Within any relationship specific dynamics are activated that are guided by representations of self, the world, and the relationship itself, and such representations stem from childhood experiences and particularly close relationships with family members. What happens when two people meet and fall in love? What are the expectations, the images, the interpersonal chemistry that encourage or hinder a couple relationship? This book offers an up-to-date guide to couple relationships, complete with interpretative theoretic models and intervention tools and strategies for couple therapy management. This text is indispensable for professionals who work in the field of clinical intervention on couples.

Lucia Carli teaches Psychodynamics of Development and Family Relationships at the Bicocca University in Milan.

Donatella Cavanna teaches Dynamic Psychology at the University of Genoa.

Giulio Cesare Zavattini teaches Psychodynamics of the Couple and Psychotherapy, Psychopathology of Adolescence and Psychoanalytical Psychotherapy at La Sapienza University in Rome.