Object relations family and couple therapy

Domain V · Systemic, relational, group & community · Jill Savege Scharff, David E. Scharff · 1987

What it is

Object relations couple and family therapy (ORFT/ORCT) is a psychoanalytic conjoint therapy. It rests on Fairbairn's theory of internal object relations, Klein's projective and introjective identification, Winnicott's holding and Bion's containment. It applies these ideas to the couple's "marital…

Format

• The sources describe an open-ended psychodynamic course, not a sessional protocol. Phase labels below follow the sequence the sources describe: consultation, recommendation, mid-phase working through, termination.
• Phase A: Consultation / assessment (about 2–3 sessions)

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• This is a clinical approach, not a licensed programme. It has no certification requirement and no fidelity monitoring. The IPI offers training, and Jill Scharff advises new therapists to get their own treatment first, then supervision, then courses.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Does it use a device, heat, cold, water or a physical procedure? Has a medical professional checked that it is safe for you?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• links that survive longer in the session.
• observations delivered as accusations. Frame them as shared puzzles.
• abrupt flight at the point of ending. Name it, and leave the door open.
• history used as blame ("it's your mother's fault"). Keep both histories in view.
• both partners recognising the pattern as shared rather than as the therapist's bias.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.