Conjugal relationship, psychological violence and fusional complementarity

Abstract

In this article we approach a specific type of conjugal dynamic that is marked by psychological violence. In our clinical work with couples, we have noticed situations in which verbal aggressions and humiliations are used, influencing the self-esteem and the reaction capacity of the person who suffered the aggression. A perverse bond takes form, characterized by a reciprocal movement towards dominating one's partner with conditions and demands that subjugate both of them, leading to a type of relationship where a fusional complementarity rules. The typical discourse of the contemporaneousness, concerning the attainment of pleasure, the search for perfection in love relationships and the presence of the equalitarian man/woman relationship model, highlights this kind of relational dynamics. In some cases, one observes the fixing of the "phallic-active-man/castrated-passive-woman" model that remains concurrent to the changing of times.