Couple Stories: Application of Psychoanalytic Ideas in Thinking about Couple Interaction

by Aleksandra Novakovic (editor), Marguerite Reid (Editor)

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.

232 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 15, 2018

Reviews

[Susan L · Rating 2 out of 5]

Don’t even care to keep this on my shelf. Revelations and insights as to how certain triggers and behaviors in relationships might have originated from childhood are important and can be life altering, the operative word being “can.” In my experience, though, an insight is rarely enough in couple therapy and this book is heavy on the story, light on the application, ie, nitty gritty techniques for helping people change their destructive patterns.