Replacement Child Professionals

We are creating a new global network for professionals working with replacement children and bereaved parents.

Do you seek insight into
invisible causes of some
intractable cases in your practice?

Kristina Schellinski Dipl. Psy/M.A. & drs. Ard Nieuwenbroek

Join us and become part of a team of global experts in this field. We are internationally recognized authors and experts in treating replacement children and their families.

Replacement children are born into a family grieving a loss, and unconsciously given the role to replace a deceased sibling or self-identifying with such a role, with potential life-long consequences for identity formation, self-esteem and relationships.

We offer you skills and solutions to diagnose and heal replacement children and counsel bereaved families. You will gain insight into the challenging work with replacement children and benefit professionally and personally from working with clients who seek self-validation and individuation.

We support and join efforts with the replacementchildforum.com,
a free website created in 2019, which offers resources, information and personal experiences.

We provide individual professionals and institutions on a fee-for-service basis with

News

Now available in English: Supporting Elvis Children – Stepping Out of a Deceased Sibling’s Shadow

We are pleased to announce that Supporting Elvis Children: Stepping Out of a Deceased Sibling’s Shadow by Ard Nieuwenbroek, Judith Kimenai, and Tanya Defferary is now available in English, published by ACCO (2026). The book was first published in Dutch in 2023. The loss of a child within a family and its impact on the family system is often carried in silence – unseen, unresolved, and rarely spoken about. This book offers a revealing insight into the lives of people who grew up in this unique position: Elvis Children. The term is inspired by the life story of Elvis Presley, whose twin brother died at birth, and who is said to have felt compelled to live for two.

Read on »

Calendar

Our next supervision group meeting:

Hands-on practical work with replacement child Ingeborg, Session 2

Monday 13 April 2026
19.00-21.00 Central European Time (GMT +1)

with Kristina Schellinski and Ard Nieuwenbroek

On the 13th of Apri we will continue our discussion of the live session of Ard Nieuwenbroek with adult replacement child Ingeborg.
We will focus on the third and final part of the session, which met with great interest and a great deal of curiosity among participants; here Ard works with the ‘the other side’ methodology which we will explore in greater depth. Here, Ard works with empty chairs, allowing a different relational reality to emerge for Ingeborg, opening up a new possibility in her healing process.
We will also discuss further reflection by the participants with respect to personal and professional development in their work with adult replacement children.

Sign up by sending an email to info@replacement-child-professionals.com

And please transfer CHF 35 to bank account UBS Geneva Vermont-Nations
IBAN CH 78 0027 9279 2202 4140F in name of Kristina Schellinski or pay $ 44 / € 37 via PayPal. Please also cover the transfer fees.

You can also pay to view Session 1: Hands-on practical work with a replacement child: watch Ard Nieuwenbroek working with an ‘Elvis Child’ in his practice. which was held on 16 february 2026.

Want to keep up to date?

Or email us directly

Kristina Schellinski Dipl. Psy/M.A.

or

drs. Ard Nieuwenbroek

Previous topics

Here you can find an overview of topics we’ve discussed in the past.

Zoom Session

Hands-on practical work with a replacement child: watch Ard Nieuwenbroek working with an ‘Elvis Child’ in his practice.

16 February 2026

We were able to watch Ard work with a client in a recorded session. We could then share our observations in the discussion for our future work with replacement child cases. There were different approaches in helping adult replacement children to become conscious and heal their deep wounds. Ard shared his long clinical experience in working with the contextual approach, as was evidenced by this session, taped one week before our supervision meeting, for the benefit of all of us, and with his client’s consent. We got to see, hear and feel firsthand what issues came up and how Ard addressed these so that a replacement child could reconcile with the condition and reconnect with parents and siblings, by fully realising the suffering caused by the loss of a sibling, echoing down generations – and still be able to find a way to go on with life.

This session was recorded as a live therapy session with adult replacement child Ingeborg, who gave her consent for the video to be shared. For those who missed it or wish to revisit it, the recording is available for purchase.

After registering and paying you will receive access to this video with a link to watch the recording during 14 days, at your leisure in your own time.

Duration: 2:00:57
Cost: €35 / $40 / CHF35

Zoom Session

From Worthlessness to Self-Esteem

10 November 2025

During this insightful session, Kristina Schellinski and Ard Nieuwenbroek explored the psychological challenges faced by replacement children, particularly in relation to self-esteem and identity. The discussion highlighted the wide range of experiences among these children — from those idealized as “golden children” to those who felt invisible, unwanted, and unloved. The speakers explained how being born into a grieving family could deeply affect a child’s sense of self-worth from the earliest stages of life, often carrying into adulthood. They emphasized that therapeutic encounters could offer a turning point, as replacement children might meet a therapist who truly sees and values them. This recognition was described as a crucial first step toward self-understanding. However, not all replacement children were ready to accept such recognition. Some resisted it due to the overwhelming nature of their early losses, while others had long sought validation, often encountering resistance from those around them — including family members, partners, and even therapists. By examining the narcissistic needs of replacement children through the lens of traumatic deprivation, the speakers offered a framework for understanding their deep longing for love and acknowledgment. Yet, they concluded that the most vital step in the healing process was the replacement child’s own recognition of their needs and the intrinsic value of their life. The evening provided valuable insights for therapists, caregivers, and anyone working with or identifying as a replacement child, fostering deeper empathy and understanding of this often overlooked experience.

Zoom Session

What helps replacement children to survive?

15 September 2025

We had identified, over those two years of supervision with replacement child professionals, many factors, including:
Understanding the unique life path of a replacement child; overcoming the shadow cast by grief and the absence of the deceased sibling;
Discovering a new relationship with the absent sibling and opening discussion and revitalising the relationship with parent(s) and surviving siblings;
Engaging in creative activities to counteract destructive experiences;
Freeing the inner child from feelings of “not being good enough” or “having to save or protect”;
Building up recognition, love, and self-validation of the replacement child;
And finding new meaning in life and connection with spirituality, discovering soul and self.

The main challenge was to rediscover the life force within, to recognise the negative projections including the murderous shadow, and to reinvest in one’s own true personality, in the replacement child’s autonomy.

Kristina and Ard presented their recent discoveries from their work with patients and invited participants to share their experiences and ideas.

Zoom Session

'The psyche-soma connection in Replacement Children'

26 May 2025

Many replacement children suffered not only from mental anguish but also in their bodies, with migraines, eczema, auto-immune diseases, and degenerative diseases; some exhibited auto-destructive behaviour or were accident prone. It seemed as if vital self-preservation was threatened by an inimical force. How could such suffering be understood in a symbolic way, and how could replacement child patients be helped to understand their symptoms in a way that led towards healing?
Ard Nieuwenbroek and Kristina Schellinski presented their clinical experience in this group supervision and invited personal sharing and questions concerning work with adult replacement children.

Zoom Session

'Spirituality and Soul: A Formidable Force'

7 April 2025

Replacement children seem to have one foot in the land of the living and one in the land of the dead. Kristina Schellinski and Ard Nieuwenbroek discussed how an experience of universal love can fill the void in replacement children. Discovering a link to their soul, adult replacement children can transcend the feeling of absence and discover a sense of presence. This offers relief as well as existential insights. Moreover, spirituality provides an opportunity for a therapist to bring replacement children, if they dare and want to, into spiritual contact with their deceased sibling. To this end, methodologies have been developed that have proved particularly effective in practice. Rituals can also be recommended.

Zoom Session

'Am I a replacement child forever?'

27 January 2024

Am I a replacement child forever? A question for therapists and their patients. With Kristina Schellinski.

Zoom Session

'Fear in the adult Replacement Child'

25 March 2024

In the first session of Replacement Child Professionals, Kristina and Ard began with a brief introductory talk, giving a small presentation on the topic ‘Fear in the Adult Replacement Child’. They thereby set the stage for a rich, interactive discussion where participants could freely ask questions and share insights.

International Webinar

'To be or not to be'

15 May 2024

On 15th of May 2024 we’ve held the International Webinar.
During this online session we’ve talked about ‘To be or not to be’.

+ Kristina Schellinski M.A.
(Co-Founder of Replacement Child Professionals,
Training Analyst and Supervisor, Psychotherapist, Lecturer,
Author of ‘Individuation for Adult Replacement Children’)

+ Claudine van der Sommen
(expert by experience)

+ Ard Nieuwenbroek
(Co-Founder of Replacement Child Professionals,
Contextual therapist and trainer at Ortho Hulp
(Co-)author of: Elvischildren, living in the shadow of your deceased sibling)

This session has been recorded and the video is available on demand.

Duration: 1:21:48
Cost: €35 / $40 / CHF35

After payment the videolink will be available to watch for 1 week max.

Zoom Session

'Can you choose Life over death?'

18 June 2024

A replacement child can get caught between death and life.
A sibling has died, and a replacement child is born to give new hope, new life to a bereaved family. This position, this role confuses many replacement children and: it is ‘a mission impossible’. So many questions remain unanswered, even unconscious for decades.

Questions like:
To what extent do I carry my sibling’s death within me, in my life?
Can I live with death hanging over me like a shadow?
Can my parents embrace me as a living child?
Can they see me? Or do they keep looking for my lost sibling?

These are just some examples of questions which deserve professional attention. We will acknowledge the essential and existential difficulties faced by replacement children and look for answers. In this supervision session, we focus on ways how therapists can accompany replacement children on their existential journey from death to life.

Zoom Session

'Love & Replacement Children, from Disaster to Miracle'

22 October 2024

Was love tinted with death and this repeats itself?
Many replacement children experience difficulties in their relationships, over and over again. Born into an atmosphere of grief, they experience not presence but absence caused by the loss of a sibling and the grief of their parents. Therapy offers a corrective, alternative experience: the analyst helps replacement children to recognise their early attachment patterns, their feelings of ambivalence, their fear of loss. The therapist can help replacement children discover that self-acceptance and self-love is a gateway towards opening oneself to love.