Traits of a Healthy Family (a 3-part series)
(2,600 words in 3 parts)...In every healthy family
there is a natural tension that results from the
family’s attempt to meet two basic needs: 1) People
need togetherness; every healthy family tries to
create a stable place of belonging for each member.
2) People also need separateness; every healthy
family tries to find ways to enrich and extend itself
by encouraging independence and sending individual
members out into the world. The tension that exists
between the forces of togetherness and
separateness—between family belonging and individual
freedom—is perfectly normal and natural. I use the
images of roots and wings to describe it. Roots
suggest togetherness and belonging, and wings suggest
the need for separateness and individual expression.
Healthy families offer roots and wings…
