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I've received messages about being the Golden Child.

From a Black Sheep's perspective: the Golden Child is favoured because they're most like the parent who seems to rule the roost. They are given everything and get away with everything. They're also aware they're the favourite and do everything to ensure they keep things that way. It's easy for the Golden Child.

From a Golden Child: They are expected to be perfect and fulfil the parent's fantasies of 'what's best' for them. They're often seen as the emotional support and are required to be at the beck and call to the emotionally dysregulated parent. Their needs are irrelevent and their obligation is to the parent's and others' needs first. It's hard being the Golden Child.

What's your experiences of this?

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Aug 20, 2022Liked by Nathalie Martinek PhD

I struggle to identify the golden child in my family.. We all (5) seemed to be Black sheep. We were all asked to leave as soon as we were financially able and asked not to return. Are there other family models?

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