I came across the notion of a relationship comprising of three aspects - head, heart and body when reading Frawley. When I think about it, his words do make sense. Often times, there are charts where there are absolutely no mutual reception between any of those three aspects. Nada. Sometimes it's appropriate to say to clients that there seems to be no feelings between you and your partner. What's keeping the partnership together is the children (e.g. when dispositor of Part of Marriage sits on the cusp of the 5th). But surely we can go further than that? The chart shows us the current situation. Surely, if both parties in the relationship are willing, their relationship can be brought to another level or reality. I believe asking open-ended questions to stimulate awareness and realisation of the dynamics of a relationship is more helpful and useful than stating "Sex is great but both of you have no feelings for each other." Here are some sample questions:
No mutual reception relating to the head
How would you describe communication between you and your partner?What do you and your partner like to talk about respectively? Are these topics similiar?
Is there anything you can think of that would enhance communication between the two of you?
How willing are you to adjust your thoughts and behaviour to bring about a change to the e.g. communication pattern between you and your partner?
No mutual reception relating to the heart
What are your feelings for your partner? How do you feel towards your partner?How do you think he/she feels towards you?
What would enhance this sense of feeling of emotional intimacy between you and your partner?
How willing adjust your thoughts and behaviour to bring about a change to the e.g. closeness between you and your partner?
No mutual reception relating to the body
How would describe your sexual satisfaction in the relationship?How important is physical intimacy to you?
Is there anything you or he/she can do to increase this satisfaction?
Preserving what works in the relationship
Equally, I think it's important to highlight to the client the glue of the relationship and not to take it for granted that the glue is permanent. For example, "It seems that the reason you are still in this marriage is because of the children. What do you think about that?" Wait for client to respond. if client responds to the affirmative, ask e.g. "How old are your children? Are they leaving the nest soon?" If client says that they are heading to college soon, say e.g. "How would you feel about the marriage when the children heads off to college? How would it affect the marriage?" And explore possibilities to develop a new glue to the relationship if the client wants to retain the relationship.
That's my current take on incorporating "psychology" or perhaps more accurately bringing the notion of free will into relationship horaries.