The Nuclear Family, a Living Organism

This paper focuses on the author's interest in child and adult observation, as it relates to the nuclear family, which he describes as a living organism that goes through five stages of development leading to decline and eventual replacement.A review of the psychoanalytic developmental literature indicates that the nuclear family is essential to normal development in childhood and adolescence.The literature in related disciplines contains mixed opinions about the importance of the nuclear family.In the second half of the paper, the author describes psychoanalytic and psychotherapeutic work with two individuals who were eventually able to overcome traumatic childhood experiences and form a thriving, viable, organic nuclear family.