Many parents have told me that their once sweet child has now taken on the personality of their troubled romantic partner. Sometimes this observation reflects a need to blame the new husband or wife for changes that the adult child may have always wanted to make. For example, where their child has longed to be less available, more assertive, or more verbal with their complaints, and the spouse has freed him or her to do so. However, it is also true that sometimes people are transformed by their marriages in negative and hostile ways. I think this occurs as an attempt to resolve what Leon
...more
