LETTERS TO MY FATHER CONFERENCE PROGRAM
A Bowen Family Systems Theory Conference about the Importance of Family Research for Strength and Resilience.
SAVE THE DATE
October 21, 2023, 9 AM – 4 PM
ON-LINE VIA ZOOM
Letters To My Father: A Bowen Family Systems Theory Conference about the Importance of Family Research for Strength and Resilience
Center for the Study of Natural Systems and the Family presents this one-day virtual and in-person conference.
Purpose: CSNSF has designed this program to advance the study of Bowen family systems theory through the exploration of one woman’s effort to learn more about her Jewish ancestry. Kathleen Balgley has recorded her journey in her memoir, “Letters to My Father, Excavating a Jewish Identity in Poland and Belarus”. Bowen theory provides a scientific basis for understanding the benefits of this type of effort while Kathleen presents a multitude of examples of overcoming the challenges involved.
For Whom: Students of Bowen theory with or without advanced training and individuals interested in the benefits of the family of origin research.
Letters to My Father Program
- 9:00 – 9:30 Registration
- 9:30 – 9:45 Welcome: Lorna Hecht Zablow
- 9:45 – 10:15 Bowen Theory and Family Research: Victoria Harrison
- 10:15 – 10:30 Break: Coffee and Refreshments
- 10:30 – 11:30 Lorna Hecht interviews Kathleen Balgley about Her Family of Origin
- (Using a Family Diagram) and Her Family Research
- 11:30 – 12:00 Discussion with Speakers and Audience
- 12:00 – 1:30 Lunch on site
- 1:30 – 2:30 Kathleen Balgley presents Her Family Research Process and Reads Excerpts from Her Book
- 2:30 – 2:45 Break: Coffee and Refreshments
- 2:45 – 3:30 Panel Discussion with Speakers and Audience
- 3:30 – 4:00 Book Signing
Kathleen Balgley, Ph.D. Author
Letters To My Father:
Excavating a Jewish Identity in Poland and Belarus
https://www.kathleenbalgley.com/
Kathleen Balgley earned her Ph.D. in Literature from the University of California, San Diego. During her academic career, she was at different times a Lecturer at UCLA Writing Programs, Associate Director of Writing at UCSD’s Sixth College, and tenured Associate Professor of English at California State University, San Luis Obispo. In 1987 Kathleen won a Fulbright award to teach in Poland, where she lived until 1989.
Lorna Hecht-Zablow MFT
Family Systems Psychotherapist
Lorna Hecht-Zablow MFT earned her master’s degree in Marriage, Family, and Child Counseling from the University of San Diego in 1995, when she started her private practice in San Diego, CA.
Lorna attended the Bowen Center for the Study of the Family in Georgetown, D.C. from 2012 to 2015. She is on the Board and Faculty of CSNSF and a regular contributor to the Family Systems Forum and the CSNSF blog.
Date: Saturday, October 21, 2023
Time: 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM CST
Location: 731 Rutland, Houston, Texas 77007
Registration:
- $200.00: Early Bird Registration before 10/7/2023
- (In-person registration will be limited to the first 30 people)
- $220.00: In person or online after 10/7/2023
- $120.00: Students and Interns
- $25.00: Onsite lunch
- $15.00: Continuing Education Credits for 5 hours
(Contact vaharrison@csnsf.org to request partial Scholarships provided by CSNSF.)
Recommended Resources
Letters to My Father: Excavating a Jewish Identity in Poland and Belarus, by Kathleen Balgley, PhD, 2022 Bashert Press. (Available for purchase at the conference or at Amazon.com)
The Family Diagram and Family Research: An Illustrated Guide to Tools for Working on Differentiation of Self, Victoria Harrison, MA, LMFT, 2018. CSNSF. (Available for purchase at the conference or at CSNSF.org)
(Disability access and assistance will be arranged in advance. Please contact Victoria Harrison at vaharrison@csnsf.org.)
csnsf INVITES YOU TO
STEPS TO TAKE:
- Contact Victoria Harrison vaharrison@csnsf.org to discuss the program or
- Complete Application
- Victoria Harrison will contact you to discuss the program or scholarship
- Send Registration Deposit
BACK TO BASICS: 2023-2024 ONLINE CLINICAL CONSULTATION SERIES ON BOWEN THEORY AND DIFFERENTIATION OF SELF AS THE BASIS FOR THERAPY
CSNSF will offer a monthly 3 hour seminar in a Zoom Room and individual coaching for up to 9 therapists or consultants who aim to strengthen their foundation in Bowen family systems theory. This program is designed for therapists and consultants who have attended the Bowen Center Postgraduate Training Program or a regional training program and who have an active clinical or consultation practice.
Everyone comes to the study and practice of Bowen theory with prior training. Everyone practices in an environment full of competing paradigms. Relationship therapies, attachment theory, psychoanalytic theories, emotion focused therapy, other family therapies, and eclectic approaches are common. Participants can use this seminar to better recognize and address influences over their practice that arise from their own family, the mental health field, society, and the environment.
Therapy and consultation also involve a reciprocal process in which emotional influences operate between people working with each other. Working on differentiation of self in one’s own family is central to working on differentiation in clinical practice and consultation. This program will emphasize the parallel process of working on differentiation of self in one’s own family and with clients in therapy. Participants can observe the difference that family work makes in the functioning of clients and client families.
MONTHLY SEMINAR
Victoria Harrison, MA, LMFT, will organize a monthly presentation and discussion based upon topics that address common challenges in shifting from conventional therapy to principles for practice based in Bowen family systems theory. The differences in therapy practice and process will be described and discussed using curated reading, recordings, and presentations as the springboard for thinking.
The monthly reading will feature Murray Bowen’s original work:
Murray Bowen. Family Therapy in Clinical Practice.
The GAP Report
Commitment to Principles The Letters of Murray Bowen MD
collected and annotated by Clarence Boyd
Making Sense of Human Life, by Catherine Rakow.
The Family Diagram and Family Research: Tools for Differentiation of Self
by Victoria Harrison Murray Bowen teaching and clinical tapes.
Two or three participants will present clinical cases each session, followed by 30 minute discussions. Presentation will include a focus on: What do want to accomplish with this presentation? What challenge does this case represent? What other theoretical approaches are at play? What do you observe about your own reactivity and its origin in your family? Presenters will develop a family diagram or other illustrations for their presentations.
The presentation structure will be based on Bowen Center Postgraduate Program supervision process that Dr. Bowen established. One person will present to the seminar chair, Victoria Harrison, for 25 minutes. Observers will direct comments or questions to the chair who will turn them over to the presenter for comment and continued thinking.
Every presentation will be private and confidential. Registration indicates agreement that you will not talk about presentations outside the seminar itself. Please conceal the identity of the cases you present. Participants are responsible for obtaining signed releases if necessary.
INDIVIDUAL COACHING
The seminar series will also include monthly individual coaching with CSNSF faculty for a focus on ways that emotional reactivity in one’s own family shows up in clinical practice and on ways that one’s work on differentiation of self in the family shows up in clients and client families. Presentation of the therapist’s own family will not be included in the seminar time.
FACULTY:
Victoria Harrison, MA, LMFT will chair Bowen Theory in Clinical Practice Seminar through CSNSF, the educational program she directs in Texas.
Lorna Hecht-Zablow, LMFT will serve as Faculty Clinical Consultant and Coach.
Amie Post, LCSW will serve as Faculty Clinical Consultant and Coach.
September 2023: Orientation to the Family Diagram and Family Research with Clinical presentations by Lorna Hecht and Amie Post
- October and November 2023: Seminar and Individual Coaching
- December 2023: Break
- January 2024 – July 2024:
- Seminar and Individual Coaching Consultation
(Exact dates and times will be determined with participants, given different Time Zones.)
REGISTRATION FEE:
$2500 for 10 monthly seminars and individual coaching sessions. Scholarships or payment plans are available.
CEU’s are available in Social Work, LPC & LMFT.
BEGINNING TO WRITE
STEPS TO TAKE:
- Contact Katie Long at katieflong@ymail.com to discuss the program or
- Complete Application
- Contact Victoria Harrison to discuss a scholarship vaharrison@csnsf.org
- Send Registration Deposit
This online program offers individuals with a background in Bowen theory and experience in working on differentiation of self the opportunity to build confidence in undertaking the work of writing for publication.
CSNSF considers working on differentiation of self to be fundamental to writing based in Bowen theory. Authors must relate to the interests, emotional systems, and thinking of readers, publishers, and other writers in their field. It is necessary to know and respect the best thinking of each. People who can make use of writing to recognize more of their automatic patterns of reacting and relating will find that writing furthers work on differentiation in their family and field.
On September 20, 2023, Dr. Katie Long will address initial skills for framing and beginning a writing project, with time for questions and discussion. Two individual coaching sessions in the month following will encourage new writers to define and overcome the challenges involved in beginning to write. Participants will present and discuss their planned projects in a second two-hour seminar on October 28.
CSNSF faculty are available for coaching in working on differentiation of self in one’s own family. Each of the CSNSF faculty is also active in writing projects. Please speak to Dr. Long for a recommendation.
WHEN:
Saturday, September 30, and Saturday, October 28, 2023
- September 30: 1 PM – 3 PM CST
Presentation and Discussion with Dr. Katie Long - (2) Individual Writing Coaching sessions with Dr. Long
- October 28: 1 PM – 3 PM CST
Participants present projects for discussion
REGISTRATION FEE:
$350 (for two-hour workshop and discussion, two one-hour of individual writing coaching sessions, and final two-hour seminar)
ESSENTIALS OF WRITING BASED IN BOWEN THEORY
This online program is designed for individuals with a background in Bowen theory and experience in working toward differentiation of self who want to dedicate time to develop and continue writing projects for publication.
Three two-hour monthly seminars will include presentations by Dr. Katie Long with ample time for questions and discussion. Participants will focus on:
- developing skills to engage readers and a variety of audiences
- increasing skills in writing clearly, concisely, and effectively
- understanding writing in the context of differentiation of self
- examining resources to support writing and publishing.
Individual writing coaching sessions will be scheduled each month for participants to focus on projects in progress. Applicants are expected to set aside time for writing and refining their work between seminar sessions. The final individual writing coaching session will focus on plans to follow through on projects pursued during this program.
Working on differentiation of self is furthered by using Bowen theory to recognize and overcome challenges involved in writing for publication. Authors must be able to relate to the interests, emotional systems, and thinking of readers, publishers, and other writers in their field while maintaining a consistent theoretical perspective. It is necessary to recognize discrepant ideas as well as one’s own subjectivity in writing.
Knowing, respecting, and referencing the work of others in the field of Bowen theory is essential. It is equally important to know one’s own unique contribution. People who can make use of writing to recognize more of their automatic patterns of reacting and relating will find that writing furthers work on differentiation in their family and field.
STEPS TO TAKE:
- Contact Katie Long at katieflong@ymail.com to discuss the program or
- Complete Application
- Contact Victoria Harrison to discuss a scholarship vaharrison@csnsf.org
- Send Registration Deposit
WHEN:
December 2023 – March 2024
- Teaching Seminars: From 1 – 3 on December 2, 2023, and January 6, and February 10, 2024
- Writer’s Seminar: March 9, 2024
- Individual Monthly Coaching Sessions with Dr. Katie Long
REGISTRATION FEE:
Fee: $600
Scholarships and Payment Plans available upon discussion with Victoria Harrison vaharrison@csnsf.org.
