Importance Of Cognitivevior Therapy And Bowen's Family Systems Theory

Introduction

Assuming the importance of cognitive behavior therapy and Bowen’s family systems theory as two both distinct counseling techniques, and my desire to understand them better, I thought it useful to explore how they differ from each other and how they are similar. In this paper I will be describing the basic theoretic assumptions about the findings of human behavior in which CBT and the family systems theory rest and briefly look at how these assumptions guide the therapist in their approach to symptoms.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a short-term, goal-oriented therapy treatment that takes a hands-on, approach to problem-solving. The core foundation of this treatment approach, as pioneered by Beck (1970) and Ellis (1962),

Murray Bowen that suggests that individuals cannot be understood in isolation from one another, but rather as a part of their family, as the family is an emotional unit. Bowen family systems theory is a theory of human behavior that views the family as an emotional unit and uses systems thinking to describe the complex interactions in the unit. It is the nature of a family that its members are intensely connected emotionally. Often people feel distant or disconnected from their families, but this is more feeling than fact. Families so profoundly affect their member’s thoughts, feelings, and actions that it often seems as if people are living under the same “emotional skin.” People solicit each other’s attention, approval, and support and react to each other’s needs, expectations, and upsets. The connectedness and reactivity make the functioning of family members interdependent. A change in one person’s functioning is predictably followed by reciprocal changes in the functioning of others. Families differ somewhat in the degree of interdependence, but it is always present to some

However, the basic concepts of these theories, associated interventions, and even basic assumptions about dysfunction and the nature of change are quite dissimilar, as are their respective approaches in the therapeutic session. Bowenian therapy, for example, is designed for the long term, with treatment sometimes taking years to successfully complete. A well-known example of such a long-term process is seen in The Family Crucible, wherein two psychologists use many elements of Bowen’s theory in a series of family therapy sessions that lasts for almost two years (Napier & Whitaker,