Leadership
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Volunteer Leadership
Leadership
Victoria Harrison along with Louise Rauseo, was a founding
director of Center for the Study of Natural Systems, incorporated as a
501 c3 non-profit organization in 1998. She now serves as the Current
Director of the Board and develops educational programs in Houston,
Texas. Ms. Harrison is licensed to practice psychotherapy in Texas as a
Marriage and Family Therapist and holds national certification for
biofeedback practice through Biofeedback Certification Institute of
America. She is approved to provide training and supervision in
biofeedback by BCIA and in family systems psychotherapy by Texas AMFT.
Ms. Harrison established Family Health Services, providing
psychotherapy with biofeedback and neurofeedback based upon Bowen
theory, in Houston, Texas in 1991. She began to study with Murray Bowen
at Georgetown University Family Center in 1976 after graduation from
Rice University and from a Master's program at Antioch University. She
continued to study and work at GFC while developing a private practice
and working in community services in Baltimore, Maryland. She was
invited to serve on the faculty of Bowen Center for the Study of the
Family (formerly GFC) in 1992 and commutes between her home and office
in Houston and Washington, DC, where she teaches and directs the
Special Postgraduate Program at BCSF.
The focus for Ms. Harrison's clinical work and research is the
impact of relationships in the family on physiology responsible for
health and reproduction. She works with families who are dealing with
chronic illness such as diabetes, depression, GI diagnoses, among many
others, and with symptoms related to reproduction such as infertility,
ovulatory disturbance, endometriosis, and sexual problems. She also
works with families experiencing marital conflict and infidelity.
Victoria Harrison is available for family health assessment,
education and recommendation as well as for ongoing coaching and
clinical consultation. She teaches on a national and international
basis and is glad to speak about Bowen theory and the study of family
systems in relation to health, sexuality, and reproduction.
E-mail: vaharrison@sbcglobal.net
Phone: 713-790-0226
Louise Rauseo, RN, MS, CS has been a part of educational programs in
Bowen theory in several ways since completing her postgraduate training.
She was first associated with Georgetown Family Center from 1980-1990
as a member of the biofeedback clinical staff. Since 1990, she has been
a member of the clinical faculty. In 1990-1993 she served as coordinator
of the Biofeedback Programs.
Her interest in societal issues and the study of emotional cutoff led
her to move to El Paso, Texas for five years from 1994-1999, where she
studied the challenges of families adapting to immigration and dramatic
social change. She continues to teach in programs at the Bowen Center
(Georgetown Family Center) while also developing programs in El Paso,
Texas and Cd. Juarez, Chihuahua, MX. In 1998 the El Paso programs
became a part of the Center for the Study of Natural Systems and the
Family.
Mrs. Rauseo maintains a practice in family psychotherapy in Annapolis,
MD and at the US/Mexico border. She continues to study, research, and
teach in areas of special interest such as migration and emotional
cutoff, and differentiation and spiritual development.
E-mail: louise@rauseos.net
Rev. Robert Creech, PhD, began to serve on the Board of Directors in
2005 with responsibility for developing and directing Defining Leaders
and other educational programs for clergy. Dr. Creech will continue to
serve on sabbatical status for the coming year as he begins his new
position at Truett Theological Seminary in Waco, Texas. Victoria
Harrison will assume responsibility for an expanding CSNSF Training
Program at CSNSF.
In April 2009 I signed a letter of appointment to serve as Professor of
Christian Ministry and Director of Pastoral Ministries at Baylor
University's George W. Truett Theological Seminary, beginning August 1.
This decision represents a significant change for my life and work. For
the past 22 years I have been serving as the senior pastor
at University Baptist Church in Houston, TX. I accepted this position as
a 34 year old college professor, with lots of ideas about congregational
life and leadership, but little experience. UBC has provided a
"laboratory" for implementing some of those ideas and for revising many
of them. The congregation itself has been gracious in affirming gifts,
collaborating in thinking, responding to my leadership, and sometimes
challenging my ideas. The concepts of Bowen Family Systems Theory have
been tested and tried in my life in this congregational context. The
decision to take on the role at Truett Theological Seminary returns me
to the classroom, taking with me what I have learned in the field. This
move provides an opportunity to contribute to the formation of the next
generation of pastors and church staff leaders from the platform of an
outstanding seminary, now applying principles of Bowen Family System
Theory in an academic context.
One consequence of this change will be a revising of my role with CSNSF, since I will be living several hours away from Houston and will be working with a schedule not quite as flexible as the one I have enjoyed as a pastor. I have for several years served on the CSNSF Board with responsibilities for developing educational programs for clergy, such as Defining Leaders. That particular role will no longer be a viable one for me. For the next year, as I work through this change of contexts and reorganization of life, I will be examining ways in which I can best contribute to CSNSF as a board member in the future. The context at Baylor provides a variety of opportunities on which to focus my attention. Until that is clear, I will remain on the Board in a sabbatical mode. Meanwhile, I will work to connect people in my new setting with the opportunities in Houston and at other centers around the country.
R. Robert Creech
My Blog
R. Robert Creech, Ph.D., has served as the Senior Pastor at the
University Baptist Church in Houston, Texas since 1987. He was formerly
on the faculty of Houston Baptist University and has served as an
adjunct professor in biblical studies and in leadership courses in
masters and doctoral programs for Southwestern Baptist Theological
Seminary (Houston), the Houston Graduate School of Theology, and United
Theological Seminary (Dayton, Ohio). He is the co-author of The Leader's
Journey: Accepting the Call to Personal and Congregational
Transformation (Jossey-Bass, 2000), which applies principals of Bowen
Family Systems Theory to the personal development of congregational
leaders.
Dr. Creech received a B.A. degree from Houston Baptist University in 1974,
an M.Div. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth,
Texas in 1976, and a Ph.D. in New Testament Studies from Baylor
University in 1984. He has participated in clinical conferences and
coaching in Bowen Theory since 1998, and spent a portion of his
sabbatical in 2000 at the Georgetown Family Center. He has recently
joined the Board of CSNSF with responsibility for developing training
opportunities for clergy.
E-mail: rrcreech@swbell.net
Ada Luisa Valdes de Trillo, BA, MA - Ms. Trillo joined the Board of
Directors at CSNSF in 2005. She began her study of Bowen theory through
CSNSF Border Programs in El Paso in 2000 and continued her studies at
Bowen Center for the Study of the Family Special Postgraduate Program in
Washington, DC from 2002 to 2006.
She brings to the board a background teaching Sociology at the El Paso
Community College and working at El Paso Center for Mental and Mental
Retardation Services of El Paso. Ada Luisa Trillo also participated in
various adult education endeavors through Centro de Orientacion para la
Mujer Obrera in Cd. Juarez, Mexico where she was also active in
Asociación Mexicana para la Superacion Integral de la Familia and a
board member of Formacion & Desarrollo Familiar.
Since 2002, Ms. Trillo has initiated and participated in Bowen Family
Education programs in Cd. Juarez and in El Paso. These programs provide
education directly to families in the marginalized areas of the city as
well as to providers who serve these families and their children.
Ada Luisa writes:
"My work with Bowen theory has been very valuable in
helping me through my personal life and helping me become and be the
best person I can be. The lens that Bowen theory offers provides me with
a reference point that helps cut through the trivial to the essential.
It is a framework with which to discover and act on the guiding
principles of my life. I live in a highly anxious environment and
choose to share with people in this community the concepts and
principles that I have found so helpful in my life as a way of giving
back to my community."
The Rev. Dr. Katie Long, editor of Family Systems Forum, is a United
Methodist pastor, currently assigned to a small congregation in an area
of Fort Worth experiencing rapid growth. She has an extensive
background in pastoral care, including seven years of hospital
chaplaincy, and holds a Doctor of Ministry in Pastoral Theology and
Pastoral Counseling from Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian
University. Her master's degree specialization is worship. Previously
she was associate pastor of a congregation of 2200, with a ministry
focused on caring and prayer ministries and pastoral counseling. She
also served as pastor of a congregation in a transitional neighborhood
in Houston, where she led a visioning process and worship growth. She
holds a Bachelor of Journalism from The University of Texas and worked
as a writer and editor before entering ministry.
She is married to Mike Long. Their daughter, Rebecca, and her husband,
Ty Stricklin, have three children, Travis, 3-1/2 years, Maura, nineteen
months, and Clayton, six months, giving her an interest in the function
(and joy) of being a grandparent.
After studying Bowen family systems theory for several years in Houston,
she entered the Special Postgraduate Program at the Bowen Center for the
Study of the Family in 2003 and continues there. She is interested in
the application of Bowen theory in her own family, in pastoral care and
counseling and in congregational leadership. She works extensively with
men and women on their way into ordained ministry. She also reads
widely in history and biography and is interested in understanding
leaders and their families through the lens of Bowen theory.
Dr. Long assumed responsibilities as Editor-in-Chief for Family Systems
Forum in 2004 and continues to engage authors from diverse fields,
organize each issue, and provide editorial services for the authors and
the publication. She will contribute toward clergy training at CSNSF
and be a resource for the development of programs in the Dallas/Fort
Worth region.
Ann Jones, RN, Ph.D. is a fourth generation nurse and received her Ph.D.
in nursing in 1993 from The Ohio State University. As a psychiatric
clinical nurse specialist she taught psychiatric nursing, worked in
inpatient and outpatient psychiatric settings, and was director of a
residential treatment program for pregnant, homeless, chemically
dependent women and their children. Her research focus is on brain
changes in Alzheimer's disease and aging and she has been Principal
Investigator on several studies designed to identify early signs of
dementia in community dwelling elderly and to reduce fall risk among
older populations.
Dr. Jones was first exposed to Bowen Theory in graduate school at
Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. She began the Special
Postgraduate Program at the Bowen Center in 1981 and continued until
1992 when she joined a research group at the Bowen Center for several
years.
Currently, Dr. Jones is a clinical consultant with HealthCare
Perspective, LLC, a healthcare management and information system
company. She has provided HIPAA training sessions to behavioral health
entities across the country and most recently worked in NYC on a
two-year project to design a clinical information system for a large
hospital system.
Work for CSNSF
Through the combination of several useful triangles and 1:1 relationships, Ann began traveling from Ohio to Houston to attend Facts of Life conferences. The quality of the presentations with their strong research focus and the effort that went into the overall conference to keep it fact based while relevant to the human emotional system led her to offer volunteer time and some funding toward the conference. She has also written a short article for Family Systems Forum.
What is important about BT and Houston Programs
I believe that Bowen Theory provides the principles necessary for man to think differently about himself and the world around him. It is important to me that Bowen Theory continues to be tested by clinicians, researchers and thinkers as well as clarified, discussed and refined by all who agree to take on the challenge. Centers like the CSNSF are important for their role in teaching, clarifying and testing theory.
A large part of my interest in the CSNSF has come out of what I perceive to be strong leadership within the organization. Dr. Bowen frequently challenged us to take responsible positions and to act on those positions. That action includes taking leadership positions within our families, our communities and in organizations. It has been my experience that the leadership demonstrated by the CSNSF comes out of a sustained effort to use thinking to guide actions, to establish long term goals and to work hard to attain those goals. Dr. Bowen believed that the theory should be given to the world. The Center embraces Dr. Bowen's goal to give the theory to the world with its many programs, trainings, conferences, writings and efforts to meet the needs of the community. I am excited to be a part of this dynamic group of thinkers and doers.
Martie Damon is a wife and mother of three young adults, and
grandmother of one, who supervises the Enrollment Operations department
at a local university. She began to study Bowen family systems theory
in 2003.
Ms. Damon first volunteered in 2004 to catalogue and index all of
the videotapes and DVDs for the CSNSF Library. She viewed each of the
tapes and created standard titles that are easy to locate on the
shelves. This involved about 100 hours of time. Ms. Damon writes about
this project: Watching the videos of Dr Bowen helped to clarify several
concepts with which I'd been struggling. They're a really helpful
resource for people who are learning about Family Systems Theory and
their own family.
In 2006, Ms. Damon organized the CSNSF Library collection of books
and tapes according to category. This makes it much more accessble for
people to locate the basics in Bowen Theory as well as books related to
many aspects of natural systems and the family.
Ms. Damon also provides refreshments and hospitality for the monthly
Videotape Seminar Series and is the brains behind many innovations, such
as mounting a screen for viewing and organizing improved seating in the
classroom.
Ms. Damon writes about the importance of Bowen family systems
theory:
Bowen family systems theory has changed my thinking about my
relationships with family and coworkers. I don't feel the need to try to
solve everyone's problems. I think they're all grateful!
Elaine Castello is a wife of 40 years, mother of two adults, and
grandmother raising her 11 year old grandson. She began to study Bowen
theory and her own family, first with Dr. Sally Miller, in about 1977
for a couple years, and now through programs at CSNSF.
Ms. Castello writes about the importance of Bowen family systems theory:
"I understand how important it is to learn about ones family and keep
getting information from aunts, uncles and cousins. At some point, I
hope to write a book about my family experiences and the impact that
family history has made in my life."
Ms. Castello volunteers her time and talents in numerous ways. She has
organized and staffed refreshments, registration and sales of materials
at many conferences. She assisted in the move from the medical center
into the new office and classroom at 729 Rutland. She is on call for
administrative projects that benefit from the heads and hands of many
people.
Michael H. Quinn, PhD, ABPP - The Board of Directors is grateful
to Dr. Michael Quinn for his service as Director of the Board of CSNSF
from 2002 until December, 2006. While serving on the board, Dr. Quinn
developed and offered educational programs in Austin, Texas, established
a community advisory committee, and investigated directions for grants
and research funding. He will remain active in clinical practice and
find numerous ways to make contributions through his work with Bowen
family systems theory. We wish him the best with his endeavors.
Dr. Quinn can be reached by e-mail: MHQuinn@aol.com or
phone: 512-482-1998
