Purpose of this paper is to explore the relevance of intimacy both as a subjective experience and as a mode of relating. The complexity of the phenomenon calls for a multiplicity of perspectives, in order to delineate a definition of intimacy. The meaning of intimacy for human beings is analyzed as well as the effects that its absence may have for the couple relationship. An excerpt from a couple therapy provides a clinical example illustrating the function that the experience of intimacy may have for both the couple and the therapeutic relationship.
Keywords: Intimacy, couple relationships, disfunctional relationships, couple therapy