ABSTRACT
Couples are wounded by their partners during the course of their relationship, and they come with wounds from childhood. Family of origin is talking with the partners about their parents, their childhood, and the ways in which they dealt with problems in their family of origin. J. N. Sells and M. A. Yarhouse go on to explain that conflict can be represented as the conflict theme, historical experience with the conflict theme, and respective hurts from family of origin. The conflict theme is easily recognizable to the clinician. Clinicians can help the couple connect to the wounds and come to an understanding that their patterns of protecting interfere with their relating to one another as a couple. Research on adult attachment suggests that the close emotional bond between parents and their children is responsible for the bond that develops later in life between adults in emotionally intimate relationships.
