Carmen and Ryan are seeing Tony, a psychoanalytic couples th…
Carmen and Ryan are seeing Tony, a psychoanalytic couples therapist, for help with recurring conflict. Ryan expresses frustration that Carmen often accuses him—without evidence—of having an affair. Carmen, in turn, shares that she feels emotionally abandoned, as Ryan is frequently absorbed in his work. In exploring Carmen’s early experiences, Tony learns that her parents divorced when she was 10 due to her father’s infidelity, after which her mother was granted full custody. Carmen had minimal contact with her father afterward. What is one way Tony might work with this couple from a psychoanalytic perspective?