ABSTRACT
Until the past decade, there has been a dearth of literature in the psychoanalytic canon devoted to couples. Dr. Fisher's influence on the theoretical development of the contemporary Tavistock model for psychoanalytic couple psychotherapy is undeniable. The early Tavistock model relied on the familiar Freudian ideas of transference, countertransference, and the repetition compulsion and worked within the presumption that early experiences with significant others are internalized and structured into unconscious mental life. Psychoanalysis has relied on the idea of transference and concepts like projection and projective identification as the mechanisms by which history gets thrust upon the current interpersonal stage. However, Dr. Fisher extends the notion of the proleptic imagination beyond this future orientation. It is important to understand that he is challenging the idea that the major goal of psychoanalytic couple therapy is to get each of the partners to reclaim their projections.
