What is Imago Relationship Therapy?

Imago Relationship Therapy was originated by Harville Hendrix, Author of "Getting the Love You Want: A Guide for Couples."It is grounded in the belief that during childhood we develop an unconscious image of the opposite sex called our imago, which is a composite of the experiences both positive and negative that we have had with our parents and other primary caretakers. When we become involved in romatic relationships, we are attracted to partners who have characteristics similar to those of our childhood caretakers. Though consciously we are seeking only the positive traits, the negative traits of our caretakers leave a stronger imprint in our imago image because those are traits which caused the painful experiences we now seek to heal. In time, the traits that originally attracted us in our partners can begin to repel us, and reactive patterns may develop in our relationship that get in the way of our ability to connect with each other. Imago therapy is all about helping couples maintain or re-build that connection, primarily by helping them improve their communication through practicing the Couples Dialogue and through developing other important skills such as "re-romanticizing."

To find out more about Imago Relationship Therapy, there are many interesting articles as well as an introductory video on Harville Hendrix's website at:

http://gettingtheloveyouwant.com