ABSTRACT
This chapter provides the reader with an introduction to the key psychoanalytic concepts that are fundamental to psychoanalytic couple psychotherapy and highlights those that are the cornerstones of the Tavistock Centre for Couple Relationships (TCCR) model. Psychoanalysis is not a theoretical monolith, and as there are various different psychoanalytic theories, it would be possible to use any of these models as a basis for practicing couple psychotherapy. A psychoanalytic theory of couples must rely on a psychoanalytic model of the mind. Owing to its intensity and intimacy, the couple relationship is the closest approximation to the early parent-child experience. One of the hallmarks of psychoanalytic theory is the concept of the transference. Bion's concept of container/contained is fundamental to the Tavistock model of understanding and working with the dynamics of couple relationships. The Tavistock couple psychotherapy model is rich and complex, examining the joys and travails of couple life and the dynamics of intimacy from a psychoanalytic lens.
