Toxic Sibling Dynamics in Narcissistic Families
In narcissistic families there is often a favorite child and a scapegoat with the favorite often growing up to mimic the narcissistic parent in the way they treat the scapegoated child.
There has been a lot of discussion in recent years about narcissistic parents. Characteristics of these types of parents have been better identified as more and more adult children are speaking out. While there are different levels of dysfunction and symptoms differ from parent to parent there are some more typical features that define the narcissistic parent.
Characteristics of Narcissistic Parents
These parents convey the expectation that children never disclose the abuse that occurs in the family system. These families are all about image and appearing as close to perfect as possible. Children function solely to meet the needs of the parents who are critical and judgmental instead of being empathic and loving.
Communication in these families occurs through triangulation, meaning that there is almost no direct communication between members. Instead, information intended to be imparted to the child will be told to another person in a way that ensures it…
