Dr Anne McKnight will be presenting this workshop on the differences between estrangement and cutoff. 

In the last decade, the severing of contact between adult children and their children has received new scrutiny and research. Although there is not a single definition of estrangement, the concept broadly describes a rift between the generations. It is attributed to a difference in values or lifestyle, incompatible personalities, and mental health, or substance abuse problems in either parents or children. Most researchers and therapists acknowledge that estrangement creates anxiety and loneliness in both parents and children and several offer suggestions about how to reconnect.

Bowen’s concept of cutoff has a different lens. Cutoff is conceptually about how tension is managed in the family system across generations rather than a dyadic difficulty between parents and child. It is reflective of how triangles operate in the family, the level of differentiation in the family, and how the family system manages tension. The work to bridge cutoff is one part of an effort to become more mature, less reactive, and gain perspective on the multigenerational family system.

About Anne McKnight

Dr. Anne S. McKnight was appointed director of the Bowen Center in May 2010 and stepped down in July 2020. She is currently a director emeritus, continues to serve on the Center board, and is active in presenting, supervising, and organizing conferences. She has special interest in supporting the development of Bowen theory around the world, including presenting at international conferences in Hong Kong, Sweden, and Miami.

Dr. McKnight has been a member of the Bowen Center faculty since 1992. Her activities have included directing, teaching, and supervising in the Postgraduate Programs, leading the internship program, organizing and presenting at conferences sponsored by the Bowen Center and at meetings nationally and internationally. Recently she edited a book of clinical case studies , Thinking Systems: Clinical Applications of Bowen Theory.

Dr. McKnight is in private practice in Arlington, VA

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