Driven to Survive
Selected Papers on Psychoanalysis
“This is a sharp, courageous, innovative and thoroughly documented exploration of one of the most problematic, unresolved and disputed areas of Freud’s theory: preservative drives as part of the death drives. Cordelia Schmidt-Hellerau develops a revolutionary approach to the topic that leads to an unexpected, substantive metapsychological revision, a remarkable change of clinical perspective, and further considerations of cultural assumptions. Her convincing proposal gives us a new vision in psychoanalysis.“ – Stefano Bolognini, IPA Past President
„Driven to Survive is a book that can make our impossible profession closer to possible. This is so because it throws a new light at a forgotten, often almost unnoticeable dimension of human strivings, the daily struggle to survive. Showing with many clinical examples how the needs of self- and object-preservation, as well as their neglect and pathology impact our patients‘ lives and treatments, it gives the therapist a new sense of what awaits to be addressed, explored, and understood. Reading it is like having a good session, in which dark background brightens and new perspectives come into focus.“ – Arlene Kramer Richards, Author, Psychoanalysis: Listening to Understand