Welcome to Elevator Systems! Today Lauren Errington joins hosts Dixie Vandersluys and Katie White as we think about parenting from a Bowen family systems perspective.
Lauren Errington is the Executive Director of the Family Systems Institute in Sydney, Australia. She is also a Mental Health Social Worker and Clinical Family Therapist and Supervisor at the Family Systems Practice. She has written articles on the application of Bowen of theory in family therapy for multiple journals including co-authoring a soon to be published article for the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy. Lauren is married and a parent of three school-aged children.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
- A parent’s effort to manage their own reactivity and provide kids developmental space
- Differentiation of self, balancing individuality and togetherness, in parenting
- Getting clear on one’s own parenting beliefs and values amid the many perspectives and pressures in parenting today
- How viewing the family as a system can help parents manage challenges by understanding multi-generational patterns
- The importance of humour and flexibility for parents to step back and see situations from a different perspective
- Examples: the humorous side of emotion coaching, the movie Parenthood, parenting in other species, and thinking through “taking off the training wheels” at different stages
This episode is for parents, anyone who works with parents, and anyone who has parents!
Terms you don’t understand? We have episodes on all 8 concepts of Bowen theory and other ideas in Elevator Systems Seasons 1 & 2.
Recommended Resources:
New podcast episodes released every Tuesday this season—stay tuned as we explore relationships across the lifespan!
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Living Systems Counselling and Training provides educational material for those interested in learning more about Bowen family systems theory: https://livingsystems.ca
Living Systems Hybrid Conference: October 17–18, 2025
Conference theme: Aging—Individual Challenge or Family Opportunity?
Learn more: https://livingsystems.ca/education/conferences/fall-2025-conference-on-aging/
Key Topics:#BowenFamilySystems #LivingSystems #MurrayBowen #Therapy #SystemsThinking #Family #Parenting #Parents #Parenthood #Children #Kids #ChildDevelopment #Development #Help #Resources #Helpfulness #Individuality #TherapyPodcast #Anxiety #MentalHealth #Relationships #DifferentiationOfSelf #Differentiation #BowenTheory #ElevatorSystems #FamilySystemsTheory #ElevatorSystemsPodcast #MurrayBowenArchives #TMBAP #TheMurrayBowenArchivesProject
DISCLAIMER: This podcast is general information about Bowen family systems theory and is not considered the practice of counselling or therapy. The information presented are the views of the people who say them. Any information used from this podcast is used at your own risk.
