The Phenomenon Of Enmeshment Between A Mother And Her Child

This paper will explore the phenomenon of enmeshment between a mother and her child. It will begin by first providing a working definition for the concept of enmeshment, then go into more detail about how and why this manifests within the mother and child dynamic. Next it will discuss maternal enmeshment’s impact on the child’s development during childhood using the theories of Erik Erikson and John Bowlby as a framework of understanding. It will conclude by providing a brief overview of some ways enmeshment can adversely influence the child across the lifespan. Enmeshment is a term first coined by Family Systems theorist Salvador Minuchin. According to Minuchin, enmeshment is a relational structure in which there is a distortion of psychological boundaries, making autonomy very difficult to accomplish. In enmeshed relationships, interpersonal differentiation is poor, causing the individual to get lost within the relational dynamic (Minuchin, 1974). Another sy stems theorist, Murray Bowen, also discusses the concept of enmeshment. Bowen, inspired by analytic theory, posited that one’s thinking, feeling, and behaving is tied to the family system (Bowen, 1978). In accordance with his analytic roots, Bowen referred to enmeshment as an â€Å"undifferentiated ego mass†. By this he means there is lack of acknowledgement of the separateness between the self and other – their egos are â€Å"melded† as one (Bowen, 1978). Just as Minuchin valued boundaries, Bowen valued autonomy,