ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the therapeutic work with a married couple and focuses on the couple's dynamics from a psychoanalytic perspective as well as through the lens of betrayal. It suggests that alongside whatever psychic fissures the couple displays, there flows the spectre of betrayal. The chapter shows how the therapist is both informed of the spectre of betrayal and brought into the domain of ruptured trust and lays some groundwork for considering betrayal in marriage. In certain cases, therapeutic work with adult couples can present as a tug of war, straining a straight taut line, their prototype for relationship. The chapter presents ideas that apply to work with adult couples. Most helpful in this kind of work are concepts drawn from psychoanalysis and that centre on interpersonal relations and intersubjectivity. The chapter illustrates these ideas through the case of Dr. and Mrs. K., a couple who sought treatment because of the betrayal of one spouse through an extramarital affair.
