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:

The Murray Bowen Archives Project
Parent Hope Project podcast and resources
Dr Jenny Brown: Confident Parenting
Roberta Gilbert: Extraordinary Relationships
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy (Vol 45, Issue 2), Special Issue: Bowen Family Systems Theory
White, Errington and Ruggier, “Promoting Parent Agency Across the World through the Parent Hope Project: The Difference Bowen Family Systems Theory Makes”, Journal of Marital and Family Therapy - in revision.

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/

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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.

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