Replacement Children: The Unconscious Script

by Rita Silverman

The loss of a child is one of the most devastating events that can occur in a family. Unresolved parental grief can manifest in the lives of subsequent children, those born after a child dies, or becomes incapacitated, or in an older child whose life is redirected as a result of the loss of a sibling, or even in the case of some adopted children. Replacement Children refers to the experience of individuals who carry the weight of having to fill the void left by the loss. Parents struggling to cope may unknowingly burden another child with the expectations of healing the family. The replacement child experience can be the underlying, and often missed, explanation of a host of emotional issues. However, the challenges that replacement children face may also serve as a catalyst for unlocking a rich creative potential, talents and resourcefulness.
Replacement Children: The Unconscious Script by Rita Battat Silverman, a replacement child herself, and respected psychiatrist Abigail Brenner, M.D., offers the best of the available research combined with compelling personal stories that illustrate this widespread syndrome. A variety of famous accounts, such as those of Katharine Hepburn and Vincent Van Gogh, help to address the myriad of personal challenges.
This groundbreaking book provides a new understanding of how best to navigate the complex issues and familial circumstances that inadvertently and unconsciously created the replacement child syndrome. With a poignant, beautifully written foreword by Katie Couric, Replacement Children: The Unconscious Script provides vital information and sheds much needed light on this widespread phenomenon.

Genres: Nonfiction

282 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 11, 2015

Reviews

[Pat Dannahy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was looking for research, so found it too much of a 'story' - disappointing.

[Max · Rating 3 out of 5]

a nice reassurance that my experience as a kid isn't as bizarre as i thought, but at least twice as long as it needed to be