The Clinic of the Death Drives

This peer consultation seminar takes as its crux the radical shift in psychoanalytic theory instantiated by Beyond the Pleasure Principle (1920) and its introduction of the death drives (notably plural in the original German Todestriebe). We will engage in a close reading of the Freudian text alongside clinical case discussion, exploring how the death drives operate as fundamental dynamics (de)structuring subjective experience. Particular emphasis will be given to the unique rhythm(s) of repetition - traumatic, uncanny, ludic or otherwise. Supplemental readings from Lacan’s Four Fundamental Concepts will be considered. Participants will be invited to present case material on moments of repetition, impasse, and insistences—or other themes that emerge from our reading. This seminar is designed for clinicians already seeing patients who wish to deepen their engagement with analytic technique and expand their capacity to work with the death drives and repetition in clinical practice. Limited to 8 participants.