We Are Woven Together: How Bronfenbrenner’s Theory Shows Up in Our Everyday Lives

As a counselor, I often reflect on the many layers that shape who we are—our relationships, our environment, our culture, and the times we live in. One theory that captures this beautifully is Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory. While it’s often taught in the context of child development, this model is incredibly relevant throughout the entire lifespan. I want to share how I’ve seen this theory come to life in my own journey because just like our clients, we are also shaped by the systems we live within.

The Microsystem: Where Our Story Begins

We all begin in the microsystem, the closest ring of connection. At this level, a person has direct contact with their environment, such as parents, family, friends, teachers, peers, etc. (Guy-Evans, 2020). The microsystem is not anchored to any life stage and is ever-present throughout the lifespan. This level is guided by the premise of bi-directionality, the constant influence each member of the microsystem exudes on one another, co-constructing the world around them (Kraus, 2008).

For myself, this system looked like being raised by a single mother, who was my primary teacher, support system, and role model. As I moved through adolescence, my microsystem shifted to include teachers, coaches, and especially friends who influenced everything from my self-esteem to my worldview.

This system teaches us something essential: we are always influencing others and being influenced. It is not a one-way street.

Counseling reflection: Who is currently in your or your client’s microsystem? How are these relationships shaping your/their development and self-concept?

The Mesosystem: When Our Worlds Collide

The mesosystem looks at how these close relationships interact. Think of parent-teacher conferences or co-parenting dynamics after a divorce. It is in the mesosystem that people learn to juggle involvement across various settings (academic, parental, employment, etc.) and synchronize them into one streamlined experience of existence (Guy-Evans, 2020). Like the microsystem, the mesosystem’s effect on development persists over time.

I saw firsthand how my parents’ communication, or lack thereof, impacted how I spent time between homes. What was observed of me in school would be reported to my mother, which would affect my domestic life. Later in adulthood, I juggled overlapping roles such as student, employee, friend, and business owner. When one system conflicted with another, like graduate school demands interfering with work responsibilities, it had a ripple effect on my various roles.

Counseling reflection: Are you or your clients struggling with competing roles or conflicting systems? How can we support integration and balance?

The Exosystem: The Background Forces We Can’t See

The exosystem includes settings that indirectly affect us, such as a parent’s workplace or national policies. The influence occurs because something occurring in the environment outside the individual’s control directly affects one’s mesosystem and/or microsystem and is eventually experienced by the individual (Kraus, 2008). Broad social policies, laws, and institutions exert top-down influence and can make their way into an individual’s life, just as individuals in their microsystems have the power to rally systems around themselves to make broad social changes from the bottom up.

A clear example of this is the 2015 Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges to legally permit same-sex marriage in all 50 states (Chapell, 2015). One individual rallying to the highest level of court in the nation was able to change the lives and constitutional rights of millions of Americans. Reciprocally, millions of Americans had the new-found ability to marry whomever they desired, despite having a potential lack of involvement in LGBTQ advocacy or litigation movement.

Counseling reflection: What outside forces might be silently shaping your/your client’s life? Are workplace stressors, economic policies, or systemic issues at play?

The Macrosystem: The Big Picture of Culture and Ideology

The largest and furthest removed from the individual, the macrosystem involves the broader society and culture a person is born into, including elements like socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and geographic location. Bronfenbrenner believed that to understand human development, one must acknowledge the cultural context within which they exist (Kraus, 2008).

Growing up white in a capitalist, individualistic, American society gave me unseen privileges and access. It also shaped my beliefs about success, independence, and identity. These cultural scripts run deep, and many of us aren’t aware of them until we bump up against different ways of living or thinking.

Counseling reflection: What are the unspoken cultural rules you or your clients are navigating? How are systemic privileges or oppressions influencing their/your journey?

The Chronosystem: Time Changes Everything

Time, the chronosystem, touches every layer of our lives. The chronosystem involves the passage of time as it applies to all the other systems and includes major life transitions or historical events. Each human being is born in a particular place in time, shaped not only by culture but by the historical significance of when and where they exist. We all live by and adhere to norms set out by the era of our existence, which is in constant flux. One hundred years from now society may deem our current societal practices outdated, cruel, or nonsensical. Being born during the civil rights era holds monumentally different implications than 2000. The 9/11 tragedy forever altered international travel policies. Parents get divorced, altering the course of the atomic family thereafter. On and on, the implications of historical events and timelines, grand and personal, are always working around us and molding our development.

My transition into adulthood, the rise of the internet and social media, the ever-evolving battle against the climate crisis, and my healing journey after ending a serious relationship all changed the course of my development. These transitions and historical contexts matter, even when they feel intangible.

Counseling reflection: What life transitions or historical moments are impacting you or your client right now? Are there opportunities for reframing these through a developmental lens?

Final Thoughts: Why This Model Still Matters

Bronfenbrenner’s theory is more than a developmental framework. It is a reminder that we are never alone in our growth and no one exists in a vacuum. At any given moment, we are embedded in relationships, systems, and structures that shape who we are. In counseling, recognizing these systems allows us to meet our clients with more compassion, understanding, and cultural humility.

So ask yourself and your clients: Who is in your system? How are they shaping your story? And how can we support healing within and across these rings of influence?

References:

Chappell, B. (2015, June 26). Supreme Court declares same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states. NPR. Retrieved August 11, 2022, from https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo way/2015/06/26/417717613/supreme-court-rules-all-states-must-allow-same-sex marriages

Guy-Evans, O. (2020, November 9). Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory. Simply Psychology. Retrieved August 6, 2022, from https://www.simplypsychology.org/Bronfenbrenner.html

Kraus, K. (2008). Lenses: Applying Lifespan Development Theories in Counseling. New York: Lahaska Press.