How Far Do Current Theories and Techniques Go Towards Helping the Families and Couples of Today?

The author reviews his own history of applying psychoanalysis to the understanding and treatment of families and couples over a career of more than fifty years to ask the question: what elements of analytic understanding and practice still apply to the changing forms of families in the world and the complexity of situations in which families find themselves? He also considers the recent changes brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic and by deteriorating geopolitical situations. He concludes that analytic understanding of the unconscious organisation of the individual and the shared unconscious of the family, and the consideration of historical and cultural contexts, continues to offer a rich set of orienting ideas for our work.