Even twins are unique. Most people idealize twins, fantasizing a close, perpetually loving relationship. Yet Klein, herself an identical twin, demonstrates that twins have complicated and intense relationships that range from over-identification or excessive closeness to profound estrangement and conflict. Most twins who are raised as individuals deal with the significant emotional pain of separation in adolescence or young adulthood, yet as mature adults can come to love and respect each other as individuals.
As Klein makes clear, the parenting that twins receive as infants and young children affects the relationships that they have with one another and with the world they choose to function in. Because parenting is a critical determinant of psychological well-being, it should be treated as a serious but manageable challenge. This book is a must-read for twins, their parents, and scholars, students, and other researchers and professionals dealing with mental health and child development.
BARBARA SCHAVE KLEIN has worked in the fields of child development and child psychology for more than 30 years. She is the author or co-author of five previous books. She is also an identical twin.
Introduction
Separation: A Crucial Formative Experience
The Identity Dilemma
Too Close for Comfort? Issues of Adult Twins
The Twinning Bond
Twins and Psychotherapy
Genetic Endowment and the Environment
The Legacy of Twinship
Parenting Twins
Bibliography
Appendix I: Demographic Breakdown
Appendix II: Pairs of Twins
Index
![Not All Twins Are Alike: Psychological Profiles Of Twinship [Hardcover]](/itemImage/2/0/4/4/2_880651.jpg "Not All Twins Are Alike: Psychological Profiles Of Twinship [Hardcover]")