Dr. Friedman is a prominent and well-respected twin expert who shares her passionate views and insights about twins and their emotional needs with twins and their families throughout the world.

The fact that she is an identical twin and the mother of five, including fraternal twin sons, makes her ideally suited to this task. Her commitment to twin research and her treatment of twins of all ages demonstrate the breadth and depth of her skills and experience.

She conducts groups for parents of twins and provides consultation about twin-related matters such as school placements, developmental discrepancies, behavioral issues, and individuation struggles. She also offers individual telephone and online consultation and therapy sessions.

Her first book, Emotionally Healthy Twins, has received critical acclaim as a unique resource for understanding how twins develop and what parents can do to manage and understand twin-specific challenges as twins mature.

Dr. Friedman recently finished her new and exciting book about the relationship intricacies of adult twins, titled The Same but Different: How Twins Can Live, Love and Learn to be Individuals, which was released in February 2014.

She has earned doctorates from two prestigious psychoanalytic training programs in southern California. Her social work experience in community mental health facilities and hospitals has contributed to her unique perspectives about child development and parenting.



Testimonials

The Same But Different presents a stunning, in-depth look at the lives of adult twins as they face the twin challenges of closeness and independence, love and resentment in their evolving relations with each other. Readers are privy to the inner thoughts and personal reflections of twins whose diverse experiences bring keen insight into what it is like to be a twin. Parents, therapists, twins, and nontwins will gain new understanding of this endlessly fascinating human relationship.”

–Nancy L. Segal, PhD, Professor of Psychology, CSU Fullerton, and author of Born Together–Reared Apart and Someone Else’s Twin

This book is a must read for parents of twins. Joan Friedman highlights some of the complicated challenges facing adult twins and offers guidance for promoting healthy, respectful relationships. Since most parents of twins are not twins themselves, this type of insight is invaluable!”

–Eve Currin, mother of college-age twins

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