The similarity in IMAGO and Schnarchian therapy is that both assume that you are with the "perfect" person for you. In IMAGO the person you are with is there to allow you to work through early trauma and with Schnarch your Spouse is there to shine a light on areas where you are stuck to give you the chance to differentiate and grow up. Both are fairly non-pathological models. IMAGO deals more with early trauma but does expect that your marriage is a vehicle to help you overcome and get beyond those issues.
They are very different in the "closeness/distance" aspect. IMAGO therapy is designed to engender a great deal of closeness and understanding and sympathy for the other and not so much awareness of the spouse's otherness. Schnarch puts the emphasis the other way around. I think that IMAGO techniques are very helpful if the issues are ones of basic inability to understand one anothers depth, one anothers issues, what makes them tick. In other words, it will help people be better partners and companions. I'm not sure it will lead to better sex. Knowing our spouse's deep wounds doesn't necessarily turn us on.
I think of the methods as almost for two distinct purposes. Both have their utility in any marriage. A good marriage is a blend of closeness and differentiation. Not one or the other.
