Successful Marriage

Drawing on the professional experience of the author, this article presents an overview of the process of differentiation through which individual spouses can choose to grow and thus gain the possibility of a cooperative marital relationship. Beginning with developmental psychology to show the origins and influence of differentiation, the author shows the antithesis of differentiation, namely merger, and then expounds on issues of differentiation anxiety and then intimacy. The article then discusses strategies to help couples achieve differentiation.