Post-rationalist cognitive psychotherapy of the couple. A constructivist proposal

The author presents the approach to couple therapy according to the "postrationalist cognitive constructivist model", referring in particular to concepts derived from the elaborations of Patricia Crittenden, Furio Lambruschi and Vittorio Guidano. The dynamics underlying emotional reciprocity in a sentimental relationship are considered in close relationship with the attachment experienced in childhood, considered as the emotional dimension in which personal meaning is created and takes shape in an organization of personal meaning, of which the internal model of attachment is one of the primary components. The choice of a partner and the construction of a sentimental relationship seem to be related to the characteristics and the degree of articulation of the individual emotional and cognitive structure. The couple's relationship is generated by the gearing of the two sentimental styles which are the expression of individual meanings (self meaning) and tend to maintain feelings of continuity and uniqueness of the self in the intimate encounter with the other by itself. In a couple therapy, the objective is to increase this articulation in analysing how the two individual meanings are engaged in the various phases of formation, maintenance and crisis/break-up.