Isabel Greiner

Isabel Greiner became interested in Bowen Family Systems Theory while learning about early infant social interactions at a University of Houston psychology lab. The lab’s work focused on the familial origins of severe psychological disruptions in adolescents. She went on to become a research assistant for a large NIH-funded study examining the effects of a spouse’s death on the survivor’s risk of cardiovascular disease at Rice University’s Health Psychology Lab. She also wrote psychological evaluations in support of immigration applications for a couple of years.

She continues to study psychoneuroimmunology, intergenerational transmission of anxiety, and the autonomic nervous system’s reactions to social stressors. She has found Bowen Theory immensely useful to her ongoing study of the co-regulatory physiological mechanisms underlying marriages, parent-child relationships, and families with a particular focus on family violence and the impact of immigration on relationships.

In addition to clinical work at CSNSF, Ms. Greiner will also contribute to research, publications, and program development. She hopes her work will advance understanding of the adaptive mechanisms that govern familial relationships and empower individuals to improve family-wide wellbeing.

Ms. Greiner is in her first year of clinical training at Smith College School for Social Work, where she is pursuing an M.S.W. Previously, she earned a Bachelor of Art from Lewis & Clark College in the humanities.