Parental interaction is a prime determining factor in an individual's growth. Complementary relationships of the mother and father within the family: i.e., the bringing together of both the mothering attitude and the expectation of "growing up", contribute to the individual's maturation. Many analysts, realizing the importance of triadic relationships have moved away from a preoccupation with dyadic mother-child relationships in treatment to a broader focus on child and parental interactions. They see the patient as being triangularly related and recognize that the therapeutic relationship affects and is affected by the homeostatic family relationships. This had led to the following trends in analytic psychotherapy: (1) successful use of a "therapeutic couple" (male and female co-therapists) within a group to treat unhappy married couples, (2) increased application of interpersonal interactions and group processes in analytic group therapy, (3) use of analytic psychotherapy of the family as a whole, and (4) use of group, milieu, family, and community dynamics in treatment of mental hospital patients. (LS)