Repetition, repetition compulsion, motivation, interpretation.

This paper presents three different conceptualizations (interpretations) of the phenomenon of "repetition compulsion" in the various psychoanalytic schools that refers explicitly to this conception--as return to, return of (reproduction) or recreation (transcendental transformation), or as a linear, circular or spiral-like psychic movement accordingly. The paper analyzes the metapsychological assumptions of each mode of interpretation and tries to relate the psychic models underlying these conceptions to the questions of psychotherapeutic attitude and technique in the clinical situation.