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Félix Velasco-Alva begins his book on an integrative approach to treating couples by noting that the theory and practice of couples therapy tends to fall into two broad models, one based on systems theory and the other on psychoanalysis. According to Velasco-Alva, because this field comprises biological, social, intrapsychic, and interactional phenomena, an integrative model is needed. Thus, his interest in systems theory has led him to find in constructivisim a point of contact with psychoanalysis. In this original contribution, Velasco-Alva proposes a new model for working with couples, which he calls “The Psychodynamic-Constructivist Model, with an Intersubjective Focus.”
A word on the title is warranted: this book is anything but a simple treatment manual. Readers will find here Velasco-Alva's rich integration of advances in intersubjectivist and constructivist approaches in psychoanalysis and related therapies. His work concentrates on demonstrating the value of these lines of thinking in working psychoanalytically with families and couples, where the “history of the therapist, as well as of the