s were so emotionally intense as to make the family emotionally interdependent. The family actually operated as an inseparable emotional unit with reciprocal relationships. For example, a mother's anxiety about a child's perceived emotional problem resulted in the child exaggerating the symptoms that gave rise to the mother's anxiety. The mother's anxiety would then increase, and the child's symptoms would consequently increase. Bowen also observed that the family itself was never aware of the reciprocal nature of its emotional relationship.
Bowen's research further demonstrated that reciprocal functioning could be so precise that whenever a significant personality trait was found in one family member, its mirror-opposite would be found in another family member. For example, in a family where one member acts as the person who does everything right and can handle any problem, there will be a reciprocal family member who does everything wrong and cannot cope. Where one family member is dominant, another will be submissive; where one is decisive, another will be indecisive. Bowen also observed that these relationships were particular to the family situation. That is, within the family, each member would adopt certain behavioral characteristics that were different from the way he or she was with people outside the family.
Consequently, Bowen's family systems theory adopted the concept of balance within the family system, where symptomatic behavior is seen as an imbalance in relationships rather th
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