ABSTRACT
Unresolved oedipal issues, in both the individuals in the couple are a rich source of conscious and unconscious transference triggers in this type of therapy. Guttman states that when the particular triadic situation of couples therapy, involving the transference between the partners and the therapist, is added to the partner transferences, marital conflicts may be heightened. Some writers have found it helpful to organize couples into types to predict possible partner-to-partner transferences. Sharpe describes the differences in reactions in what she refers to as the 'oppositional' couple, whose interaction is dominated by dependence-independence conflicts, as distinguished from the 'symbiotic' couple. Partners in the oppositional couple are always opposing what the other partner wants or values, either in open combat or covert resistance. The shifts in the interactions of the couple are similarly noticed and are very clearly self-reinforcing.
