Couple relationships are compelling, mysterious things. Many of us yearn for a happy romantic relationship, and yet, as literature and music has been telling us for centuries, this longing can prove to be elusive, confusing, overwhelming or unrequited.

How we choose our partners, and how we form and maintain relationships is deeply influenced by our past. Everything from our upbringing, including our parents’ or carers’ relationships with one another, to how we interact with others in the playground, structures our deepest beliefs about intimacy. The partners we choose, and the longevity and happiness of these partnerships, shape what we call our ‘love life’.

In this lively, informative masterclass Susanna Abse, psychoanalytic psychotherapist for couples, will explore what makes us fall in love - and what makes it last.

You will discover how what draws us together can also be the thing that drives us apart, and why this is. You will also learn what we mean when we say ‘healthy relationships’, and how our family history shapes our love life. Susanna will teach you how to draw your own genogram and investigate the links between your past and present relationships, in this illuminating class.

Course content

The process of falling in love and getting committed
What influences are at work in our choice of partners?
What do we mean when we talk about ‘healthy relationships’?
Understand how our family history shapes our love life
Draw your own genogram

This course is for …

Anyone with an interest in relationships - what makes us fall in love and what makes love last
Those interested in a career as a relationship therapist

Tutor profile

Susanna Abse has worked as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist with couples for over 30 years, an experience she shares in her 2022 book, Tell Me the Truth about Love. Previously, she was the CEO of Tavistock Relationships, the leading centre for training, research and clinical services for couples. Until 2021, she was the chair of the British Psychoanalytic Council, and is now a trustee of the Freud Museum in London, and the Association of Infant Mental Health. In 2019, she presented Britain on the Couch, a series of films for Channel 4 News. Susanna is the co-editor of The Library of Couple and Family Psychoanalysis for Routledge Books, and is a senior fellow of the Tavistock Institute of Medical Psychology. She works in central London at the Queen Anne Street Practice for Psychological Therapies.

Course Details

Date: Wednesday 15 June 2022
Time: 6.30pm-8.30pm (BST)

6.30pm BST | 7.30pm CEST | 10.30am PDT | 1.30pm EDT

This masterclass is available globally. If you are joining us from outside the United Kingdom, please use this time zone converter to check your local live streaming time.

You will be sent a link to the webinar 24 hours and 2 hours before the start time of 6.30pm (BST). Please email masterclasses@theguardian.com if you have not received the access link within one hour of the scheduled start time.

All Guardian Masterclasses are fully accessible but please contact us at masterclasses@theguardian.com if you have any queries or concerns.

Full course and returns information on the Masterclasses website

Falling and staying in love: An interactive workshop with Susanna Abse