Murray Bowen

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Murray Bowen (born January 31, 1913 , Waverly , Tennessee , † October 9, 1990 in Chevy Chase , Maryland ) was an American psychiatrist , psychotherapist and professor at Georgetown University . Bowen is considered a pioneer of family therapy and one of the founders of systemic therapy . He recognized the importance of family dynamics in the development of psychiatric illnesses early on and researched, among other things, the role of triangular relationships .

Life

Murray Bowen was born in the small town of Waverly , the oldest of five children , and his father was mayor there for some time. He completed his studies in Knoxville and Memphis , received his doctorate in 1937 and did his medical rotation in Crossville (Tennessee) , New York City and Valhalla (NY). After five years of military service, he turned down the Mayo Clinic's offer to specialize in surgery ; his interests had shifted towards psychiatry during the war years .

Bowen went to the prestigious Menninger Foundation in Topeka , Kansas, in 1946 and stayed until 1954. He trained there as a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, and developed his own evolutionary theory of therapy. Bowen accepted a position at the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda , Maryland , where he did research. In 1959 he moved to the Medical Center of Georgetown University , Washington, DC There he took over a clinical professorship and founded the Georgetown Family Center in 1973 , which he chaired until his death. Bowen was a member of the American Psychiatric Association and a founding president of the American Family Therapy Association (AFTA). In 1989 he resigned from AFTA. Bowen had his own practice in Chevy Chase from 1954 and took on teaching positions at other universities, including a. 1956 to 1963 at the University of Maryland and 1964 to 1978 at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond.

From 1968 to 1980, Bowen videotaped his work with two families. These documents are now in the Image and Sound Archives at the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda , Maryland . Twenty video recordings were made between 1980 and 1990, showing and describing most of his approaches.

Murray Bowen remained active and interested in the advancement of family therapy well into old age. He was married with four children and died of lung cancer.

Awards

Fonts

  • 1966, The Use of Family Theory in Clinical Practice .
  • 1974, Toward the Differentiation of Self in One's Family of Origin .
  • 1978, Family Therapy in Clinical Practice , Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson Inc. (further editions 1985, 1990, 1994)

literature

  • Andrea Brandl-Nebehay et al .: Systemic Family Therapy , Vienna 1998, 20–22
  • Roberta M. Gilbert: Extraordinary Relationships: A New Way of Thing About Human Interactions , Minneapolis 1992
  • Paul Gumhalter: Murray Bowen. In: Stumm, Pritz et al .: Personal Lexicon of Psychotherapy. Vienna, New York 2005, 65f
  • Lynn Hoffmann: Basics of Family Therapy , Hamburg 1984 (second edition), 27–31 and 248–253
  • Michael E. Kerr: Evaluation: An Approach Based on Bowen Theory , 4-6

proof

  1. ^ Stumm / Pritz: Personal Lexicon of Psychotherapy , Vienna, New York 2005, 65f
  2. ↑ Curriculum Vitae of Dr. Bowen Washington, DC 1990
  3. ↑ http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/pdf/historypsychiatry.pdf
  4. ↑ A listing of these videotapes is available from Georgetown University Hospital
  5. ↑ Further biography attempts can be found in the following member lists: American Psychiatric Association (from 1950); Directory of Medical Specialists (from 1952); American Men of Medicine (1961); World Who's Who in Science: 1700 BC to 1966 AD (3700 years in one volume) (1966); Personalities of the South (from 1976); and in Who's Who in America (1978).

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Bowen, Murray
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American psychiatrist and family therapist
DATE OF BIRTH January 31, 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH Waverly (Tennessee) , Tennessee
DATE OF DEATH October 9, 1990
Place of death Chevy Chase (Maryland) , Maryland , USA