Registration for Educational Events and Programs

Educational programs are approved for Continuing Education Credits for LPC, LMFT, and Social Work. Please request CEU Certification with registration.

Monthly Monday Series

Live Webcast Seminar Series on

Bowen Theory & Applications with Michael Kerr, MD

Dr. Michael Kerr is the current Director of Bowen Center for the Study of the Family, the organization that Murray Bowen established at Georgetown University Medical School for the study of family systems. He is widely recognized as one of the foremost teachers in the field and author of Family Evaluation, a classic text in Bowen family systems theory.

One morning a month, CSNSF will bring Michael Kerr to Houston via webcast. His lectures will feature Bowen family systems theory and the difference it makes in practice. Dr. Kerr's command of theory and his work in mental health and medicine have broad and practical applications in the family of man. Those who are beginning to study their own family will find that these lectures accelerate learning. Those whose study of Bowen theory is well underway will find that the thinking addresses common challenges and inspires one's own applications in life and work.

Participants in Houston will join individuals throughout the world for the one and ½ hour webcast presentation and discussion with Dr. Kerr. Internet connection will permit interaction between the audience in Houston and the speaker in Washington, DC. Victoria Harrison will chair a followup discussion. Family Evaluation is suggested reading for those who attend. You can purchase the book from CSNSF or order through the Bowen Theory Resource Store online. This meeting will be open to professionals and family members interested in how to use Bowen theory to think about problems in the family and in society. Victoria Harrison will serve as discussion chair.

Location: CSNSF Classroom at 729 Rutland in the Houston Heights.

Time and Dates for 2010-2011:   
    Monday 9/20/10: 1:00-2:30PM                                     Monday  2/14/11:  1:00 - 2:30 PM
    Monday 10/18/10: 1:00-2:30PM                                   Monday  3/14/11:  1:00 - 2:30 PM
    Monday 11/15/10: 1:00-2:30PM                                   Monday  4/18/11:  1:00 - 2:30 PM
    Monday 12/13/10: 1:00 - 2:30 PM                                Monday  5/16/11:   1:00 - 2:30 PM
    Monday   1/17/11:  1:00 - 2:30 PM                               Monday  6/13/11:   1:00 - 2:30 PM

Fees and Registration: $50 for each session or $450 advance payment for the series. Attendance is limited to the first 10 registrants. CEU's will be available in Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy, and LPC upon request.

For further information or to register, please contact Victoria Harrison at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 713-790-0226.

The Bowen Center will begin to webcast this and other significant programs long held in Washington, DC to Bowen theory based programs throughout the country. For information about other locations where these conferences will be available, please contact Mrs. Kathleen Kerr at 202-965-0730 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Case Conference Seminar

Bowen theory provides a framework for understanding families and organizations as natural systems with factors that impact health and functioning in predictable ways. This seminar provides an opportunity for therapists, counselors, pastors, consultants and teachers who are learning and using Bowen theory to present clinical cases, organizational work, and research, teaching, or writing projects for the benefit of systems thinking. The seminar will maintain professional confidentiality.
Recommended Readings from Family Therapy in Clinical Practice by Murray Bowen and from the natural sciences will provide anchors for natural systems thinking about families, organizations, and society and guiding principles for applications of theory in a variety of ways. Victoria Harrison will chair the seminar as well as present her own work and research.

Location: CSNSF Classroom at 729 Rutland

Time and Dates for 2010 - 2011: Each seminar will begin at 3pm following the Kerr Webcast Series and be held for 2 or 3 hours, depending upon how many people are registered and sign up to present. The dates will be:  

• Monday 9/20/10                               Monday  12/13/10                                 Monday   3/14/11                            Monday    6/13/11
• Monday 10/18/10                             Monday   1/17/11                                  Monday   4/18/11
• Monday 11/15/10                             Monday    2/14/11                                 Monday   5/16/11

Fees and Registration: $50 for each session or $450 advance payment for the series. Attendance is limited to the 8 registrants. CEU's will be available in Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy, and LPC upon request. CSNSF does not decline registration because of financial limitations. Individuals who are motivated to attend are requested to discuss what they can afford to pay with Victoria Harrsion.
For further information, please contact Victoria Harrison at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or  713-790-0226.

Video Conference Series: Societies, Families & Planet Earth:

                                        Exploring the Connections

Videotapes from a conference held by Bowen Center for the Study of the Family and Georgetown University Department of Sociology in 2009 bring presentations by internationally recognized scientists from a range of disciplines and leaders in the study of Bowen theory discuss how human societies organize themselves, utilize resources, and interact with the natural enviroment.  Challenges in the connections between the human and the earth will be examined.   

This seminar is designed for individuals who are learning and using Bowen theory to bring about changes in themselves and in their family as well as for professionals who want to better understand the family.  Supplementary reading by each of the presenters will be available at the CSNSF Library or can be purchased through the Bowen Theory Resource Store. Please see more details under Programs for Family Members.  Victoria Harrison will chair discussion.

9/20:     Bowen Theory's Concept of Societal Emotional Process:  Michael Kerr, MD
              Human Subsistence Systems: Family Households as Emotional & Economic Units:  Joanne Bowen, PhD

10/18:  Influence of the Physical Environment on the Development of Peoples and Societies in the MIddle East:  Daniel Hillel, PhD
             The Interconnectivity of Humans and Non-Humans in the Health of Water:  Alice Outwater, MS

11/15:  Are There Basic Characteristics of Social Groups Exposed to Prolonged Environmental Stress:  Laurie Lassiter, PhD, MSW
             Evolution of Kin Groups in Non-Human Primates:  Lynne A. Isbell, PhD
 
12/13:  The Contributions of Jack Calhoun to Understanding Threats & Challenges to Living in Groups:  Daniel V. Papero, PhD
             Riding the Tiger of Climate Change:  Arctic People Experience & Interpret Their Changing Environment:  Igor Krupnik, PhD

1/17/11: The Nature of Migration:  Louise Rauseo, MS, RN
                Status of Relationships Among Past Adversaries in Northern Ireland Ethnic Conflicts:  Robert Mulvihill, PhD

2/14/11:  Did Marbury vs. Madison or Bush v. Gore Make the Iraq War Possible?: The Functioning of Separation of Powers Triangles:  Edward Beal, MD
                Variation Among Nations in the Management of Threatened Fisheries:  Randall Frost, MDiv

3/14/11:  TBA
4/ 18/11: TBA
5/16/11:  TBA

Each session will be held from 6:30 – 8:30 pm on the same Monday as the previous two programs.  It is possible to register and attend one or all of the preceeding meetings. 

Light refreshments will be served. CEUs will be provided for each session in Social Work, LMFT, and LPC.

Fees: $50 for each session or $450 for the series
CSNSF does not decline to register anyone for educational programs because of financial limitations. Individuals are welcome to discuss what they can afford to pay with Victoria Harrison.

Writing Based in Bowen Theory with Dr. Katie Long, DMin  FULL

This two day workshop is designed for up to 12 individuals who want to work on a writing project with the instruction and coaching of a professional editor.  Dr. Katie Long, DMin, a professional journalist and editor before becoming a Methodist minister,  is Editor-in-Chief of Family Systems Forum. Dr. Long completed 5 years in the Bowen Center Postgraduate Program after several years of study in Houston.  Participants can expect to make progress on a project as well as leave with a plan for continued writing as a part of life. 

Dates:  Thursday and Friday, October 7 & 8, 2010
Place:  Camp Allen Conference Center 
             18800 FM 362  Navasota, TX  77868
1 hour from Houston   Transportation by Shuttle from Houston Intercontinental Airport
Fees:  $250 for the two day program
Lodging: $115 per night (All food included) for a single
                   $80 per night for a double (All food included)
Contact Victoria Harrison at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 713-790-0226 with question or to register. 

Advanced Study Seminar in Bowen Family Systems Theory with Daniel V. Papero, PhD    FULL

The Advanced Study Seminar will meet three times a year from 8am to 5pm for a day of presentations by participants. This is an opportunity for individuals who continue their study of Bowen theory to present work underway on research, writing, projects, and other applications beyond their own family. Attendance will be limited to eight people so that each person will have almost an hour for presentation and discussion at each session.

Dr. Dan Papero, senior faculty at Bowen Center for the Study of the Family, will chair the seminar at CSNSF. Dr. Papero brings many years of experience as a resource for individuals who are motivated to learn and use Bowen theory in their own teaching, writing, research and projects. He is author of Bowen Family Systems Theory as well as many articles in popular and professional publications.

Location: CSNSF Classroom at 729 Rutland

Dates and Times: From 8am to 5pm on Saturday, October 9, 2010, February 19, 2010 and June 18, 2011.

Fee: $900.00 for all three seminar sessions. Please accompany registration with a deposit of $200.
Registration will be limited to 8 participants. CSNSF does not decline registration because of financial limitations. Individuals who are motivated to attend are requested to discuss what they can afford to pay with Victoria Harrison.

Registration to attend requires advance discussion with Victoria Harrison at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or  713-790-0226. When the Advanced Study Seminar is filled, a list of interested applicants will be maintained and notified when space is available for attendance.

Individual Conferences Or Coaching

Individual conferences or coaching are central for anyone who wants to use Bowen theory to understand and address unresolved problems in the family or at work in organizations. The focus on understanding emotional process in one's own family and life provides the basis for seeing self as part of the emotional system and for differentiation of self as the basis for change. Work on differentiation of self is the cornerstone for applying family systems theory in psychotherapy, ministry, medicine or other professions.

Individual Conferences or coaching meetings are scheduled monthly either in the office or by phone.

Special Events and Programs

Center for the Study of Natural Systems and the Family organizes special events and coordinates programs with other organizations and institutions in Houston and Texas. These programs advance CSNS&F efforts to introduce people to the wide range of applications of Bowen theory and the study of family systems and to serve as a resource for program development and community service.

Past programs include:

• John Mathias, MD organized a section on Bowen Theory, Family Systems and Stress for Endometriosis: 2001, a major conference that includes speakers whose research is vital for understanding and treating this disease. Michael Kerr, MD, Director of The Bowen Center will present on Family Systems and Health. Michael Lumpkin, PhD, Chair of Physiology at Georgetown University Medical School and lecturer at The Bowen Center, will discuss Stress Reactivity and Symptom Development and Victoria Harrison, MA, Director of CSNS&F will present on Relationships and Self-Regulation: The Bowen theory. This conference will be held on September 28 and 29th, 2001.
• The Impact of Relationships over Generations in Human and Primate Families which was organized by Louise Rauseo and cosponsored by University of Texas in El Paso
• The Forum, a series of seminars on Bowen Theory and Organizations, organized by Kathleen Wiseman and held in Austin, Texas.

Please contact Victoria Harrison at 713-790-0226 to discuss development of programs or coordination of programs in Bowen theory and the study of family systems.