ABSTRACT
It’s explained that people enter relationships with both conscious and unconscious expectations of what it’ll be like, some of which inevitably go unmet. A case study is used to illustrate the way that couples attempt to have their needs met. It’s explained that, underlying many of the strategies couples use to manage each other, there are often vulnerabilities and negative feelings about themselves. How shame affects couple relationships is explained, using Donald Nathanson’s Compass of Shame and the case couple.
