ABSTRACT
Marzia (biologist, fifty-two) and Lorenzo (“Enzo”, physician, fifty-nine), have been married for more than a quarter of a century, with a son, Francesco (twenty-three), and a daughter, Angela (twenty), both university students. They sought couple therapy for their difficulty in living together, marked by constant quarrelling, with a progressive sense of estrangement, and the disappearance of any kind of intimacy, including sex. Marzia describes her problem: Enzo is cold, indifferent, withdrawn, and totally committed to work. She suffered from this, to the point of having, for some time, individual therapy. Her therapist, in turn, advised couple therapy, and they both accepted with conviction.
