ABSTRACT

Because the emphasis in family therapy is on the spoken rather than the written word, one finds few references pertaining to the use of letters between family members. It is noteworthy that when Bowen (1978) set out to "detriangle" himself from his parents, he initiated the process by a series of letters to other family members. Bowen's experience has been described as a major milestone in the history of family therapy and has been compared to Freud's self-analysis in that his exploration of his own feelings and relationships contributed to a conceptual leap. Although Bowen's letters were merely a vehicle whereby his theory of human change and growth was implemented, I would contend that one could pay more attention to how letters can be used. In a previous paper (Sloman & Pipitone, 1991), my co-author and I discussed how family therapists can bring about positive changes by having clients write letters to other family members, and I will expand on the topic here.