Kleinian couples therapy with combative and reactive patients
Some Thoughts on Theory and Technique
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.60106/rsbppa.v14i2.475Keywords:
Analytic contact, Couples therapy, Kleinian theoryAbstract
As Aronson and Scharfman (1992) and others have noted, today’s psychoanalyst does much more psychotherapy than psychoanalysis. I still hold that the psychoanalytic procedure can be the same and offer the same benefit, regardless of frequency, diagnosis, or duration of sessions. The goal remains the establishment of analytic contact (WASKA, 2007; 2011a; 2011b). But, the reality of psychoanalytic practice today is that most patients are seen once a week or as couples (CAREY, 2002). This paper will examine the Kleinian approach to couple’s treatment and in particular the slippery and complicated climate that exists in the early phase of work with turbulent, hard to reach, and chaotic couples. It is not unusual for these reactive and difficult cases to abort or terminate abruptly. Therefore, one case will be presented that did come to an early, sudden, and negative outcome. However, some progress was made along the way and analytic contact was established in random moments before being eroded and lost.
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