ABSTRACT
This chapter provides some brief theoretical and historical background to the evolution of our understanding of the oedipal conflict, beginning with S. Freud himself, there has been an increasing focus on ambivalence as the central dilemma of the Oedipus complex. It focuses on ambivalence with some thinking about working with primitive oedipal material that draws on some of W. Bion’s theoretical contributions. The chapter focuses these theoretical explorations with clinical material, illustrates how this understanding of oedipal conflict can inform therapy with couples who present with this dilemma of the Impenetrable other. In Freud’s view, the pivotal struggle in the human drama centres around what he came to call the Oedipus complex. In fact, Freud seemed to have had some personal resistance to sustaining this aspect of the oedipal conflict in his discussions. Freud’s solution in reference to the little girl was to develop a convoluted, changing account of her Oedipus complex.
