The making of a teenager: Brian (The Nerd)

The goal of this project is to consider how family relationships helped shape the characters in some of the most beloved films about teenagers from the 1980s.

Red jagged line = conflict

Red jagged line = conflict

Therapist Comment:

  • If mother is focused on Brian, what is she not paying attention to?

  • Where did Brian learn a poor mark ruins everything?

  • How can Brian become more objective about about what he is capable of?

Up next:: Allison (The Basket Case)

To learn how to create and understand your own family diagram, see Chapter 7 in Takes More Than Love by Dr. Aliza Israel & Avrum Nadigel, MSW.

For a general introduction to family diagrams see Monica Mcgoldrick’s “Genograms”

** The Breakfast Club (19856) was written and directed by John Hughes

Avrum Nadigel