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Margaret Otto of Smithville co-founded the Kansas City Center for Family and Organizational Systems in 1996 with the goal of getting people to focus on families and their importance in mental health.

Now 13 years later, Otto and her co-founder, Kathy Riordan, are still going strong with a staff of five and national recognition for the work they do.

The center, which resides on the Metropolitan Community College-Maple Woods in Kansas City, is an educational nonprofit with an all-volunteer staff dedicated to educating people on a theory called “The Bowen Family Systems Theory.”

According to the Bowen Center for the Study of the Family in Washington, D.C., the theory is “a theory of human behavior that views the family as an emotional unit and uses systems thinking to describe the complex interactions in the unit. It is the nature of a family that its members are intensely connected emotionally.”

Basically, Otto said, the Bowen Family Systems Theory is about the science behind the interactions of a family and how that affects people psychologically.

“There are different ways to think about a problem and this is one way to think about a problem and get it solved,” she said.

The purpose of the center, Otto said, is to disseminate the science behind the theory to professionals so they can use its methods in solving problems in their field. And it’s not just for mental health professionals either, Otto said, but for just about anyone who is interested.

“It’s open to all fields,” she said. “We offer post graduate training for nurses, priests and psychologists, but it’s also useful for those in the fields of mental health, clergy, medicine, and business. Even homemakers and farmers.”

In addition to their educational programs, the center also does research on the Bowen Family Systems Theory and hosts conferences at Maple Woods featuring national speakers in the field.

And every year, Otto said, the center provides services for about 350 students and professionals.

“We’ve gone from nothing to being part of a national network (of Bowen Family Systems Theory centers) in 13 years,” she said. “I’m OK with that. It’s been a good run and a pretty unique sort of one.”

Along with her work at the center, Otto also runs a private practice as a family therapist on the side.

To learn more about the center and the programs offered, visit their Web site at www.kcfamilysystems.com.

Staff writer Michael Westblade can be reached at 389-6636 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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