Since it does not allow for interpersonal or 'ecological' formulations, psychoanalytic object relations theory has been found wanting by the author of this slim volume. Similarly, systems theory has been found inadequate to conceptualize the interactions within a family. Stierlin proposes, as an extension of both, a relational dialectic deriving from the Hegelian master and slave relationship. Thus the process of adolescent-parent separation-individuation is conceptualized on a transactional basis.

This book is an attempt to examine the interchange among individual family members—the push and pull of psychological forces between active and contributing persons, with the emphasis on the parental contribution. The push and pull are represented as centripetal