Unconscious alliances in a couple’s link
Journal title INTERAZIONI
Author/s Rosa Jaitin
Publishing Year 2026 Issue 2026/1
Language Italian Pages 14 P. 192-205 File size 102 KB
DOI 10.3280/INT2026-001011
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In her article, the author revisits the concept of unconscious alliances, as developed by René Kaës, in order to analyse couples’ links from a psychoanalytic perspective. These alliances form the psychological basis that connects individuals, shaping both the intersubjective and transgenerational realms. They are underpinned by shared defence mechanisms and a “pact of denial” that maintains the marital bond. In the clinical case presented, the couple’s relationship is organised around shared defences, guilt, and difficulty differentiating themselves from their families of origin. The body, particularly the female body, expresses radical negativity through symptoms such as cancer, reminiscent of the removal of women’s breasts during the genocide experienced by both spouses’ families of origin. Psychic transmission across generations plays a central role in the clinical situation, with unprocessed traumatic events being deposited and transmitted within the bond of this couple. Therapeutic work seeks to transform the unsymbolisable into the representable ‒ albeit with limitations ‒ to open up possibilities for processing and change.
Keywords: unconscious alliances, couple psychoanalysis, denial pact, genocide.
Rosa Jaitin, Le alleanze inconsce nel legame di coppia in "INTERAZIONI" 1/2026, pp 192-205, DOI: 10.3280/INT2026-001011