Family Evaluation

Family Evaluation by Mike Kerr and Murray Bowen has helped me to understand why I have acted as I have in the past and how I can change by breaking the hold of misguided bonds with my parents and with other people. I used this book for s seminar in Bowen Theory a few years ago. I really learned a lot about how I needed to become who I am and not who my parents and other want me to be. The book and those of Peter Steinke, the late Rabbi Ed Friedman, and Ron Richardson have helped me to keep from becoming enmeshed in parish conflicts in which I didn't need to have a role other than as builder and peacemaker. It also helped me to understand how my family's multigenerational transmission system needed to be changed in my life to help me minister in the 21st Century. If you have trouble with evolution, this theory stands on its own without evolution. It has also led me to pursue a Ph.D. in Education working in adult moral and faith development for leadership. I heartily recommend this book, as empirical studies have borne out much of what Murray Bowen theorized some 40 years ago.

Wonderful explanation of Bowen’s family systems theory, and the background to how this theory developed. I would strongly recommend to anyone wanting to begin the journey of differentiation.

Of all the theories of human behavior and therapy, this one is the closest to Science that I know. The book is based on Bowen's 50+ years of study of individuals and families. In it, he demonstrates a very clear connection between his observations and the vast amount of science he studied to piece together a coherent understanding of how we get to be who we are and how to apply this knowledge to oneself and to our families. Bowen was a genius at exploring the complexities of relationships; Kerr is probably as good or better in explaining the concepts. Together this is "the book" for serious inquiry, and certainly should be required reading for anyone who takes on the title of "Therapist" or "Coach".

Excellent book, purchased for work as requested by our doctors. They wanted to read and also have our clincians and counselors read.

In depth information on Family Systems Theory. I am not a therapist but did learn some things about family systems. This book gives me more insight into how a family is so connected and what happens at lower levels of functioning. It helped me understand, as a mother, why the things I was doing were actually not helpful to my son's addiction problems.

Excellent book and numerous examples of Bowen Family Therapy Systems Therapy which every Mental Health Profession should have in their Library. Specifically, the author Michael E. Kerr was a Psychiatrist at Georgetown who had the opportunity to work with Murray Bowen the founder of this Therapy and one of the giants in the Family Therapy field.Especially like the chapter on Differentiation and how couple can take on various roles and anxiety symptoms .Nestor Mantilla

This is by far one of the best books on Bowen theory. As a devoted Bowen student the best thing he did was team up with Kerr. As Kerr has superior speaking and writing skills in comparrison to Bowen.

Great book and I really enjoy reading it

This book is not a quick and easy read, but I believe that it is giving me inestimably good returns for the necessary investment in time and attention, in terms of understanding how issues have transpired and how difficulties may now be resolved. Here are my reasons:I am a mature intelligent person of good character from a modest stable nuclear family, and yet, despite my good intentions, outcomes for my children have been mixed to the unfortunate extent of neurosis in some cases. “There is a reason for everything” has long been a mantra for me, with the practical and effective corollary that understanding a problem can usually leads to its resolution.Reading Family Evaluation: The role of the family as an emotional unit that governs individual behaviour and development (Michael Kerr, MD Murray Bowen MD (1988) I have finally seen the light. Naturally, I had previously blamed myself and other key players to some degree. However, I now see that none of use should be blaming anybody, however much we may be so inclined, because, without a thorough understanding of the systemic cause and effect of unconscious family dynamics though past and current generations, we do not appreciate how very little we act as individuals, and how very much our circumstances and personal characteristics are a product of our family, especially of our parents and their own inherited family dynamics.The Bowen family systems theory was first developed by Dr Murray Bowen in the 1950's and 1960's. Unlike earlier theories, the Bowen theory is based on scientific methods rather than the earlier (still popular) Psychology of imaginative philosophies, analogies and fashionable thought based upon subjective interpretation of case studies devoid of scientific method. Orthodox psychology has been very much cantered on the individuals, and therapies are generally based on a 'blame' culture.Kerr and Bowen (1988) is not light reading. Indeed, far from it. I have been making slow progress because it is a text for close study and re-reading in order to begin to understand the concepts and the specialized terminology. It also pre-supposes some familiarly of the reader with conventional psychology/psychiatry wisdom (Bowen conducted the bulk of his research with families who had members receiving psychiatric treatment) However, I have found the effort to have been immensely worthwhile thus far.I believe that my other family members would each be capable of reading and understanding the concepts outlined in this book, and, with the help of examples given, could relate this all to their own personal situation and benefit in terms of personal peace and happiness. I believe that this is something that only each person can do for themselves, so I have ordered copies of this book for each family member.

Dieses Buch ist mit seiner klaren Denkweise und verständlichen Formulierungen ein echter "Augenöffner".Es bietet echte Hilfe, sich selbst und seine Handlungsmuster im Kontext der Familie zu verstehen.

Came in faster than when it was suppose to arrive. Amazing quality, brand new.

10年ぶりに月照庵クリニックの勉強会のために，ボーエンを読んだ．日本語訳で問題であったreciprocity を私は「相反補完性」と訳してみた．そうしたら，文脈のつながりがよく，理解が容易になった．