Tag Archives: twins

Invite Just One Twin for a Playdate

I had the pleasure of spending a few hours with a psychologist who specializes in teaching parents and children essential social skills. She mentioned that she has a number of twins who attend her groups, and I was intrigued to hear about how she helps identical twins learn to socialize with their peers. From the outside looking in, many people watch twins play effortlessly with one another and wish that their children were able to get along so well. While a twin […]

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Beware Twin Denial

On the last day of a New Zealand Multiple Birth Association conference, I chaired a panel of adult twins who volunteered their time to answer questions posed by moms of younger twins. Many of the questions presented to the panel addressed issues about twins being compared, their individuality, and the importance of knowing who is older. It was interesting that the twins who introduced themselves all remarked if they were the older one! The panel members seemed to agree that […]

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Twins: Addicted to Opioids and Each Other

I recently did a consultation about a pair of twins who became addicted to opioids after one of the teenage girls sustained a knee injury during a gymnastics competition. The girls are fourteen years old and have been devoted to training and performing since they were five years old. Both were highly gifted, motivated, and driven to excel. They spent practically every waking moment together training, practicing, and competing and had very little time for other activities or relationships. Gymnastics […]

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Exploring the Relationships between Twins and Other Siblings

With the author’s permission, I am sharing a paper she wrote this summer. Gwendolen Huo is a sixteen-year-old identical twin who has an interest in exploring her relationship to her twin and their older sister. I trust you will appreciate her burgeoning efforts to articulate her emotional perspectives.   Two Is Better than One, Right? Two pairs of feet, each with crimson red flats, marched forward together in unison. Further up, the two are wearing identical scarlet dresses rimmed with […]

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Enemy or Frenemy?

I asked an older adolescent twin patient the other day to tell me some of her thoughts about competition. She related the following: Oh, it’s horrible. The only good competition is the Olympics—those athletes train and train to be able to compete for one of the highest available honors. When I played softball in high school I had to think that the girls we played against were all bad; it’s silly to think about this now, but I had no […]

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