Oedipus and the Couple

The contributions in this latest title in the Tavistock Clinic Series are sufficiently diverse for each to stimulate reflections and responses from the reader in the particular area upon which the author has chosen to focus, whilst at the same time the authors share enough common ground. The contributors all base their theories on a contemporary Kleinian/object-relations psychoanalytic viewpoint and this helps the reader feel that there is a basic underlying unity to facilitate meaningful links between the ideas and themes in different chapters. The chapters have been organised into three sections. Whilst united in their focus on the Oedipus situation, the individual styles and "voices" of the authors are very varied. The first three chapters are primarily theoretical. The second section comprises chapters that make use of artistic and cultural themes from the worlds of literature and film to explore Oedipal couple issues. The final section consists of chapters that are specifically clinical in their focus.,The manifest focus in most chapters is on the couple, but there are variations on this theme. Contributors: Andrew Balfour, Sasha Brookes, Francis Grier, Monica Lanman, Lisa Miller, Mary Morgan, Viveka Nyberg, Joanna Rosenthal, Stanley Ruszczynski, Margot Waddell