Fostering Twins’ Identity Development: A Family Issue

Families who have twins encounter unique needs and circumstances. Insight into issues twins encounter can improve parental and counseling treatment of twins as well as foster a healthy identity formation. These special issues that twins encounter will be addressed through the following: parenting influences, twin comparisons, sharing, competition, differentiation, bonding, empathy development, separation anxiety, identity development, and various recognized patterns of twinship. Through an understanding of twins’ specific needs and challenges, counselors can be influential in fostering a healthier family system.