How Can We Help?
The Impact of Triangulation, Parenting and the Couple Relationship
๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ถ๐๐๐, weโre often pushing back against the notion that human problems can be entirely chalked up to neurobiology. We understand that our clientsโ behaviour and relationships impact their lives as much as their thoughts and feelings.
But itโs not always easy to know ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ relationships have the greatest impact.
For children who present with anxiety symptoms, itโs natural to look at how they interact with their parents, especially their main caregiver. However, this can sometimes lead to a childโs anxiety being explained as a response to their motherโs parenting – a view that is just as limiting as the idea that anxiety is solely the result of neurobiology.
A recent study by Petegem et al. suggests that the relationship between the parents themselves can have an impact on their children. They found that in cases of triangulation, where a child feels caught in between their mother and father, there were increased rates of anxiety.
These findings should encourage systemic family therapists to look not only at the parent-child relationship, but to broaden the scope to the other relationships in clientsโ lives.
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