Commitment to Principles

Compiled and edited by Clarence Boyd, “Commitment to Principles” contains excerpts of letters written by Dr. Bowen. The book is divided into chapters organized around principles inherent in the featured letters and reflecting Bowen Theory. The Murray Bowen Archives Project is grateful to be able to exclusively publish the material in this book as an “online only publication.” The book is downloadable for free here, along with searchable chapters in the links below.

• Foreword, by Joanne Bowen (Posted October 1, 2016)
• Introduction (Posted October 14, 2016)
• Chapter 1. “Another Way of Thinking”—The Nature of the Lens (Posted October 15, 2016)
• Chapter 2. History and Process (Posted December 3, 2016)
• Chapter 3. System, System, Who Has the System? (Posted December 11, 2016)
• Chapter 4. Group Therapy and Family Therapy (Posted December 18, 2016)
• Chapter 5. Life Forces (Posted December 26, 2016)
• Chapter 6. Which Family Were You Born Into? (Posted January 2, 2017)
• Chapter 7. Who is in Your Family? (Posted January 9, 2017)
• Chapter 8. Family, Anxiety and Schizophrenia (Posted January 16, 2017)
• Chapter 9. Schizophrenia, The Family, and Psychotherapy: A Serious Way of Wondering (Posted January 23, 2017)
• Chapter 10. The Lady in the Fire (Posted January 30, 2017)
• Chapter 11. Family System Theory, Physical Health and Illness (Posted February 6, 2017)
• Chapter 12. Which World Do You Live In? (Posted February 12, 2017)
• Chapter 13. One Way of Thinking About Therapy (Posted February 19, 2017)
• Chapter 14. Responsibility, the Environment, Medication (Posted February 26, 2017)
• Chapter 15. Principles or Leaps of Faith? (Posted March 4, 2017)
• Chapter 16. What Makes It So Hard? (Posted March 12, 2017)
• Chapter 17. The Lone Ranger (Posted March 26, 2017)
• Chapter 18. The Motivated One (Posted April 2, 2017)
• Chapter 19. Assumptions and Therapy Approaches (Posted April 9, 2017)
• Chapter 20. Responsibility of the Motivated One (Posted April 16, 2017)
• Chapter 21. Dr. Bowen as Therapist (Posted April 23, 2017)
• Chapter 22. An O. Henry Story (Posted April 30, 2017)
• Chapter 23. State of the Union and Dead-End Alleys (Posted May 7, 2017)
• Chapter 24. Eyes, Consciousness, Anxiety, and Survival (Posted May 14, 2017)
• Chapter 25. Thinking, Assumptions, Relationships, and Decisions (Posted May 21, 2017)
• Chapter 26. Symptom Relief and Environmental Forces (Posted May 28, 2017)
• Chapter 27. Brain Changes (Posted June 4, 2017)
• Chapter 28. Tip of the Iceberg (Posted June 11, 2017)
• Chapter 29. Payment for Services Rendered (Posted June 18, 2017)
• Chapter 30. Content, Process, and Inheritance (Posted June 25, 2017)
• Chapter 31. Perpetuation of Multigenerational Phenomena Through the Lens of Alcoholism (Posted July 5, 2017)
• Chapter 32. Marriage and the Family Emotional System (Posted July 10, 2017)
• Chapter 33. Stuckness in Triangles (Posted July 17, 2017)
• Chapter 34. Triangles are Alive and Well (Posted July 24, 2017)
• Chapter 35. The Therapist and Triangles (Posted July 31, 2017)
• Chapter 36. Staying Out and Being Connected (Posted August 7, 2017)
• Chapter 37. Land Mines (Posted August 14, 2017)
• Chapter 38. Learning in Connections (Posted August 21, 2017)
• Chapter 39. Alone in No-Man’s Land (Posted August 28, 2017)
• Chapter 40. What to do with “The Dr. Bowen Thing?” (Posted September 4, 2017)
• Chapter 41. Managing Differernces Via Clarity of Principles (Posted September 11, 2017)
• Chapter 42. Principles, Content, and the Packers (Posted September 18, 2017)
• Chapter 43. Getting It Versus Keeping on, Keeping on (Posted September 25, 2017)
• Chapter 44. Theory and Hearing (Posted October 2, 2017)
• Chapter 45. Can Family Systems Theory and Therapy Exist Outside the Washington, DC Beltway? (Posted October 9, 2017)
• Chapter 46. Personal Feelings in a Factual Way (Posted October 16, 2017)
• Chapter 47. Anxiety, Processes, and Difference: “I’m Right, You’re Wrong” (Posted October 23, 2017)
• Chapter 48. The “Erosion” Letters (Posted October 30, 2017)
• Chapter 49. Postlude – One Last Principle (Posted November 6, 2017)
• Bibliography (Posted February 16, 2019)

Download the Book

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An Interview with Clarence Boyd

Reverend Katie Long’s interview with Clarence Boyd was published in the Summer 2008 issue of Family Systems Forum, a publication of the Center for the Study of Natural Systems and the Family.

» View Interview Transcript

About Clarence Boyd

Clarence Boyd was an early student of Bowen Theory. On a Thursday night, March 16th, 2000 he attended a presentation by Catherine Rakow about her research into the Murray Bowen Archives. Boyd was struck by Ms. Rakow’s reading of two rather remarkable letters written by Murray Bowen. He asked Priscilla Friesen if there were many letters in the Archives and she told him the archives was “full of them”.

Working with John Rees at the National Library of Medicine Clarence was granted access to Murray Bowen’s professional letters housed at the library in 2000. Mr. Boyd combed the archives reading hundreds of letters by Dr. Bowen written to patients and their families, to colleagues, and to many others who touched his professional life. The process of reading and thinking about Dr. Bowen’s carefully crafted letters culminated in the book, “Commitment to Principles,” by Mr. Boyd. Mr. Boyd wrote about his effort:

"I’m more interested in thinking about thinking. That is what drives my interest.…

All these letters have principles in them. How does one stay so focused on one's principles for such a long period of time without wavering and without getting off track or going sideways rather than forward. That was the gist behind the title — Commitment to Principles."

Clarence Boyd can be contacted at Escondidofarm@aol.com