Although the hypothetical Jones family of the fictive scenario is specifically seeking help for only one of its troubled members, clearly, because of the large and interconnected nature of all Jones family members, all generations of the family must be assessed and treated as much as they are willing and able, as part of the therapy. Conflicts have been handed down through the multigenerational transmission process of projection and continued, negative patterns of family projection of one generation"s needs upon the next generation"s faces.

             Multigenerational transmission thus is the collective, often self-defeating process by which family emotional coping mechanisms are transferred and maintained over three generations through projection. To stop this from occurring, Dr. Murray Bowen introduced eight interlocking concepts to family theory, therapy, and treatment: 1. The need for the differentiation of the individual self from the family. 2. The triangles present within the family dynamic 3. Nuclear family emotional processes. 4. Patterns family projection process 5. The specific pattern of the family"s multigenerational transmission process, as well as 6.sibling positioning, 7.emotional cutoffs within the family and finally 8.the societal emotional process, whereby the individual projections meet societal projections of how the individual should be or should not be autonomous from the family dynamic. .

             All of these elements must be addressed, albeit to varying degrees as part of the Bowenian model of therapeutic assessment and treatment. The core goal underlying the Bowenian model of assessment and treatment is differentiation of self, namely, the ability to remain oneself in the face of group influences, especially the intense influence and interconnectedness of family life. The Bowenian model also considers the thoughts and feelings of each family member as well as the larger contextual network of family relationships that shapes the lie of the family.