Welcome to Marriage In God's Hands. 00:00:30.17\00:00:33.44 I'm Alanzo Smith your host for this program. 00:00:33.47\00:00:36.56 I'm June Smith your co-host. 00:00:36.59\00:00:40.12 Before we start our discussion 00:00:40.15\00:00:42.24 on dysfunctional family patterns I invite you to pray with us. 00:00:42.27\00:00:47.31 Father God, we come in your precious name asking that 00:00:47.34\00:00:55.17 you will strengthen families and make us whole. 00:00:55.20\00:00:58.26 We thank you for your atoning grace and for your love. 00:00:58.29\00:01:01.57 Be with us now we pray. 00:01:01.60\00:01:03.33 In Jesus' name, amen. 00:01:03.36\00:01:06.01 We want to talk about dysfunctional family patterns. 00:01:06.04\00:01:13.55 We have been talking about healthy marriages. 00:01:13.58\00:01:19.32 Our hope and dream is for all marriages to be healthy, 00:01:19.35\00:01:23.82 but we know that's not so. 00:01:23.85\00:01:25.83 We know there are some marriages that practice dysfunctional 00:01:25.86\00:01:30.62 family patterns. 00:01:30.65\00:01:32.05 Let's talk about some of them. 00:01:32.08\00:01:34.25 I think I want you to read for us a text in 1 Corinthians. 00:01:34.28\00:01:40.25 This is a very powerful text 00:02:29.55\00:02:31.37 when we are talking about family and family relationship. 00:02:31.40\00:02:35.72 Paul is talking about the correlation between the members 00:02:35.75\00:02:40.06 of the body and the body itself. 00:02:40.09\00:02:42.97 It says that they are all one. 00:02:43.00\00:02:45.39 The same is true for the family. 00:02:45.42\00:02:48.40 When we talk about Freudian psychoanalytic formulation 00:02:48.43\00:02:54.80 we have a concept of the individual as the IP. 00:02:54.83\00:03:00.88 Share that concept with us and let us know why that is 00:03:00.91\00:03:06.76 antithetical to what Paul is talking about. 00:03:06.79\00:03:10.00 The whole notion of the psychoanalysis approach to 00:03:10.03\00:03:15.06 the way we conceptualize a problem in an individual 00:03:15.09\00:03:19.23 is that the IP, the identified patient as we would say, 00:03:19.26\00:03:22.89 is where the problem lies. 00:03:22.92\00:03:25.54 In the concept of the family however, we're saying that 00:03:25.57\00:03:30.84 one individual in the family maybe exhibiting a symptom 00:03:30.87\00:03:36.72 of a problem that resides within the whole family. 00:03:36.75\00:03:41.20 I had a classic example. 00:03:41.23\00:03:43.93 The child was thought to be the troublemaker, the truancy child. 00:03:43.96\00:03:49.60 The parents felt that this was a child that was giving trouble 00:03:49.63\00:03:53.89 and something was wrong with the child. 00:03:53.92\00:03:55.66 On deeper evaluation, it was discovered that something was 00:03:55.69\00:04:01.09 wrong within the family. 00:04:01.12\00:04:03.58 It was a result of that, why the child was actually reacting. 00:04:03.61\00:04:08.13 We're saying that, Paul emphasizes the chemistry of the 00:04:08.16\00:04:14.25 entire members of the body becoming one. 00:04:14.28\00:04:17.57 The same analogy is true with the family. 00:04:17.60\00:04:21.05 The notion is that what affects one member of the family 00:04:21.08\00:04:25.98 affects the entire family. 00:04:26.01\00:04:28.16 Isn't that the concept of systems theory? 00:04:28.19\00:04:30.57 When we talk about the system; the family as a system. 00:04:30.60\00:04:33.67 We're not saying we don't look at the individual. 00:04:33.70\00:04:37.15 We're not negating the fact that the individual is important. 00:04:37.18\00:04:40.92 What we're saying is you don't just look at the individual. 00:04:40.95\00:04:43.98 You don't say the husband is the problem in this relationship 00:04:44.01\00:04:47.82 or the wife is the problem. 00:04:47.85\00:04:49.37 What we're saying is let's see what's happening in the system. 00:04:49.40\00:04:52.39 What's happening in the family; 00:04:52.42\00:04:53.73 in this marriage that is causing the problem, rather than 00:04:53.76\00:04:56.85 labeling one person. 00:04:56.88\00:04:58.25 We're saying that families become dysfunctional because 00:04:58.28\00:05:04.67 sometimes individuals within the family identify the one person 00:05:04.70\00:05:10.33 who might be exhibiting 00:05:10.36\00:05:12.04 and reflecting the problems in the family 00:05:12.07\00:05:14.25 as the cause of the problem. 00:05:14.28\00:05:16.15 A deeper look at the system will reveal the entire system 00:05:16.18\00:05:21.15 has the problem, and therefore needs to get help. 00:05:21.18\00:05:24.21 Precisely. When we talk about dysfunctional family patterns 00:05:24.24\00:05:30.14 one of the things we need to look for is the ability 00:05:30.17\00:05:34.92 of an individual to differentiate between 00:05:34.95\00:05:38.41 the thinking process and the feeling process. 00:05:38.44\00:05:41.96 Often times these are blurred. 00:05:41.99\00:05:44.92 How helpful it is for families to understand the difference 00:05:44.95\00:05:50.02 between thinking and feeling. 00:05:50.05\00:05:52.80 We are complex beings. 00:05:52.83\00:05:56.74 We are made up of thoughts and ideas, but we are also 00:05:56.77\00:06:01.06 made up of emotions and our affection. 00:06:01.09\00:06:04.71 We feel, we respond and we're sensitive too. 00:06:04.74\00:06:07.73 Our experiences... 00:06:07.76\00:06:08.92 What we're trying to say here is some people operate more so 00:06:08.95\00:06:14.50 in the emotional domain, and others operate in the 00:06:14.53\00:06:19.33 thinking domain. 00:06:19.36\00:06:21.52 When people operate on those extremes the family is likely 00:06:21.55\00:06:27.22 to function dysfunctionally. 00:06:27.25\00:06:29.99 If we were to use a theoretical scale, 00:06:30.02\00:06:32.86 an imaginary theoretical scale, let's say from 1 to 7. 00:06:32.89\00:06:38.69 We would say from 1 to 2, would be individuals who 00:06:38.72\00:06:43.65 operate off the feeling process. 00:06:43.68\00:06:46.45 Individuals who are at the other end of a 6 and 7 00:06:46.48\00:06:52.45 are individuals who operate off the thinking process. 00:06:52.48\00:06:56.44 Between those two extremes would be the numbers 3,4, and 5. 00:06:56.47\00:07:03.06 That is where you would find individuals with 00:07:03.09\00:07:05.05 healthy self-esteem. 00:07:05.08\00:07:07.63 Let's take the first end the ones and the twos; 00:07:07.66\00:07:11.47 the feeling process. 00:07:11.50\00:07:14.54 If I am... In our marriage, if I as your husband operate only 00:07:14.57\00:07:21.55 off my feeling, and everything I assess through how I feel? 00:07:21.58\00:07:26.34 What's the danger there to our relationship? 00:07:26.37\00:07:29.10 The danger is that your likely; your behavior, your response 00:07:29.13\00:07:34.07 to me will likely be driven by those feelings 00:07:34.10\00:07:37.81 When sometimes you might be feeling something but 00:07:37.84\00:07:41.62 the rationale behind it might be different or might explain 00:07:41.65\00:07:45.19 the feeling a different way. 00:07:45.22\00:07:46.54 If you get an opportunity to understand what drives 00:07:46.57\00:07:50.61 this feeling and to explore the ideas 00:07:50.64\00:07:54.64 and the thoughts behind it. 00:07:54.67\00:07:55.80 Maybe my thinking about my response influenced 00:07:55.98\00:07:58.87 the way you felt, it might make a difference in the outcome. 00:07:58.90\00:08:03.77 If I'm understanding you correctly. 00:08:03.80\00:08:07.31 I'm hearing you say there are some pitfalls 00:08:07.34\00:08:10.46 to the feeling process. 00:08:10.49\00:08:12.12 Individuals who operate at this level tend to have 00:08:12.15\00:08:15.65 low self-esteem. 00:08:15.68\00:08:17.30 They tend to be the recipient of verbal 00:08:17.33\00:08:21.46 as well as physical abuse. 00:08:21.49\00:08:23.78 Individuals who are operating off the feeling process 00:08:23.81\00:08:26.62 they maybe coming from enmeshed families. 00:08:26.65\00:08:30.58 The notion, the concept of enmeshment, talk to us 00:08:30.61\00:08:34.15 in terms of how does that affect family outcomes. 00:08:34.18\00:08:39.72 The whole notion of operating and relying solely on emotions 00:08:39.75\00:08:43.55 leave one feeling incomplete, incapable of managing and 00:08:43.58\00:08:49.33 dealing with and confronting the challenges. 00:08:49.36\00:08:52.41 What one tends to do is to form an alliance, 00:08:52.44\00:08:56.78 to galvanize somebody else around them so that they lean 00:08:56.81\00:09:00.58 on this person and they literally develop 00:09:00.61\00:09:03.42 an almost suffocating relationship. 00:09:03.45\00:09:06.30 That's often referred to as an enmeshed relationship. 00:09:06.33\00:09:09.47 We're saying individuals within a family who operate solely on 00:09:09.50\00:09:13.67 the feeling process tend to take the blame, to complain; they sit 00:09:13.70\00:09:21.64 and they accept whatever is given to them. 00:09:21.67\00:09:24.27 The opposite is true. 00:09:24.30\00:09:25.77 Persons on the thinking process; these are the egotists, 00:09:25.80\00:09:29.43 the persons who perpetrate verbal abuse 00:09:29.46\00:09:33.65 and the physical abuse. 00:09:33.68\00:09:34.79 Their irrational thinking is: I'm the boss, I'm the leader, 00:09:34.82\00:09:38.12 I'm in charge, you do as I say, etc. 00:09:38.15\00:09:40.97 Therein lies the danger; 00:09:41.00\00:09:43.09 somebody who doesn't feel and who lacks emotions. 00:09:43.12\00:09:48.05 I've spoken to several people in counseling couple relationships. 00:09:48.08\00:09:52.23 One spouse complains about the inability of the other spouse 00:09:52.26\00:09:57.38 to respond and be sensitive to what they are 00:09:57.41\00:10:01.05 experiencing in a marriage. 00:10:01.08\00:10:02.49 Yet they seem to take care of the family in terms of 00:10:02.52\00:10:06.25 paying the bills and doing the things that are essential 00:10:06.28\00:10:08.42 to the survival needs. 00:10:08.45\00:10:10.70 This emotional part is so lacking. 00:10:10.73\00:10:13.01 Yes, the person who operates in the thinking are rational. 00:10:13.04\00:10:16.82 They are logical and they tend to function in that regard. 00:10:16.85\00:10:19.84 Within a marriage, to have a family, or couples not operating 00:10:19.87\00:10:28.42 with these dysfunctional patterns; what they need to do 00:10:28.45\00:10:32.35 is to be able to function or to bring together 00:10:32.38\00:10:35.99 the thinking process and the feeling process. 00:10:36.02\00:10:38.75 There are some things we have to think through 00:10:38.78\00:10:40.83 and there are some things we bring to bear 00:10:40.86\00:10:42.78 our emotion on the relationship; 00:10:42.81\00:10:45.01 not just the thinking, not just the feeling, 00:10:45.04\00:10:46.96 but bringing them together. 00:10:46.99\00:10:48.66 Integration is a blending of both. 00:10:48.69\00:10:51.10 Although you can give the rules and you can inflict discipline 00:10:51.13\00:10:56.58 you also can be sensitive and have emotions. 00:10:56.61\00:10:59.91 Sometimes you might have to adapt and adjust, because 00:10:59.94\00:11:03.12 of the emotions that are involved. 00:11:03.15\00:11:05.30 Talking about emotion; the family emotional system 00:11:05.33\00:11:09.37 is another dysfunctional pattern. 00:11:09.40\00:11:11.91 There are some families that are not mentally stable. 00:11:11.94\00:11:16.57 There are some families that are not emotionally whole. 00:11:16.60\00:11:20.27 Talk to us about the emotional stability of a family. 00:11:20.30\00:11:25.05 In order for a family to survive 00:11:25.08\00:11:28.09 they need to be healthy emotionally. 00:11:28.12\00:11:30.97 They will be bruised but they have to be able to 00:11:31.00\00:11:32.87 brush their knees off and get up and keep batting as it were. 00:11:32.90\00:11:36.41 If everything that happens to the family that causes hurt, 00:11:36.44\00:11:39.35 if they were to just sit and complain and 00:11:39.38\00:11:41.72 wallow in self-pity then they are not likely to survive 00:11:41.75\00:11:44.68 because life will bring you blows 00:11:44.71\00:11:46.13 and you've got to be able to handle that. 00:11:46.16\00:11:48.04 We're talking about the capacity of the family to cope. 00:11:48.07\00:11:51.45 You have to have this coping mechanism. 00:11:51.48\00:11:53.83 You have to be able to adjust to adversity. 00:11:53.86\00:11:55.91 You have to be able to rise above it. 00:11:55.94\00:11:58.13 There are times when life will deal us some hard blows, 00:11:58.16\00:12:01.94 some real blows. 00:12:01.97\00:12:02.94 Some of you now, listening to us, might be experiencing that. 00:12:02.95\00:12:06.17 You may be going through a crisis, a traumatic situation. 00:12:06.20\00:12:09.24 What do you do? Do you run away from it? 00:12:09.27\00:12:11.13 You can't afford to do that. 00:12:11.16\00:12:12.53 You have to rise above the situation. 00:12:12.56\00:12:14.58 You have to be able to manage it; 00:12:14.61\00:12:16.49 the emotional capacity of the family to grow and overcome. 00:12:16.52\00:12:21.06 We have a classic example in the case of Job. 00:12:21.09\00:12:24.09 Job chapter 1, verse 21. 00:12:24.12\00:12:26.82 In that text, Job says, after all the disaster and calamities: 00:12:26.85\00:12:32.24 That's where it is at. 00:12:43.02\00:12:44.79 We will have challenges. 00:12:44.82\00:12:46.45 You will agree with me that Job had challenges. 00:12:46.48\00:12:49.35 Yet, in spite of that, he had resilience. 00:12:49.38\00:12:53.10 He was able to trust God no matter what. 00:12:53.13\00:12:56.37 That's what we want to say to our families today. 00:12:56.40\00:12:58.57 We want them to understand that regardless of what Satan will do 00:12:58.60\00:13:02.46 to cause hurt and harm they can be confident that God 00:13:02.49\00:13:06.93 will see them through. 00:13:06.96\00:13:08.56 Bounce back, rise up, don't allow... 00:13:08.59\00:13:11.52 Solve the problem. Face the challenge. 00:13:11.55\00:13:15.07 You have to be emotionally healthy 00:13:15.10\00:13:17.44 and you have to be emotionally strong. 00:13:17.47\00:13:19.81 We're going to take a break here but, we will be right back. 00:13:19.84\00:13:24.03 Don't go away. Stay with us. 00:13:24.06\00:13:25.61 When we come back we have a lot of things to talk about. 00:13:25.64\00:13:28.22 We want you to have strong families and healthy marriages. 00:13:28.25\00:13:32.45 There are many how to books available, but there is one that 00:13:43.83\00:13:47.85 is free and perfect for every couple. 00:13:47.88\00:13:50.04 "How You Can Build a Better Marriage" 00:13:50.07\00:13:52.77 Bible-based matrimonial advice is given in a light-hearted 00:13:52.80\00:13:56.46 easy to read manner for those contemplating marriage, 00:13:56.49\00:13:59.27 newlyweds, couples in their golden years, 00:13:59.30\00:14:02.29 and everyone in between. 00:14:02.32\00:14:03.93 Simply call or write for your free copy of this booklet, 00:14:03.96\00:14:07.94 Welcome back to our program, Marriage In God's Hands. 00:14:19.99\00:14:25.13 We have been talking about dysfunctional family patterns. 00:14:25.16\00:14:30.10 We're saying we have to find a way of avoiding 00:14:30.13\00:14:34.29 these family patterns. 00:14:34.32\00:14:36.37 Murray Bowen talks about some of these theoretical concepts 00:14:36.40\00:14:41.89 he is the one that developed this concept of 00:14:41.92\00:14:44.96 the family projection system. 00:14:44.99\00:14:47.86 Family projection, is that a healthy situation 00:14:47.89\00:14:53.31 for us to be doing? 00:14:53.34\00:14:55.50 We're talking about dysfunctional patterns. 00:14:55.53\00:14:58.31 Clearly, when a member of the family projects 00:14:58.34\00:15:02.99 their own insecurities or their own desires on a child 00:15:03.02\00:15:08.58 that can be a very dysfunctional thing for a child. 00:15:08.61\00:15:11.81 No, it is not a healthy thing to do. 00:15:11.84\00:15:14.27 In fact, some parents live vicariously 00:15:14.30\00:15:18.04 through their children. 00:15:18.07\00:15:19.38 They may have had goals for example in life 00:15:19.41\00:15:22.27 that they were unable to achieve and they are blessed with 00:15:22.30\00:15:26.75 a child or two or more and they are going to ensure 00:15:26.78\00:15:31.11 that their goals are achieved in their children. 00:15:31.14\00:15:34.02 That reminds me of the father who insisted his son should go 00:15:34.05\00:15:38.63 to a particular school. 00:15:38.66\00:15:40.32 There was a conflict in the family because the mother 00:15:40.35\00:15:43.55 wanted her child to go to a different school. 00:15:43.58\00:15:47.23 It created a deep rift in the family. 00:15:47.26\00:15:50.24 On further development of the issue we realized the father 00:15:50.27\00:15:58.64 had three brothers and all three brothers 00:15:58.67\00:16:02.43 went to this school in particular and 00:16:02.46\00:16:04.22 their children went to that school. 00:16:04.25\00:16:07.14 He was the only one who did not go to the school. 00:16:07.17\00:16:09.75 You could understand why he was now emphasizing 00:16:09.78\00:16:13.13 now why he wanted his son to go to the school. 00:16:13.16\00:16:16.08 He was now projecting onto the son. 00:16:16.11\00:16:18.80 Sometimes it happens in the way we align ourselves 00:16:18.83\00:16:21.61 in little coalitions almost with our children. 00:16:21.64\00:16:24.69 One child could be identified as the favorite child 00:16:24.72\00:16:28.85 or the special child. 00:16:28.88\00:16:30.65 That child is the person that the parent will say 00:16:30.68\00:16:36.12 certain family secrets to or will even talk about 00:16:36.15\00:16:39.68 certain issues in their couple relationship to and they 00:16:39.71\00:16:42.64 lay an enormous emotional burden on that child. 00:16:42.67\00:16:46.23 We're saying that family projection is not a healthy 00:16:46.26\00:16:49.94 approach or a healthy thing to do. 00:16:49.97\00:16:51.68 When you project onto a child you need to understand the 00:16:51.71\00:16:54.78 emotional maturity of that child. 00:16:54.81\00:16:57.92 While you think the child is mature enough to handle it 00:16:57.95\00:17:01.02 the child may not be able to. 00:17:01.05\00:17:02.85 As you said that, recently, I had a call 00:17:02.88\00:17:05.33 from a woman that I counseled. 00:17:05.36\00:17:06.91 She was very annoyed that her son, who is a young adult, 00:17:06.94\00:17:10.41 seemed to be insensitive to her needs. 00:17:10.44\00:17:13.67 When I inquired what the issues were, her son was in essence 00:17:13.70\00:17:17.66 saying, Mom I don't want to hear 00:17:17.69\00:17:20.16 what's going on between you and Dad. 00:17:20.19\00:17:21.78 She thought that was insensitive, but she was 00:17:21.81\00:17:23.92 discussing all the problems and conflicts that she was 00:17:23.95\00:17:26.89 having with her husband. 00:17:26.92\00:17:27.92 It's like dumping on the child. 00:17:27.95\00:17:29.11 Dumping this on the child and as you said 00:17:29.14\00:17:30.11 and as you said the child just wants to be a son. 00:17:30.12\00:17:33.39 He doesn't want to be a counselor to his mother. 00:17:33.42\00:17:36.20 There's a classic example in the Bible. 00:17:36.23\00:17:38.87 It's a story of Joseph. 00:17:38.90\00:17:41.33 Jacob had this special love for Joseph. 00:17:41.36\00:17:45.84 He had 12 sons but you know Joseph was special. 00:17:45.87\00:17:49.58 He bought him this special coat. 00:17:49.61\00:17:52.78 He was treated in a very special way. 00:17:52.81\00:17:55.21 He projected onto this son more than all the others. 00:17:55.24\00:17:59.29 Listen to what the text says: Genesis 37; verses 3 and 4. 00:17:59.32\00:18:05.35 That's exactly what we're talking about. 00:18:29.08\00:18:31.13 They hated him and would not speak. 00:18:31.16\00:18:32.14 Isn't that the result when you project onto your child? 00:18:34.29\00:18:37.44 Unfortunately, that's an extreme case of sibling rivalry, 00:18:37.47\00:18:43.62 but that tends to be the outcome when a child is favored. 00:18:43.65\00:18:47.71 Every child is a gift. 00:18:47.74\00:18:49.67 Children are gifts from God. 00:18:49.70\00:18:52.55 Every child is special, regardless of how skilled 00:18:52.58\00:18:57.87 and talented one child may be over the other. 00:18:57.90\00:19:00.19 One child may even have a dysfunction or disability. 00:19:00.22\00:19:03.85 That child is just as special. 00:19:03.88\00:19:05.92 Parents need to respond to their children as equal as they can 00:19:05.95\00:19:11.83 so that one child is not favored over the other. 00:19:11.86\00:19:15.01 Sometimes they project onto that child to kind of form 00:19:15.04\00:19:18.00 a bonding against the spouse. 00:19:18.03\00:19:20.93 That's not good. 00:19:20.96\00:19:22.44 That's another unhealthy pattern that occurs. 00:19:22.47\00:19:24.71 Instead of speaking I've had couples who come in and they 00:19:24.74\00:19:27.45 complain about; my husband doesn't speak to me. 00:19:27.48\00:19:30.14 He tells my daughter what it is he wants to say to me. 00:19:30.17\00:19:33.56 So the daughter will come and say dad says dad.. da.. da... 00:19:33.59\00:19:36.53 rather than dad speaking directly 00:19:36.56\00:19:38.34 or mom speaking directly. 00:19:38.37\00:19:39.84 I have another case. 00:19:39.87\00:19:41.01 I really thought it was even humorous. 00:19:41.04\00:19:42.94 Where this husband was upset at something that happened 00:19:42.97\00:19:46.55 between he and his wife. 00:19:46.58\00:19:47.70 Instead of having a conversation with his wife about it 00:19:47.73\00:19:50.18 he actually communicated to her in prayer. 00:19:50.21\00:19:52.74 When they did have worship and they were praying he would say 00:19:52.77\00:19:57.19 Lord help my wife to know whatever it is he wanted to say 00:19:57.22\00:20:00.57 to his wife rather than saying it directly to her. 00:20:00.60\00:20:03.85 She, of course, was annoyed at this. 00:20:03.88\00:20:06.70 People use dysfunctional patterns and it perpetuates 00:20:06.73\00:20:10.86 the conflicts and the problems. 00:20:10.89\00:20:12.52 What happens, in many cases, is that when you project 00:20:12.55\00:20:19.05 onto a child that child later on can experience what we call 00:20:19.08\00:20:24.07 what Murray Bowen refers to as emotional cut-off. 00:20:24.10\00:20:27.77 If you project onto a child; you select your favorite child and 00:20:27.80\00:20:31.00 keep projecting and dumping on or putting on responsibilities 00:20:31.03\00:20:36.22 onto that child that is not age appropriate. 00:20:36.25\00:20:38.85 When that child reaches the age of maturity, where it's time 00:20:38.88\00:20:43.51 to go off to college, you find that the child may select 00:20:43.54\00:20:47.05 a school that is far away from home and will not even choose 00:20:47.08\00:20:51.99 to come back on holidays, Christmas, Thanksgiving, 00:20:52.02\00:20:55.16 whatever it is. 00:20:55.19\00:20:56.16 They find a summer job, they find a holiday job because they 00:20:56.17\00:20:59.72 want to stay away from home they're just tired 00:20:59.75\00:21:01.49 they're just tired of the dumping. 00:21:01.52\00:21:02.85 They have emotionally cut themselves off from the family. 00:21:02.88\00:21:06.00 We are not by any measure suggesting that children who 00:21:06.03\00:21:09.46 go far away to school are all trying to get away 00:21:09.49\00:21:14.24 from a difficult situation. 00:21:14.27\00:21:16.00 Yes, that is one way children sometimes try to deal with 00:21:16.03\00:21:19.59 and cope with the burden and the emotional strain that is placed 00:21:19.62\00:21:23.98 on them when they feel projected onto. 00:21:24.01\00:21:26.50 Emotional cut-off is also a way of saying to your parents, 00:21:26.53\00:21:33.78 I don't want to be bothered. 00:21:33.81\00:21:35.61 I have been stifled. 00:21:35.64\00:21:37.24 Earlier on we talked about enmeshed relationships. 00:21:37.27\00:21:40.67 What we are saying is when children live in enmeshed 00:21:40.70\00:21:44.13 relationship where they are smothered, where they don't 00:21:44.16\00:21:47.08 have autonomy and independence to some degree and some extent. 00:21:47.11\00:21:50.71 Age appropriately.. 00:21:50.74\00:21:51.71 Yes, they get to the point where they want to get away from it. 00:21:51.72\00:21:55.05 They want to break out of that family. 00:21:55.08\00:21:56.84 They want to be on their own. 00:21:56.87\00:21:58.69 If you practice dysfunctional patterns; of dumping, 00:21:58.72\00:22:03.32 projecting on, having emotional unstable relationships, 00:22:03.35\00:22:08.43 this could be one of the end result... emotional cut-off. 00:22:08.46\00:22:12.82 It's amazing how behaviors get transmitted from one generation 00:22:12.85\00:22:18.04 to the next. 00:22:18.07\00:22:19.04 We have another phenomenon that Bowen identifies 00:22:19.05\00:22:22.06 as transferring; generational transference. 00:22:22.09\00:22:27.49 When you have certain dysfunctional behaviors 00:22:29.88\00:22:35.04 occurring in one nuclear family it does not mean 00:22:35.07\00:22:40.20 that's where it starts. 00:22:40.23\00:22:41.42 It could be that behavior was in their parents, and in their 00:22:41.46\00:22:46.54 grandparents, and it could be two or three, and even sometimes 00:22:46.57\00:22:49.83 four generational deep. 00:22:49.86\00:22:51.06 We're talking about multi-generational transmission. 00:22:51.09\00:22:54.56 Yes, and it's unfortunate, but it is so true. 00:22:54.59\00:22:58.31 You could marry someone, or you could fall in love with someone 00:22:58.34\00:23:01.42 and be living with this individual and you don't 00:23:01.45\00:23:04.67 understand what they are bringing to the relationship. 00:23:04.70\00:23:07.99 and how far back, how deep, how engraved it is. 00:23:08.02\00:23:11.82 That can be very, very disruptive to the relationship. 00:23:11.85\00:23:16.68 It is amazing how complex relationships are. 00:23:16.71\00:23:20.78 When we are talking about challenges in a marriage, 00:23:20.81\00:23:24.14 we're saying dysfunctions occur, 00:23:24.17\00:23:26.77 because some of these phenomenon's exist, so 00:23:28.05\00:23:30.13 the more people understand that these are situations that occur. 00:23:30.16\00:23:35.08 Hopefully, they can better cope and they might even 00:23:35.11\00:23:38.77 reach out to get help, to further understand how 00:23:38.80\00:23:41.52 that feature is playing out in their relationship. 00:23:41.55\00:23:44.65 Multi-generational transmission processes can be 00:23:44.68\00:23:48.65 extremely dysfunctional in a family. 00:23:48.68\00:23:51.02 Instead of dealing with the here and now, 00:23:51.05\00:23:53.58 dealing with what's in front of you. 00:23:53.61\00:23:55.61 ...What both of you have to manage. 00:23:55.64\00:23:58.54 You find that you're dealing with things that happened 00:23:58.57\00:24:02.01 way back and it's coming to bear in your current relationship. 00:24:02.04\00:24:06.74 It may not relate to your spouse. 00:24:06.77\00:24:09.47 No, but it is destroying the health of the relationship. 00:24:09.50\00:24:12.79 It is destroying the marriage. 00:24:12.82\00:24:14.09 That is something we need to understand. 00:24:14.12\00:24:16.15 The Bible talks about Abraham and Sarah. 00:24:16.18\00:24:20.94 You remember there was this family and Abraham 00:24:20.97\00:24:24.29 was going down to Egypt. 00:24:24.32\00:24:25.92 He knew he had a beautiful wife. 00:24:25.95\00:24:27.57 He said to his wife, 00:24:27.60\00:24:29.03 Say, I pray thee when you get down to Egypt 00:24:29.06\00:24:33.12 say that you are my sister. 00:24:33.15\00:24:36.39 Hello, I think I have a message for all the men 00:24:36.42\00:24:40.58 who are married out there. 00:24:40.61\00:24:42.01 Your wife is not your sister. 00:24:42.04\00:24:46.17 Your wife is your wife; not your sister, not at all. 00:24:46.20\00:24:50.00 We could say Abraham blew it this time. 00:24:50.03\00:24:52.18 Yes, he did! 00:24:52.21\00:24:53.18 He's a great guy; Abraham is a good man, 00:24:53.19\00:24:56.11 but for this one time. 00:24:56.14\00:24:57.69 We understand the implication. 00:24:57.72\00:24:59.96 If Sarah would have gone and said that and demanded 00:24:59.99\00:25:03.25 what they wanted look at the implication. 00:25:03.28\00:25:07.61 Listen, are we talking about multi-generational 00:25:07.64\00:25:10.25 transmission issues and how we pass them on. 00:25:10.28\00:25:12.69 Abraham did that. Guess what? 00:25:12.72\00:25:15.25 His son came and did the very same thing. 00:25:15.28\00:25:18.78 Isaac did that with Rebekah. 00:25:18.81\00:25:21.11 Isaac was going down to Gerar and Isaac said to Rebekah 00:25:21.14\00:25:24.70 When we get there, say that you are my sister. 00:25:24.73\00:25:29.22 Same thing his father did... I don't think his father told him 00:25:29.25\00:25:32.49 to do it but he learned he grew. 00:25:32.52\00:25:35.04 It passed on from one generation to the next. 00:25:35.07\00:25:38.11 Look what happened when he grew up and he had children. 00:25:38.14\00:25:41.90 It happened in his family as well. 00:25:41.93\00:25:45.95 Rebekah listened to the discussion that took place 00:25:45.98\00:25:54.20 between her husband and her son, and she practiced deceit 00:25:54.23\00:25:59.21 with her favorite son she always projected onto. 00:25:59.24\00:26:02.91 The deception started with father Abraham. 00:26:02.94\00:26:06.01 It came to his son. 00:26:06.04\00:26:07.86 Now we see it's moving down from one generation to the next. 00:26:07.89\00:26:12.15 Some of the very same issues that we're facing 00:26:12.18\00:26:15.88 in contemporary societies are examples that occur 00:26:15.91\00:26:20.62 even way back then in biblical times. 00:26:20.65\00:26:23.13 Precisely. In order for us to understand some of the things 00:26:23.16\00:26:30.05 that impact the relationship sometimes we... 00:26:30.08\00:26:33.95 not sometimes... all the time... we encourage individuals 00:26:33.98\00:26:38.08 who are contemplating marriage to do premarital counseling 00:26:38.11\00:26:42.24 because that's important. 00:26:42.27\00:26:43.82 For us to live as God would have us live... for us to have 00:26:43.85\00:26:48.72 healthy marriages... for us to have marriages put in God's hand 00:26:48.75\00:26:52.73 we need to make good preparation and careful preparation. 00:26:52.76\00:26:56.90 That is where premarital counseling comes in. 00:26:56.93\00:27:00.29 These concepts: emotional cut-off, 00:27:00.32\00:27:02.19 family multigenerational transmission... 00:27:02.22\00:27:07.16 issues, emotional system of a family, 00:27:07.19\00:27:10.01 and the thinking and feeling process of individuals 00:27:10.04\00:27:13.72 are all pitfalls that we need to try to avoid. 00:27:13.75\00:27:17.91 They are dysfunctional patterns in marriages. 00:27:17.94\00:27:20.43 They destroy your marriages. 00:27:20.46\00:27:21.69 Understand them and try to grow healthy marriages. 00:27:21.72\00:27:25.02 When a marriage is challenged it doesn't necessarily mean 00:27:25.05\00:27:28.16 that the challenge is caused by the two people. 00:27:28.19\00:27:30.73 No, they are external forces the power of the subsystem. 00:27:30.76\00:27:35.12 Well, we are happy that you are listening with us and 00:27:35.15\00:27:38.20 we want to invite you to continue 00:27:38.23\00:27:39.84 Marriage in God's Hand. 00:27:39.87\00:27:41.57 May God bless you, and may you grow healthy, happy, marriages. 00:27:41.60\00:27:45.46