ABSTRACT
One of the themes in this short story is how in cross-cultural relationships, cultural traits become ways to represent psychic obstacles, which sometimes takes the form of stereotyping the other. In this sense, culture, like other symbolic representations, can stand for a third element in a relationship. For some couples, introducing such a third element in their relationship can be necessary in order to achieve intimacy. It is like jouissance only becoming a possibility when a child realises that he/she is not the only object of the mother’s desire. This story also suggests that, in couples therapy, there are at least two, if not more, couples in the room, the couple seeking therapy and the therapist’s internal representations of what a couple is.
