Volume 6 Number 4 — Summer 2022
July 22, 2022 — On Zoom

When CHAOS Comes to Town — Making Sense of Family Life in Challenging Times

Presenter — Amie Post, MA, LCMFT
Program Description

A quick scan of the newspaper headlines tells us that the last few years have been ‘unprecedented’ and ‘remarkable’, presenting change and uncertainty that is increasingly complex and challenging. The impacts are profound for parents in families with adolescents and young adult children. Some families are experiencing collapse and crisis like never before while others are managing. Often our attention as parents and our focus as clinicians is to help parents understand their children and become better helpers for their children. Bowen theory invites a new way of thinking that shifts the focus from others to managing self. This conference will explore how family members are making sense of these big questions: “how can I respond to this mess in a responsible way?”, “what is the help that is helpful?” and “what does family leadership look like for me?” This presentation will report on what has been learned from families across many contexts and explore how Bowen theory provides a way to think about family functioning.

Amie Post is currently serving as the Executive/Clinical Director at the Family Crisis Center of Baltimore County, Maryland, whose efforts work to interrupt patterns of conflict and violence, develop capacity in families and help all move forward more effectively. Additionally, Amie maintains a private clinical practice in Towson, MD and is a Clinical Associate at the Bowen Center for the Study of the Family in Washington, DC.

Amie has been a student of Bowen Family Systems Theory since 2001 when she was a master’s student in Marriage and Family Therapy at Seton Hill University. She has completed four years of study at the Postgraduate Training Program of the Bowen Center for the Study of the Family and served as a Clinical Intern there. Amie is on the faculty and serves as a member of the Board at the Bowen Center.
CFC Post-graduate Training Program — Online
September 9, 2022 to June 2, 2023
Application Deadline — August 1, 2022
Included in the unique features of CFC’s Post-graduate Training Program in Bowen theory is the opportunity to attend monthly classes on-line, as well as three national conferences offered by CFC every year. One of the featured speakers at this year’s Midwest Symposium on Bowen theory and Therapy was Daniel V. Papero, PhD. Ethan Strauss, LCSW-C, second year trainee, prepared a review of that presentation for The Systems Thinker, CFC’s blog. (See below)
“The Composition of the Family System and Adaptive Success”
A review of the presentation by Daniel V. Papero, PhD at the 39th Midwest Symposium on May 6th, 2022, prepared by Ethan Strauss, LCSW-C

This presentation by Dr. Dan Papero focused primarily on how concepts related to adaptive success or failure apply to the family system. Dr. Papero observes that the human family faces similar pressures to adapt to changes in the environment as all living things do. One way that helps me to think about this concept is to relate it to the functioning of ant colonies that are discussed in Chapter 12 of “The Family Emotional System”, edited by Robert J. Noone and Daniel V. Papero. The ant colonies clearly do not function as a collection of individuals working toward a common goal, but more as a single organism with each individual as more of an appendage. The human family faces similar pressures from the environment, which require a response from the system if it is going to survive and thrive. 
Dr. Papero discussed the concept of Dynamic Flow, which is the idea that organisms are constantly moving between being more or less successful in their adaptiveness…to read more

Ethan Strauss, LCSW-C
Post-Graduate Training Program Goals

  • Clinical theory—to understand how the 8 concepts of Bowen theory work together to provide a comprehensive view of the family system
  • Clinical consultation—to learn how Bowen theory is implemented in practice through presentation of case studies by trainees and live consultations by faculty
  • Natural systems theory—to keep pace with the growing body of scientific knowledge about natural systems
  • Family of origin consultation—to study one’s own family and the part one plays in it with consultation from a Bowen family therapist

CEU’s: 78 per year

Tuition: $2000 per year

Application Fee: $50

Deadline: August 1, 2022

For further information go to the CFC website or email Sydney Reed, MSW

CFC faculty out and about:
Presentations Summer 2022
Robert Noone, PhD, is presenting at the Western Pennsylvania Family Center's Symposium on Friday, June 10, 2022. The conference will be on Zoom and the title of Dr. Noone’s presentation is: "Anxiety, Physiology, and Human Behavior".
CFC Faculty at the 3rd International Conference on Bowen Theory, Sorbyn, Sweden.

Robert Noone, PhD, is presenting "Family and Differentiation of Self: An Evolutionary Perspective" on June 14th.
John Bell, MDiv, is presenting “The Emotional Interplay between Families and Communities” on June 15th, 2022.
CFC Faculty at Evangelical Lutheran Natural Systems Academy (ELCA)
Stephanie Ferrera, MSW, is presenting on June 22nd, on "The Evolving Relationship between Humans and Earth."
Leslie Ann Fox, MA, is presenting at the June 22nd, on “Differentiation of Self and Organizational Leadership: Everyone Plays a Part”.

CFC Faculty in Print - Discount extended!
by Robert J. Noone, published by Rowman and Littlefield, 2021.

Family psychiatrist and researcher Murray Bowen’s effort to contribute to a science of human behavior led to the famous Family Study Project at NIMH and the later development of a formal theory of the family and its clinical application. Later known as Bowen theory, it represented a radical departure from the individualistic paradigm predominant in psychiatry. Following Bowen’s mode, this book examines the interplay between the individual and the family in shaping the differential capacity to effectively adapt to life’s many challenges.

Note: The publisher is offering a 30% discount using the this code: LXFANDF30, or call 1-800-462-6420.


What is CFC faculty reading and viewing this summer?
Leslie Fox recommends “A Conversation with Dr. Michael Kerr”, a video interview by Erik Thompson, Director of the Vermont Center for Family Studies. In this one-hour interview, Mr. Thompson, covered a range of topics with Dr. Kerr, from the early years working with Dr. Bowen, as a resident learning to use the theory in his own family and in doing therapy with patients; and then as a colleague researching Bowen family systems theory to understand the connections of family and disease processes such as cancer, to his most recent work with systems biology and Bowen theory.
Lisa Friedstein recommends the drama series on Netflix, “Maid”, which is based on the true story of author Stephanie Land, Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive. This compelling and important story highlights the reality of people who live off of low-paid service work. “I wanted the book to be more about domestic violence and, and kind of the estrangement from family and then making it to college,” Land said in an exclusive interview with TODAY.
Leslie Fox recommends Downton Abbey: A New Era, which opened in theaters on May 20, 2022. It is a continuation of the popular series Downton Abbey that ran for 6 seasons 2010 to 2015 and is available for free on Peacock. It is a multigenerational story of an aristocratic British Family, involving both the family and their live-in staff at the family estate. The series covers their lives from world War I through now to this latest film in the early 1930s. It abounds throughout in triangles, conflicts, cutoffs, togetherness and over time it is interesting to see the process of maturation evolve in some and not so much in others.
Stephanie Ferrera is looking forward to reading Making Sense of Human Life: Murray Bowen’s Determined Effort Toward Family Systems Theory by Catherine Rakow. It will be available in paperback at a discount from Routledge, on July 29, 2022. Amie Post, a reviewer of the book, and faculty at the Bowen Center for The Study of Family, Washington, DC, writes “this book is an important contribution to the foundation of facts of how Bowen theory developed over time and clues for where development can continue. Consistent with Bowen theory, this work does little to tell the reader how or what to think but invites curiosity and provokes theoretical inquiry.”

Upcoming - Online Course Beginning in September
CFC's Annual Conferences
for Summer and Fall, 2022


Summer Conference
July 22, 2022

Guest Presenter: Amie Post, MA, LCMFT
Amie Post is Executive Director, Family Crisis Center of Baltimore County, Inc. and Faculty, Bowen Center for the Study of Family

Friday, July 22, 2022
9:00 AM to 4:00 PM CST

Fall Conference
October 28, 2022

Guest Presenter: Daniel V. Papero, PhD
Dr. Papero is Faculty at the Bowen Center
for the Study of Family in Washington, DC.
He is the author of the book, Bowen Family Systems Theory
and co-editor of the book Family Emotional System


CFC News published quarterly by Center for Family Consultation

"The goal...is to rise up out of the emotional togetherness that binds us all."
Murray Bowen, M.D.