ABSTRACT

Bowen (1978) stated that the health of family members is determined by one's level of differentiation of self, or in being able to separate from the family's “undifferentiated family ego mass.” Bowen also encouraged clients to develop one-on-one relationships with individual family members, and to avoid unhealthy family triangles and the emotional flooding that can cloud more rational decision making (Bowen, 1978; Piercy and Sprenkle, 1986).