Couples On The Couch

Introduction : core concepts of the Tavistock couple psychotherapy model / Shelley Nathans -- Couples on the couch : working psychoanalytically with couple relationships / Stanley Ruszczynski -- Discussion of "couples on the couch : working psychoanalytically with couple relationships" / Rachel Cooke -- Unconscious beliefs about being a couple / Mary Morgan -- Discussion of "unconscious beliefs about being a couple" : beliefs about a couple and beliefs about the other / Milton Schaefer -- The Macbeths in the consulting room / James V. Fisher -- Discussion of "the Macbeths in the consulting room" / Shelley Nathans -- Psychotic and depressive processes in couple functioning / Francis Grier -- Discussion of "psychotic and depressive processes in couple functioning" / Julie Friend -- Romantic bonds, binds and ruptures : couples on the brink / Virginia Goldner -- Discussion of "romantic bonds, binds and ruptures : couples on the brink" / Rachael Peltz -- How was it for you? Attachment, sexuality and mirroring in couple relationships / Christopher Clulow -- Discussion of "how was it for you? Attachment, mirroring, and the psychotherapeutic process with couples" / Leora Benioff -- Growing old together in mind and body / Andrew Balfour -- Discussion of "growing old together in mind and body" / Leslye Russell.

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.

Couple and Family Psychoanalysis is an international journal sponsored by Tavistock Relationships, which aims to promote the theory and practice of working with couple and family relationships from a psychoanalytic perspective. It seeks to provide a forum for disseminating current ideas and research and for developing clinical practice. The annual subscription provides two issues a year. Articles - “Suddenly the Window Opened and I Saw...”: Twenty-second Enid Balint Memorial Lecture 2017 by Ignês Sodré - Response to “Suddenly the Window Opened and I Saw...” by Ignês Sodré; by Krisztina Glausius - A Partnership of Two Therapeutic Models: The Development of Mentalization Based Treatment—Couple Therapy (MBT–CT) Within A Psychoanalytic Framework by Viveka Nyberg and Leezah Hertzmann - On Increasing Session Frequency in Psychoanalytic Couple Psychotherapy: Some Clinical Considerations by Amita Sehgal - Conception “In Vitro”: A Composite Framework in Psychotherapy with a Couple by Hana Salaam Abdel-Malek

Winner of the 2014 Goethe Award for Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Scholarship! A Relational Psychoanalytic Approach to Couples Psychotherapy presents an original model of couples treatment integrating ideas from a host of authors in relational psychoanalysis. It also includes other psychoanalytic traditions as well as ideas from other social sciences. This book addresses a vacuum in contemporary psychoanalysis devoid of a comprehensively relational way to think about the practice of psychoanalytically oriented couples treatment. In this book,Philip Ringstrom sets out a theory of practice that is based on three broad themes: The actualization of self experience in an intimate relationship The partners' capacity for mutual recognition versus mutual negation The relationship having a mind of its own Based on these three themes, Ringstrom's model of treatment is articulated in six non-linear, non-hierarchical steps that wed theory with practice - each powerfully illustrated with case material. These steps initially address the therapist’s attunement to the partners' disparate subjectivities including the critical importance of each one's perspective on the "reality" they co-habit.Their perspectives are fleshed out through the exploration of their developmental histories with focus on factors of gender and culture and more. Out of this arises the examination of how conflictual pasts manifest in dissociated self-states, the illumination of which lends to the enrichment of self-actualization, the facilitation of mutual recognition, and the capacity to more genuinely renegotiate their relationship. The book concludes with a chapter that illustrates one couple treated through all six steps and a chapter on frequently asked questions ("FAQ's") derived from over thirty years of practice, teaching, supervision and presentations during the course of this books development. A Relational Psychoanalytic Approach to Couples Psychotherapy balances a great range of ways to work with couples, while also providing the means to authentically negotiate their differences in a way which is insightful and invaluable. This book is for practitioners of couples therapy and psychoanalytic practitioners. It is also aimed at undergraduate, graduates, and postgraduate students in the fields of psychiatry, psychology, marriage and family therapy, and social work.

Couple Therapy: The Basics provides a comprehensive introduction to couple therapy. Taking both a general overview and a psychoanalytic focus, it addresses the basic questions that both couples and those interested in becoming couple therapists can expect to ask. Using jargon-light language, this book summarises the range of approaches available to those seeking couple therapy – from behavioural to psychoanalytic. It covers topics such as: what defines a couple, challenges for couple therapists, and outcomes for couple therapy. While introducing the subject to many readers, it also aims to further interest in and understanding of couple therapy, explaining its differences from other therapies. A glossary of key terms is included, as well as appendices with links to research and associated organisations. This book is essential for early career therapists, as well as those undertaking or are interested in couple therapy.

Each essay a gem, the author, a longtime Psychotherapist and Counsellor speaks to all of us about the issues we have or may face as we follow our path in life. She speaks plainly, lucidly, with a heartfelt understanding.

This book is a challenge to the silos in our human services that an ‘atomised’ focus gives rise to. They are evident in the chasm that can exist between child and adult mental health care, between competing therapeutic approaches and, most importantly for this volume, in the segmentation of support for adults who are partners as well as parents. The contributors, all with substantial experience of providing front-line services, identify the problem their intervention is designed to address, provide a conceptual justification for the approach they have used and supply evidence for its effectiveness. Vivid illustrations bring the work to life and provide examples of best practice whose relevance can readily be transported to different settings. Unusual in bringing together approaches that encompass internal and external realities in responding to the challenges of physical constraint, emotional distress and an often-volatile social environment, the contributions are assembled to highlight a common thread that can inform services at different stages of the life course. Each chapter is accompanied by a commentary from specialists in their field who elucidate and critique the key points made by the authors and help the experience of reading the book to be one of dialogue. Engaging Couples: New Directions in Therapeutic in Work with Families explores new ways of approaching some of the key issues of contemporary family life, including depression, living with long-term conditions, inter-parental conflict and domestic abuse to name but a few, refracting them through a lens that sees our relationships as fundamental to the fabric of our lives – the most important social capital of all. It represents essential reading for clinicians and family practitioners of all persuasions, and those that train and support them in their work.

A Couple State of Mind is a much anticipated book aimed at an international audience of practitioners, students and teachers of psychoanalytic couple therapy, describes the Tavistock Relationships model of couple psychoanalytic psychotherapy, drawing on both historical and contemporary ideas, including the author’s own theoretical contributions. The book references contemporary influences of other psychoanalytic approaches to couples, particularly from an international perspective. It will be invaluable for all students learning about psychoanalytic work with couples for other psychoanalytic practitioners interested in this field.