A psychoanalytic approach to understanding the couple relationship is given based on factors in the past, present and future. Aspects of each partners past influences the current relationship and can be responded to by the couple defensively or developmentally. The present is considered in developmental and dynamic terms, i.e. what kind of couple exists in terms of psychic development in the process of being "a couple", as well as how the couple manage the dynamic of there being an "other" in the relationship. The future is considered in terms of how the couple might carry on developing in the context of a relationship which could be creative for them both together and individually. A brief clinical example is given.
Keywords: Couple, unconscious choice of partner, unconscious contract, couple’s transference relationship, projective gridlock, alterity, the link (el vinculo), interference, creative couple.