ABSTRACT
The daughter in the first family, the A family, arrived on November 1, 1954. Mother arrived two days later. Bowen marked the start of family psychotherapy with this admission. The second mother and daughter, the B family, entered the project three weeks later, on November 23, 1955. The C family joined in January 1955. Mother B lived on the ward while the other two mothers lived close by and were to visit daily.
These were mothers with daughters diagnosed with schizophrenia. Bowen selected multiple sibling positions in these families. This chapter summarizes their history, circumstances and behaviors on the ward as observed by staff for each month, from November to February.
The hypothesis and treatment plan in place still resembled the family effort at Menninger, except for the greater involvement of the mothers and the 24-hour observations. Staff observations of the shifting attachments during mother–daughter disruptions and fathers’ visits were the essence of theory building. Bowen’s first documented inklings of initiating a change toward a hypothesis that fit these facts took place in February 1955. By then, the project was clearly moving toward studying intact families.
