Main description:

This book presents the application of key psychoanalytic concepts in thinking about the dynamics in the couple relationship. The contributions to the first part, mainly theory, discuss how different psychoanalytic ideas can be used in conceptualizing the nature of couple interaction. In the second part, on clinical practice, four couples tell their stories during their clinical sessions.

Couple Stories conveys a lively experience of the couple's relationships as these occur in the consulting room and there are several commentaries for each 'couple story'. Commentaries explore the concepts described in the earlier part of the book, as well as clinical themes that couples bring to their sessions and the difficulties that they have encountered in the course of their relationship. Commentaries also provide an insight into how psychoanalytic couple therapists think about the clinical material, what they might select as a focus, and how they may go about developing a hypothesis about the nature of the relationship between the partners.

Contents:

Series Editor's Preface David Scharff

Introduction

Part One

Chapter 1: "As my shriveled heart expanded": the Dynamics of Love, Hate, and Generosity in the Couple Aleksandra Novakovic

Chapter 2: Oedipus Killed the Couple: Murder on the Thebes Highway Viveka Nyberg

Chapter 3: Projective Identification Processes in the Couple Relationship Mary Morgan

Chapter 4: On the Container-Contained Dynamics in the Couple Relationship David Hewison

Part Two: Couple Stories and Clinical Commentaries

Chapter 5: Marco and Rosa Couple Story Co-therapy, Containment, and the Couple A Clinical Commentary for Marco and Rosa Christopher Clulow

Finding a Story A Clinical Commentary for Marco and Rosa Joanna Rosenthall

Projective Identification: Rivalry, Competition, and Exclusion A Clinical Commentary for Marco and Rosa Stanley Ruszczynski

Narcissism and Loss of a Shared Ideal, Oedipal Exclusion, and Sibling Transference, Affecting a Couple State of Mind A Clinical Commentary for Marco and Rosa Jill Savege Scharff

Chapter 6: Peter and Helen Couple Story

Over the Hill to Oedipus A Clinical Commentary for Peter and Helen Andrew Balfour

Facing Death: Mourning and Reparation in a Late Middle-Aged Couple A Clinical Commentary for Peter and Helen Warren Colman

Therapy: Anxieties, Defences, and the Couple A Clinical Commentary for Peter and Helen Susan Irving

Couples Come in Twos and Threes: an Oedipal Perspective A clinical commentary for Peter and Helen Molly Ludlam

Chapter 7: Daniel and Caroline Couple Story Containment and the Couple A Clinical Commentary for Daniel and Caroline Eve Ashley

Oedipal Dynamics and the "White Heat" of the Session A Clinical Commentary for Daniel and Caroline Brett Kahr

Shared Couple Defences against Anxiety A clinical commentary for Daniel and Caroline Monica Lanman

Trauma, the First Born, and the Oedipal Situation A Clinical Commentary for Daniel and Caroline Sara Leon

Chapter 8: Greg and Lottie Couple Story Anxieties and Defences A Clinical Commentary for Greg and Lottie Susanna Abse

"The Fog and the Shadows of the Past" A Clinical Commentary for Greg and Lottie Pierre Benghozi

Oedipal Dynamics and the Couple A Clinical Commentary for Greg and Lottie Peter Griffiths

Containment and the Couple A Clinical Commentary for Greg and Lottie Patsy Ryz

Epilogue