Dysfunctional Family Roles

This checklist helps you become aware of the patterns and behaviors you may slip into when dysfunction arises.

While this role may be glorified, but often comes with a crushing weight of high expectations.

If you are the scapegoat in your family, here are steps you can take to move out of that role.

It's hard to stop playing a role you have been playing your entire life, especially if the people closest to you insist that you keep playing that role.

Seek help from a therapist knowledgeable about family systems and how family roles emerge within a dysfunctional family system.

The best books about The Family System

5 journal prompts for the scapegoat who feels unfairly blamed for the family unit's problems, conflicts, and dysfunction.

Learn how the lost child role develops and how to recover from the lost sense of identity that often comes with it.

Tips on how to approach this conversation and the behavior change.

If you grew up in a home where your family’s love didn’t really feel like love at all, there are a few things I want you to know.

Here’s a guide on building a family that feels like a haven rather than a repeat of what you hope to leave behind.

Once you become aware of your role, why you play it, and who tends to trigger it, you can start adjusting your behavior around your family members.

By focusing on one individual (the scapegoat), the rest of the family can avoid dealing with underlying issues.

Breaking out of this role is essential for your well-being and the well-being of the person you’ve been enabling.

Truly healing from family dysfunction requires learning to set boundaries.

Family dysfunction is exhausting, and it becomes even more debilitating when you’re the only one who seems to recognize it.

Use this checklist to help you understand your family’s unique areas of dysfunction and identify what you might need to work on.

Often seen as giving, protective, and kind, this role inadvertently maintains dysfunction and can be debilitating.

This worksheet will help you identify what dysfunctional roles are playing out in your family, and who belongs in which role.

In a dysfunctional family, the Hero is driven by the need to make up for the family’s issues.

Are you causing drama in your relationships?

Dysfunctional roles in a family often arise as coping mechanisms in response to unhealthy family dynamics.