amount of theorist whom have developed models to be used in settings where fellow professionals can understand and help families looking to attend therapy as a unit. Two of those family therapy models are the transgenerational models, specifically family systems theory and the structural model. First, we will discuss the transgenerational models before discussing the structural model.
The transgenerational models offer an analysis of current family problems by looking at the …show more content…
2017). Bowen started his work by exploring the dynamic of families with schizophrenic children. Bowen interest in relationships amongst family members and his belief that family was the primary source of emotions led to the development of the family systems theory. The family systems theory consists of eight interlocking concepts which are: (1) differentiation of self, (2) triangles, (3) nuclear family emotional systems, (4) family protection process, (5) emotional cutoff, (6) multigenerational transmission process, (7) sibling position, (8) societal regression. According to Bowen, chronic anxiety is what holds these eight concepts together. Chronic anxiety is quite prevalent in life; however, the anxiety manifests itself differently within different families and the intensity levels also vary. As explained by Bowen, chronic anxiety can be inherited from past generations and can greatly affect an individual. The effects of chronic anxiety on an individual can be explained by reviewing the family’s status, e.g. family togetherness or individual