Psychoanalytic Couple Therapy: Foundations of Theory and Practice (The Library of Couple and Family Psychoanalysis)

In this time of vulnerable marriages and partnerships, many couples seek help for their relationships. Psychoanalytic couple therapy is a growing application of psychoanalysis for which training is not usually offered in most psychoanalytic and analytic psychotherapy programs. This book is both an advanced text for therapists and a primer for new students of couple psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Its twenty-eight chapters cover the major ideas underlying the application of psychoanalysis to couple therapy, many clinical illustrations of cases and problems in various dimensions of the work. The international group of authors comes from the International Psychotherapy Institute based in Washington, DC, and the Tavistock Centre for Couple Relationships (TCCR) in London. The result is a richly international perspective that nonetheless has theoretical and clinical coherence because of the shared vision of the authors.;pt. I FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF PSYCHOANALYTIC COUPLE THERAPY -- ch. One An overview of psychodynamic couple therapy / Jill Savege Scharff -- ch. Two Shared unconscious phantasy in couples / David Hewison -- ch. Three Intimacy and the couple -- the long and winding road / Susanna Abse -- ch. Four Attachment, affect regulation, and couple psychotherapy / Christopher Clulow -- ch. Five Aggression in couples: an object relations primer / David E. Scharff -- ch. Six Getting back to or getting back at: understanding overt aggression in couple relationships / Christopher Vincent -- ch. Seven Responding to the clinical needs of same-sex couples / Damian McCann -- ch. Eight The selfdyad in the dynamic organisation of the couple / Richard M. Zeitner -- ch. Nine Dreams in analytic couple therapy / David E. Scharff -- ch. Ten Why can being a creative couple be so difficult to achieve? The impact of early anxieties on relating / Mary Morgan. COVER 1 CONTENTS 6 ABOUT THE EDITORS AND CONTRIBUTORS 10 SERIES EDITOR’S FOREWORD 14 PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 18 PART I FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF PSYCHOANALYTIC COUPLE THERAPY 22 CHAPTER ONE An overview of psychodynamic couple therapy 24 CHAPTER TWO Shared unconscious phantasy in couples 46 CHAPTER THREE Intimacy and the couple—the long and winding road 56 CHAPTER FOUR Attachment, affect regulation, and couple psychotherapy 65 CHAPTER FIVE Aggression in couples: an object relations primer 80 CHAPTER SIX Getting back to or getting back at: understanding overt aggression in couple relationships 92 CHAPTER SEVEN Responding to the clinical needs of same-sex couples 102 CHAPTER EIGHT The selfdyad in the dynamic organisation of the couple 112 CHAPTER NINE Dreams in analytic couple therapy 122 CHAPTER TEN Why can being a creative couple be so difficult to achieve? The impact of early anxieties on relating 137 PART II ASSESSMENT AND TREATMENT 144 CHAPTER ELEVEN The couple state of mind and some aspects of the setting in couple psychotherapy 146 CHAPTER TWELVE Establishing a therapeutic relationship in analytic couple therapy 152 CHAPTER THIRTEEN The triangular field of couple containment 169 CHAPTER FOURTEEN Projection, introjection, intrusive identification, adhesive identification 179 CHAPTER FIFTEEN Negotiating individual and joint transferences in couple therapy 191 CHAPTER SIXTEEN Narcissism in a couple with a cocaine addicted partner 201 CHAPTER SEVENTEEN The dream space in analytic couple therapy 211 CHAPTER EIGHTEEN Clinical narrative and discussion: a couple who lost joy 222 PART III UNDERSTANDING AND TREATING SEXUAL ISSUES 234 CHAPTER NINETEEN How development structures sexual relationships 236 CHAPTER TWENTY Assessing the sexual relationship 249 CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE Addressing sexual issues in couple therapy 258 CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO Unconscious meanings and consequences of abortion in the life of couples 267 CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE Working with affairs 275 PART IV SPECIAL TOPICS 288 CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR The couple as parents: the role of children in couple treatment 290 CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE Divorce and parenting wars 300 CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX Trauma in the couple 316 CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN Treating intergenerational trauma: the bomb that exploded me continues to blow up my family 324 CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT But my partner “is” the problem: addressing addiction, mood disorders, and psychiatric illness in psychoanalytic couple treatment 331 CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE The ending of couple therapy with a couple who recovered joy 344 EPILOGUE 356 INDEX 358