ABSTRACT
This chapter describes different aspects of understanding and working with the fractured container in couple relationships that can become manifest when partners consider the possibility of divorce. The couple relationship can act as a container capable of withstanding the enormous pressures that can arise in the tension between psychological development and psychological defence that inherently exist within it. The presence of the fractured container calls for a greater working understanding of the link between conscious and unconscious material. Most important was the sudden and dramatic difference in the couple’s manner to each other and seemingly to themselves alongside and in comparison to their ‘usual’ style and behaviour. The fracture presented itself within the silence, quietly dramatic, and within the ‘usual’ manner of their presentation. Couples present themselves for help at a time when the container is already fractured rather than under strain.
