ABSTRACT
This chapter will demonstrate the importance of differentiation of self as the foundation for solid functioning in the presence of chronic family symptoms. To raise one’s level of solid self, profound work is required. That effort includes strengthening the capacity to remain focused and to act on facts in the face of strong feelings within self. When the effort to become more mature occurs in the midst of chronic family symptoms, it is signifi cantly more diffi cult because chronic family symptoms tend to increase anxiety and to sustain that high anxiety chronically. The presence of moderate to severe anxiety makes the task of focusing on facts, and acting on those facts, much more diffi cult.
