No Sex couples, catastrophic change, and the primal scene *

Acommon presenting problem to the marital psychotherapist is that of No Sex. Sometimes a couple names this as their principal problem at a first interview. Often, however, they will be too embarrassed to be so frank, but it will soon become apparent that there is this crucial absence in their relationship. In this chapter I propose to attempt to make some inroads into understanding this situation. I want to concentrate, in particular, on how such difficulties often arise when the partners share a history of inadequate working through of certain aspects of the oedipus complex.