ABSTRACT
From the writings of early Freud to the writings of contemporary psychoanalysts, the psychoanalytic literature reflects psychologically or socially adaptive processes that siblings and their representations initiate. In spite of Freud's recognition that childhood sibling experiences play a role in psychopathology as well as in psychological growth, it seems to us that as psychoanalysts we have developed a tradition which tends to ignore — in our teaching, in our writings, and most importantly in our practice of psychoanalysis — internalized sibling experiences. The symptoms and personality traits of the patients, when they appear in other patients, could alert the clinician to the possible existence of conflicts in adults pertaining to internalized childhood sibling experiences. During diagnostic workup with adult patients the possibility of psychopathology pertaining to sibling representations may manifest itself.
