Love creates bonds so strong that they often chain people into relationships that can be destructive. These links have been represented by different symbols according to the times: yokes, chains, united hearts or padlocks attached to the railings of the bridges. All allude to the illusion of an eternal and indissoluble love.

However, love invariably evolves over time and sometimes in opposite directions. These can be that of a mature and gratifi cante consolidation or that of a progressive and destabilizing deterioration, within which affective dependence and abuse are gestationary. And these relationships are not limited to the sphere of the couple. They can also appear in any kind of affective bond, especially in the areas of family and friendship.

In this book, Manuel Villegas places the roots of affective dependence and abuse in the vicissitudes of the couple and parental, filial and fraternal relationships, which he analyzes in a specific and systematic way in numerous clinical cases.