Psychoanalytic Couple Therapy: Consultation and Therapeutic Framework

Résumé

In this scientific paper, the two researchers discussed a therapeutic process derived from psychoanalytic theory, represented by analytical couples therapy, which serves couples in the first place and the marital relationship in the second, in relation to the bonds/relationship between men and women on the one hand, and women and men on the other, according to their gender and sexuality, as analytical couples therapy focuses on analysing the bond built by the partners (husband and wife) between them. In the initial sessions, the therapist's holistic interventions on couple dynamics and individual functioning aim to restore narcissistic balance and help each partner to visualise their relationship. Therapy then involves addressing unconscious complications between the couple as the partners (spouses) reframe their intertwined personal histories within the marital therapeutic framework. Ultimately, this therapeutic process allows a shift from projecting each couple's internal objects onto their partner to recognising the external objects that make up their relationship, ultimately revealing the richness of the other and interactively fostering the psychological growth of both parties.