The Adult Only-Child: Sibling Phantasy and the Search for Belonging explores the largely unexamined inner world of the adult only-child and how the absence of siblings may leave an enduring longing for connection, identity and a secure place among others.

Drawing on original doctoral research, psychodynamic theory and extensive clinical experience, Dr Langley challenges stereotypes of the only-child as spoiled or overindulged offering a sensitive, layered account of their psychological development. Central is her concept of the phantasy sibling transference, in which the sibling who was unconsciously expected but never existed may remain psychically present, shaping relationships and emerging powerfully within the therapeutic encounter. Without a lived sibling relationship question of identity and position may remain unresolved: Who am I among my peers? Is there a place for me? Through compelling clinical material and psychoanalytic exploration, Langley discovers how longings for sibling connection may emerge alongside anxieties about rivalry, displacement, exclusion and belonging, revealing how the search for the sibling who never existed, and the wish to be special, may protect against a deeper fear of having no place at all.

This book will be of particular interest to psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, counsellors, psychologists and clinical trainees working with adult only-children, as well as only-children themselves and those interested in sibling relationships, identity, belonging, unconscious phantasy and the enduring influence of childhood relationships on adult life.

Jane Langley is a psychotherapist in private practice and Clinical Director of two Counselling and Psychotherapy Centres in Colchester and Ipswich. She also lectures and presents on the psychoanalytic experience of the only-child, with a particular focus on sibling relationships and their significance for psychological development.