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Kansas has provided a legacy of training in Bowen Family Systems Theory since Murray Bowen began his theoretical journey at the Menninger Foundation in Topeka, Kansas. Today third and fourth generation practitioners can be found across the state stemming from these roots. Currently, KC Center for Family and Organizational Systems in Kansas City, MO is offering training at multiple levels which include psychotherapy, supervision and consultation groups, and seminars by visiting experts from The Bowen Center and affiliated sciences.
The Prairie Center for Family Studies is currently offering the Family Evaluation Monthly consultation group led by Tamara J. Hawk, LSCSW and the quarterly coaching group lead by Daniel V. Papero, MSSW, PhD from The Bowen Center in Washington DC. Both of these groups are described in detail on page 4. Please contact Tamara Hawk if you have further questions about these training opportunities.

Wichita, KS Coaching Group: This is a newly forming group sponsored by Gloria Jones, PhD. Gloria has participated in all the Prairie Center training seminars and Dan Papero's coaching group for seven years. If you are interested in this group, contact Gloria at
(316)201-1177 gjones1981@cox.net

Lawrence Coaching Group with Dan Papero, PhD. Dr. Papero leads an all day coaching group three times a year. This year it is being hosted by Randy Krehbiel, LSCSW in Lawrence KS August, November, and March. For information on dates, times, and expectations about participating in this group, contact Randy at
rkrehbiel@prckansas.org
The KC Center for Family and Organizational Systems
invites you to participate in this years programs. For details, go to the KC website at: http://www.kcfamilysystems.com/programs.htm See the list of current programs on Program Calendar page
Individuals participating in K.C. Center programs represent a large diversity of professional backgrounds including behavioral health, medicine, education, business, clergy, and other family serving professionals. The commonality is interest in learning and applying systems thinking to their personal and professional lives.
K.C. Center offerings include training, conferences, consultation groups, video series, webcast lectures, and video resources.

Who Was Murray Bowen? Described by close associate and student of Bowen theory, Andrea M. Schara stated that "Murray Bowen (1913- 1990) was the first and only psychiatrist to describe a theory explaining human behavior. His understanding of the emotional processes in his own family distinguished him from all others in psychiatry. Few people really understood what he accomplished by studying his own family and then placing his theory in the midst of evolutionary biology." See Dr. Bowen's story at Andrea M. Schara Ideas To Action website at http://ideastoaction.wordpress.com/dr-bowen/
Victoria Harrison, a close associate of Dr. Bowen, current Director of the Board of the Center for the Study of Natural Systems and the Family in Houston TX and a faculty member at the Georgetown Family Center, described Dr. Bowen’s influence and contribution to the science of human behavior:(Visit Victoria Harrison’s CSNSF http://www.csnsf.org/bowen.htm
“Bowen theory is not a theory about pathology, but about the interaction of variables that produce variation in human functioning. Instead of reducing the explanation of physical illness, for example, to one cause and the effect, natural systems theory outlines related variables to predict individual variation in health. Any symptoms, be they physical, psychiatric, behavioral, social or societal, are studied within the same broad theoretical framework. Both biology and behavior are considered under the influence of the same variables and symptoms and stability are the outcome of those variables.”
Dr. Bowen spent his life developing and testing his theory. He began by combining repeated clinical observations with reading extensively in biology, the study of evolution, and all the natural sciences. In his own words: "Family Systems Theory contains no ideas that have not been part of the human experience through the centuries. The task of the theorist is to find the minimal number of congruent pieces from the total bank of human knowledge that fit together to tell a simple story about the nature of man, or whatever other phenomenon he attempts to describe." He made a disciplined effort to "select consistent theoretical concepts that might some day conceptualize emotional illness as a product of that part of man he shares with lower forms of life."(FTCP,1978)
"Murray Bowen was a scholar, researcher, clinician, teacher, and writer. He worked tirelessly toward a science of human behavior, one that viewed man as a part of all life. He was very active in professional organizations, always wanting to contribute in any way he could, usually trying to remind himself that there was only so much he could do. He has been credited as being one of those rare human beings who had a genuinely new idea. He had the courage to go against the psychiatric and societal mainstream, to stand up for what he believed about human behavior. Thanks to his efforts the world has been rewarded with a new theory of human behavior, one with the potential to replace Freudian theory with a radically new method of psychotherapy based on the new theory. " (The Bowen Center For The Study of The Family, www.thebowencenter.org

The National Network of Bowen Theory Training Programs
The Prairie Center is one of 13 Bowen Theory Network Training Programs across the nation. Each stives to provide education and training in Bowen theory consistent with the theory's basic concepts and principles.

The Bowen Center for The Study of The Family, Washington DC, Michael E. Kerr, M.D., Director
The Kansas City Center for Family and Organizational Systems, Kansas City MO, Margaret Otto, Director
El Paso Border Programs, El Paso TX, Louise Rauseo, Director
Center for the Study of Natural Systems and The Family, Houston TX, Victoria Harrison, Dir.
Northern California Programs in Bowen Theory, Sonoma, CA, Laura havstad, Director

Western Pennsylvania Family Center, Jim Smith Director
Southern California Training in Bowen Theory, www.socalbowentheory.com Carolyn Jacobs, PsyD, Director
The Prairie Center for Family Studies, Tamara J. Hawk, MSW, Director...YOU ARE HERE

Business leadership consulting and development based on natural systems theory:
Leadership Coaching, Inc www.LeadershipCoachingInc.com with John Engels, President; Emily Heider, Erik Thompson; Kathy Wiseman, Daryl Pichan, and Ellis “Bobo” Stokely. Leadership Coaching, Inc. 63 Klink Rd. Rochester, New York 14625 Phone: 585-581-1347Fax: 585-381-9050 Email: emily@LeadershipCoachingInc.com
Ideas To Action, Education, Consulting and Coaching; Andrea M. Schara http://ideastoaction.wordpress.com/ Visit the website for a review of Bowen Theory, blogging about applying theory to your life and the world around you.