Unhealthy families discourage individual expression. Everyone must conform to the thoughts and actions of the toxic parents. They promote fusion, a blurring of personal boundaries, a welding together of family members. On an unconscious level, it is hard for family members to know where one ends and another begins. In their efforts to be close, they often suffocate one another's individuality.

Toxic Parents: Overcoming Their Hurtful Legacy and Reclaiming Your Life (ed. Bantam, 2009) - ISBN: 9780307575326