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Marital relations between pathological gamblers and their spouses were found to be chaotic and turbulent, indicative of frequent severe characterological problems. Two therapy groups were formed, each consisting of four such couples. The husbands tended to be bright, in their middle thirties, and mostly in white collar managerial positions. Half appeared sociopathic, the others passive, dependent, and schizoid. The wives, all housewives, displayed primitive defenses: projective, hysterical, and phobic. These unions were surprisingly enduring considering their chaotic nature and the fact that in most, gambling disasters and unresolved conflicts severed effective communication. There was a prevalence of histories of critical, authoritarian mothers and passive fathers, often alcoholic, and of the parents' encouraging and financing gambling. When husbands showed an increased assertiveness and a decrease of gambling and depression, wives became depressed, aware that the gambling was an offshoot of marital discord, and were no longer able to be martyrs to their husbands. At this point, the husbands regressed, threatened by the loss of support from their wives. Crises ensued, members quit, gambled, missed meetings, and discord erupted at home. The therapists' passive conventional approach was scrapped for more direct authoritarian intervention. After this, the group became cohesive, members related more authentically, displaying frankness, mutuality, and the capacity to perceive and understand each other's conflicts.