COUPLE THERAPY: AN INTERSUBJECTIVITY CONTEXT WITH A TRIANGULAR ARRANGEMENT

Abstract

Learning the ways of being-with-other-in-the-world is linked to a triadic experience. This article seeks to expose the issue of the triadic as the core of our relational development, and link it with the therapeutic task where the construction of the third, is the primary focus. Couple therapy rises as a literal triad with three adults meet, an aspect that makes it difficult for the therapist to maintain asymmetry and promotes more intense fears about the alliance. To support the stress at excluding or being excluded is a natural source of relational learning, an essential resource for couple therapists, whom must be able to tolerate this ambivalence permanently.