7 Types of Toxic Family Dynamics
I found a wealth of information that I felt compelled to share. The video can be found here but since it is about thirty minutes long, I thought to condense it a bit and make it readable for those who would rather read when wanting to absorb the information.
Patrick Teahan is a therapist who specializes in group therapy. In his practice, he noted that people tend to have more in common than they think when it comes to family dynamics and trauma. He also noted that one’s family dynamic can even predict the problems one faces as an adult.
However, although he listed seven (and one bonus) dynamic, it is common for people to have a little bit of several different dynamics occurring in their family. So if you see your family falling into a number of these dynamics, you aren’t alone.
1. Looks Good on Paper
This family dynamic is about crafting the image of perfection for the world to see and admire while sweeping emotions under the rug. Their lawn may be immaculate but the marriage is falling apart. The kids get good grades but they are emotionally stunted. The kids must be perfect in order to make their parents proud, despite the fact that human can be perfect and their parents certainly aren’t perfect.
