ABSTRACT
The parent or alternative carer is crucial in shaping the context and quality of the child’s environment, and the impact of the carer’s functioning on the child, both directly and indirectly, will be determined to a great extent by their personality. When families present, whether in clinical practice or in the legal arena, assessment should include consideration of the influence of parental personality on the emergence of difficulties, the nature of the presentation at that point in time and the likelihood of successful engagement in a therapeutic endeavour, with resolution of the problems.
