The sibling relation is life’s most enduring—lasting longer than that with parents or children and characterized by distinctive emotional effects—whether passion, pain, or solace—that   

shape who we are. For years, psychologists viewed siblings as minor actors on the stage of human development. That viewpoint has changed. This course will ask why some siblings become incredibly close, while others grow distant, angry, or neutral. Topics to be explored include early childhood attachment; loyalty and excessive dependence; trauma and its consequences; rivalry and struggles for superiority; favoritism; mental illness or disability; sibling death early or later in life; relationships in older age; and twins and genetics.    

Participants may be invited to discuss their own sibling relationships.