The Concept of Collusion: A Combined Systemic‐Psychodynamic Approach to Marital Therapy

Abstract

The author presents some new theoretical aspects and therapeutic implications of the concept of Couples in Collusion, (22), first published in 1975. According to this concept, the emotional attraction in the selection of a mate is based on a fascinating, mutual, and alarming theme, shared by both partners in order to be mastered together. The partners unavowedly start colluding to compensate for former frustrations and to repress fears of intimacy. After some time of living together and in defense of repressed feelings, they may enter into an escalation of the dysfunctional interactional pattern. Experience shows that severely neurotic personalities don't necessarily start colluding, provided that their partners don't gratify regressive needs or reinforce their defenses but help to cope with the frustrations of these unfulfilled regressive wishes. Therapies based on the concept of collusion aim at the improvement of intradyadic and extradyadic boundaries and the depolarization of extreme progressive-regressive behavior. These goals can be reached by both systemic and psychodynamic techniques. The concept of collusion may serve as a guide for this therapeutic process.

Psychosocial and Psychodynamic Factors Influencing Health Care Utilisation

“…Due to the unconscious neurotic nature of this shortcoming, the system is frequently involved in the individual and psychosocial conflicts and defence mechanisms of its clients. The resulting pattern of interaction can be labelled as 'collusive mechanism of interpersonal (psychosocial, institutional) defence' [35,43,45]. Collusive patterns can be found, for example, when patients repeatedly call on their doctors or attend emergency rooms for acute physical complaints without objective findings.…”

The Ritual of Couples Therapy

“…She can only learn who she is by recognizing who she is with. Moving beyond a schema of projective identification, Willi (1984) proposes an expanded self, "the interaction personality" (p, 178). He posits that partners often take opposite relationship positions, for instance, he is painstaking so she can be expressive.…”

Cointegration methodology for psychological researchers: An introduction to the analysis of dynamic process systems

“…Perhaps something like their feeling of mutual everyday commitment is what makes them move synchronously in the long run. Concerning marital therapy, for example, Willi (1984) defines the unconscious aspects of the complementary defensive patterns in couples as couple collusion . They are supposed to stabilize neurotic relationships.…”