Terapia imago

Terapia imago looks at how couples can make sense of strife and grow close again. It links wounds from early life to how adults speak, act, and react. It deals with poor ways of talking and fights that recur. It also looks at distance, loss of close bonds, and affairs. It sees strife as a chance to grow and heal.

This guide is for those who treat couples and families. It also helps readers make sense of their own bonds. Harville Hendrix and Helen LaKelly Hunt devised this approach. They began in the late 1970s. Each had been through a divorce. Both sought to learn why their past bonds had failed. The book draws on decades of their lives and work.

Its main tool is a set way to talk, with three steps. First, each listener restates what their partner has said. Next, they show that the message makes sense. Then they show that they grasp how their partner feels. Each works to heal and helps the other heal. The goals are to feel better, gain fresh energy, and grow closer. They must face wounds from their early years. They must also own the choices they make with care and thought.

Imago draws on several schools of thought. These include systemic and psychoanalytic thought. It also draws on Gestalt, humanistic, and Jungian thought. Other sources include cognitive-behavioral theory and object relations. It uses psychodrama and brain research, too.

The book looks at the space between partners. It asks how they share patterns of thought and action. It links family history and attachment to a change. Two people move from separate selves toward a shared life. It also looks at how couples act with each other through ideas about energy, particles, and waves.

Andreea Vrabie translated this edition from English.