Intergenerational Family Therapy Case Study

The Andersen family, Bill, Jill, and Riley, are originally from Minnesota and have recently relocated to the San Francisco area due to Bill’s new position at a startup tech company. At first the family was excited about the prospect of moving from Minnesota to California, however they ran into some unforeseeable issues that quickly change their outlook. They were unhappy with their new residence and their household goods were delayed by a week. This coupled with problems at Bill’s new job, created a tense and unpleasant environment for the family. The home situation further impacted Riley, who was already stressed about starting at a new school and not having any friends (Wolsos, 2015).
Key Aspects of the Family Relationship
William “Bill”

It focuses on the multigenerational and intra-familial relationships of the family system. This theory suggests family members are so dependent on one another that they have the ability to profoundly affect each other’s feelings, thoughts, and actions. They appear to be “living under the same “emotional skin” (Kerr, 2000), and need to learn differentiation of self, which is the primary concept of Bowen’s intergenerational family therapy.
It is a deficit-based form of therapy that focuses on what’s wrong with the intergenerational relationship and is aimed at “reversing a hypothesized differentiation process in which fusion in the grandparent generation has resulted in problems in the nuclear family” (Becvar & Becvar, 2013, p. 153). Even thought the overall concept of Bowen’s approach is based on the family as a unit, he believed change occurs when the individual changes. “The process of differentiation starts as a personal, individual process and progresses into the transformation of relationships in the entire family system” (Becvar & Becvar, 2013, p.

Genograms, Encouraging Differentiation of Self, and Process Questions are all interventions the therapist can use to accomplish this.
Genograms
Genograms are a structured way of collecting data about the family that allows them to visual see the various family dynamics and provides them with a new perspective (Becvar & Becvar, 2013). A genogram “identifies not only problematic intergenerational patterns but also alternate ways for relating and handling problems” (Gehart, 2014, p. 237).
Encouraging Differentiation of Self This intervention encourages family members to preserve their individual mood, emotions, and opinions when interrelating with others. They are encouraged to think in terms of “I” rather than “we” or “they” (Gehart, 2014). This method allows each family member to think and learned based off their own ideas and desires rather than those of others.
Process