Spousal Expectations and Unspoken Assumptions

Welcome to Elevator Systems! For this episode of the podcast Dixie Vandersluys and Katie White had the privilege of speaking with, recently retired, Kathy Kerr about the way Bowen family systems theory is useful in retirement.

Kathleen Kerr is a clinical nurse specialist and started her private practice in 1975. She was on the faculty of the Bowen Center from 1978 to 2012 and is a founding Board member of the Bowen Theory Academy. Her interests and published articles have included topics such as: aging and the family, applying Bowen theory to organizations, different kinds of systems thinking, healthcare and Bowen theory in the emergency room, and mother-offspring relationships. For this work, Kathleen was given access to the data from the longitudinal research on chimpanzees begun by Jane Goodall.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• How retirement is a systems event rather than an individual one.
• Thinking through expectations and assumptions around retirement.
• What to consider in the transition of leadership at work and in the family.
• The role of differentiation of self as individuals and work systems prepare for a retirement.
• The usefulness of knowing family history and previous generations experience with retirement as well as societal influences at those times.
• Examples include: personal examples from work and the family, the television show “Succession”, and the idea of “passing the baton” 

This episode is for individuals, families, and those in the workplace experiencing retirement personally or in their system. 

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:

• The Murray Bowen Archives Project 
• Dr. Murray Bowen: Family Therapy in Clinical Practice
• Dr. Jenny Brown: Growing Yourself Up

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

Key Topics:#BowenFamilySystems #LivingSystems #MurrayBowen #Therapy #SystemsThinking #Aging #Retirement #Retiring #Work #Leadership #NextGeneration #PasstheBaton #Succession #Anxiety#MentalHealth #Relationships #TherapyPodcast #DifferentiationOfSelf #Differentiation #Family #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.