ABSTRACT
The particular "voids" arise between couples where one or both partners suffer from psychiatric illness. These situations convey a power imbalance between the couples where questions about self-interest, the quality of their attachment, and altruism arise. The idea that a void has opened up between a couple who present for treatment will be familiar to couple therapists. Touching the Void book deals with the relationship between two young male mountaineers, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, who decide to climb a daunting peak in the South American Andes on their own with the minimum of equipment. The preoccupied void existing between Sandra and Derek was, in a manner of speaking, the centre of their lives, which, in turn, defined and reflected who they had become. The chapter suggests characteristics of preoccupied attachment. Alternatively, the void can result from a lack of emotional engagement between the couple, and the chapter suggests that this interaction is linked to the dismissing category.
