Parentification: When you’re not the problem in a fractious family

Katie McKenna and Helen Villiers explore the effects of narcissism in their new book. Here, they write about the impact of parentification on children

Katie McKenna and Helen Villiers

Most people grow up thinking their childhood was normal, and they are right, it was their ‘normal’. But does that mean it was healthy?

It is hard to identify unhealthy or toxic family dynamics when they are normalised in societies. Parentification is one of those toxic dynamics that’s rarely talked about.