The Russian president is believed to have two adult daughters with his first wife, and four young children with his Olympian mistress Alina Kabaeva. The trauma-informed therapist spoke to Express.co.uk about the damaging impacts that having Putin as a father could have caused his two adult children.
It is believed the Russian leader has at least six children, but he has never publically confirmed the speculations and is notoriously quiet about his private life.
He once told a reporter: “I have always reacted negatively to those who with their snotty noses and erotic fantasies prowl into others’ lives”.
Maria Vorontsova, 35, is said to be the eldest daughter of Putin, 69, and his ex-wife Lyudmila Ocheretnaya whom he was married to for 30 years. While his second supposed daughter is Yekaterina Tikhonova – who, like Maria, has mostly stayed out of the spotlight.
Caroline Strawson, a trauma-informed therapist, said having the Russian tyrant as a father, whom she describes as a “narcissist”, could have caused his daughters to experience serious trauma.
Ms Strawson told Express.co.uk: “Having a narcissistic father can leave children in a constant trauma response.
“As humans, we are driven by survival and moving away from pain and a narcissist’s behaviour can leave a child in a fight, flight, freeze or fawn response, as they try to behave in a certain way to minimise the abuse that the narcissist perpetrates to the child”.
According to Putin’s ex-wife, the Russian leader always “spoiled his two daughters”, because “this was learnt behaviour from his parents” who treated him like a “golden child”.
The trauma expert said this can have consequences on children as they grow up to feel their version of love is to receive love for doing or being a certain way and not simply by being themselves.
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“It is challenging having a narcissist as a father because there is the battle between wanting to be loved by your parent but also overriding that is the drive to be safe and minimise the abuse inflicted”.
Describing Putin’s refusal to speak of his private life including his daughters could also impact their self-worth.
She said: “Putin never acknowledges the fact he has two daughters, and this can be highly triggering as the daughters can interpret this as not feeling good enough.
“This can then impact their behaviour and relationships and potentially how they parent unless they seek therapy to break the generational cycle”.