Does your family have one? This question is not as easy to answer as it may seem, for many black sheep are not physically excluded from the family. In truth, the world is full of black sheep. They may be the most creative of the family, or the one with the most powerful emotions. In fact, they are often the best and brightest. Many, many black sheep are lovable folks with much to offer their families and the world. Or she may be a sociopath who violates the family’s boundaries and care, so that the family has to exclude her to rightfully protect themselves.īut surprisingly, very seldom is either of these scenarios actually the case. It is true that sometimes the black sheep is indeed “odd” by anyone’s standards (sometimes the result of a hidden mental illness). Furthermore, the rest of the family believes that the black sheep brought this upon himself. Generally considered the outcast of the family, the black sheep is typically assumed to be an oddball. I tried to imagine this adorable, sad young man being the “black sheep” of anything. Said the young man who sat before me in my therapy office.
