Epilogue: Fifty Years of Couple Psychoanalysis: An Analysis, Discussion, and Future Directions

In this issue examining the history of couple psychoanalysis, seven authors from four different theoretical perspectives have come together to respond to the systematic review of fifty years of peer-reviewed journal articles in the field. Having a common starting point provided a jumping-off point for a diverse and fascinating discussion of couple psychoanalysis, which included the vantage points of Classical, Object Relations, Self Psychological and Intersubjectivity, and Relational writers.

In the spirit of this project, each writer had the opportunity to read all of the articles and provide comments. Some of these comments are distilled here. All of the authors felt that through the process of engaging with the review, reflecting upon their own work and that of their colleagues, and reading the work of the other authors, they expanded their knowledge of the field and became more aware of the many commonalities within and between orientations.

Usher, representing the Classical tradition, notes that the efforts of the writers here have brought couple psychoanalysis firmly out of the psychoanalytic unknown into the psychoanalytic known, making the understanding of how the unconscious affects the dynamics of intimate relationships accessible to all analytically oriented therapists, and making the possibility of working as a psychoanalyst with more than one person at a time an intriguing reality. She also noted that although the writers in this issue espouse different theoretical perspectives, like in individual analysis, our goals for the couples we see, and even our theories, are in no way contradictory. Psychoanalysis involves an acknowledgment of the unconscious. Understanding and utilizing this knowledge in the treatment of couples where two—nay, three—peoples’ unconscious are interacting, allows analytic therapists doing couple work to provide deeper and more lasting change.

Clulow, Hertzmann, and Nyberg note that the review appears to have acted as a catalyst in b