In our romantic relationships, we often find ourselves repeating or attempting to repair the interactional patterns established in our family of origin. According to Bowen's family systems theory, ...

Every family carries certain patterns communicating, coping, reacting, loving that are silently passed on from generation to generation. Some patterns are beautiful warmth, loyalty, humor, and ...

The blueprint of who we are begins with the genes passed down from our parents. While these inherited traits give us our eye color and height, they can also contain instructions that increase our risk ...

Every family develops its own unique emotional ecosystem, and within that system, children naturally take on different roles to help the family function and to secure their own place within it. While ...

The patterns we carry into adulthood often have their roots in the roles we played in our childhood families. These roles developed as intelligent survival strategies — ways to navigate our family’s ...

Often the dynamics between various family members are not obvious at first. This is becoming ever more complicated as family units keep changing. Families are complex, families in business more so.

Every family has traditions, good or bad, that are passed down over the years. Some of those customs are helpful to the new generations, while others repeat the same dysfunction over and over. A toxic ...

Editor’s Note: Psychologist John Duffy, author of “Parenting the New Teen in the Age of Anxiety,” practices in Chicago. He specializes in work with teens, parents, couples and families. During the ...