The Prairie Center for Family Studies

     Victoria Harrison, a close associate of Dr. Bowen, current Director of the Board of the Center for the Study of Natural Systems and the Family in Houston TX and a faculty member at the Georgetown Family Center, described Dr. Bowen’s influence and contribution to the science of human behavior:(Visit Victoria Harrison’s CSNSF  http://www.csnsf.org/bowen.htm

     “Bowen theory is not a theory about pathology, but about the interaction of variables that produce variation in human functioning. Instead of reducing the explanation of physical illness, for example, to one cause and the effect, natural systems theory outlines related variables to predict individual variation in health. Any symptoms, be they physical, psychiatric, behavioral, social or societal, are studied within the same broad theoretical framework. Both biology and behavior are considered under the influence of the same variables and symptoms and stability are the outcome of those variables.”

     Dr. Bowen spent his life developing and testing his theory. He began by combining repeated clinical observations with reading extensively in biology, the study of evolution, and all the natural sciences. In his own words: "Family Systems Theory contains no ideas that have not been part of the human experience through the centuries. The task of the theorist is to find the minimal number of congruent pieces from the total bank of human knowledge that fit together to tell a simple story about the nature of man, or whatever other phenomenon he attempts to describe."  He made a disciplined effort to "select consistent theoretical concepts that might some day conceptualize emotional illness as a product of that part of man he shares with lower forms of life."(FTCP,1978)

    "Murray Bowen was a scholar, researcher, clinician, teacher, and writer. He worked tirelessly toward a science of human behavior, one that viewed man as a part of all life. He was very active in professional organizations, always wanting to contribute in any way he could, usually trying to remind himself that there was only so much he could do. He has been credited as being one of those rare human beings who had a genuinely new idea. He had the courage to go against the psychiatric and societal mainstream, to stand up for what he believed about human behavior. Thanks to his efforts the world has been rewarded with a new theory of human behavior, one with the potential to replace Freudian theory with a radically new method of psychotherapy based on the new theory. " (The Bowen Center For The Study of The Family, www.thebowencenter.org

The National Network of Bowen Theory Training Programs                    

The Prairie Center is one of 13 Bowen Theory Network Training Programs across the nation. Each stives to provide education and training in Bowen theory consistent with the theory's basic concepts and principles. 

• The Bowen Center for The Study of The Family, Washington DC, Michael E. Kerr, M.D., Director
• The Kansas City Center for Family and Organizational Systems, Kansas City MO, Margaret Otto, Director
• El Paso Border Programs, El Paso TX, Louise Rauseo, Director
• Center for the Study of Natural Systems and The Family, Houston TX, Victoria Harrison, Dir.
• Northern California Programs in Bowen Theory, Sonoma, CA, Laura havstad, Director
• Southern California Training In Bowen Theory, San Diego CA, Carolyn Jacobs, Director
• Princeton Family Center, Princeton NJ, Selden Illick, Faculty 
• The Florida Network, Eileen Gotliebb Director
• New England Family Center, MASS, Peter Titleman
• The Center for The Family, Evanston, IL Robert Noone Faculty
• Vermont Familly Center, Burlington VT, Mercy Russell Hyde, Faculty
• Living Systems, Vancouver, CAN, Randall Frost, Director
• Western Pennsylvania Family Center, Jim Smith Director
• The Prairie Center for Family Studies, Tamara J. Hawk, MSW, Director...YOU ARE HERE