ABSTRACT
Symbiosis, as found in the psychological literature then, implied a relationship between a mother and child that did not result in a separation into two individual, autonomous selves. In Bowen’s studies, either parent, mother or father could be the principal participant if carrying out the primary caretaker duties. Certain conditions found in the patient’s interactions with the environment affected the presence or absence of symptoms. Bowen now considers schizophrenia and alcoholism as symptoms of over-attachment, not rejection or inadequate mothering. This was his understanding of a psychological symbiosis.
In Bowen’s studies, no symptoms appeared when there was an intense closeness between the patient and Bowen. This offered the clue that in the deep closeness of a symbiosis between parent and child, symptoms have no purpose. The concept of an emotional system, an inner guidance system, replaced the Freudian concept of the unconscious. Differentiation, innate growth toward maturity, occurred spontaneously given the right relationship and environmental conditions.
Bowen considered the benefits of keeping the patient within the family. Treatment with the family might prove more salubrious and efficient, focused on the origin of the problem rather than on a transference of it to another relationship.
