Death drive, repetition compulsion and some corridors to psychic change

In this paper is demonstrated the clinical usefulness of Freud's last and revolutionary drive theory of life drives and the death drive. The concept of the death drive is shortly discussed as a psychic force leading to deconstruction, fragmentation, dissolution, disinvestment of the self and object, a decrease of liveliness, and finally to the psychic agony paralyzing the self and object. Freud's unbinding and Green's disobjectalization are psychic processes leading to the above results. Variations of life drives and the death drives, and compulsive repetitions are illustrated in sessions of the patient who suffers from psychic agony (absence of emotions and desires), paralyzed self and objects, and blind repetition compulsions. The main goal of this paper is an investigation of enlivening interventions when the treatment is blocked by impasses caused by the death drive influences. These interventions are understood as facilitations of life drives and have different names depending on various clinicians and their differing theories: reclamation (Alvarez), resuscitation (Šebek), the enlivening object (Director), rehabilitation (Fonagy, Target), a new beginning (Balint), a birth (Borgogno).