A Dysfunctional or otherwise Unhealthy family is typically comprised of six or so family roles, characters or archetypes. If you see these in your family or home you may have some healing to do. Healing the root cause, childhood trauma etc., will heal the whole.
The Addict - this is the person with the problem. It's not always substances. Sometimes we can become addicted to dysfunctional habits or attention, etc. The existence of Love and Sex Addiction is proof that it's not always the booze or the meth that's causing the dysfunction.
The Scapegoat - This is the one that everyone blames for their problems. As a matter of fact, the above is so powerful, the scapegoat can sometimes manifest in the form of addictive drugs or substances that the addict can or may point their finger at to justify staying in their old addictive patterns.
The Rescuer/Hero/Enabler - This is the one that enables the addict to continue on their destructive addiction fueled path. She/he may allow the addict to stay in a state of denying their addiction or somehow help them to keep an easily targetable scapegoat to continue their addictive, destructive patterns.
The Mascot/Clown - This one feels a lot of pain but hides behind humor or "making the best" of the dysfunction. They may tell jokes to distract or "keep eyes" off of the underlying problem. Their intent is always of innocence, but it actually prevents the problems from being healed because they're being hidden or otherwise not acknowledged.
The Caretaker/Golden Child - This one is the one that the family uses to seem like they are perfectly functional. Kind of the opposite of the scapegoat in a way, I guess. This one is the typical "first born" as in taking on all the responsibility to upkeep the family and somehow make it seem functional. This one may take care of their younger or younger mental functioning siblings and feel a lot of pressure to maintain some sense or normalcy.
The Lost Child - This one is a loner of a sort and has problems fitting in or finding themselves through the dysfunction. They may have a pattern of dissociating, that's the major quality of this one is dissociating because they're lost, feeling rejected or like they don't belong and detaching or dissociating is a way to seemingly escape the continued trauma.
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