The inevitability of Cheuvront's questions issues from three ironies. First, the relational turn in psychoanalysis may be said to have the unintended consequence of putting into question the very structure it has placed at center stage: the couple. Second, as the cultural critique of heterosexual monogamy has intensified and diverse forms of intimacy have proliferated, the psychoanalytic literature has seen an increased use of the terms analytic couple and nursing couple. Third, this phenomenon probably issues from an attempt to preserve tradition in response to a cultural and economic context that is seeing a decreased interest in psychoanalysis.