Adam Blatner (born Howard Blatner, 5 August 1937 – 1 October 2021) was a Life Fellow of the

American Psychiatric Association The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the largest psychiatric organization in the world. It has more than 39,200 members who are in ...

, doubly Board Certified in Child/Adult

Psychiatry Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of deleterious mental disorder, mental conditions. These include matters related to cognition, perceptions, Mood (psychology), mood, emotion, and behavior. ...

), a Certified Trainer of

Psychodrama Psychodrama is an action method, often used as a psychotherapy, in which clients use spontaneous Adaptation (arts), dramatization, role playing, and dramatic self-presentation to investigate and gain insight into their lives. Developed by Jaco ...

and a psychology theorist. He was the author of the book ''Acting In'', first published in 1973, which became the primary textbook for students of Psychodrama. He also wrote a number of other books and dozens of journal articles and chapters in textbooks, including the book (with his wife Allee Blatner) ''The Art of Play''. Blatner wrote papers and presented talks on a wide range of subjects, including

Process philosophy Process philosophy (also ontology of becoming or processism) is an approach in philosophy that identifies processes, changes, or shifting relationships as the only real experience of everyday living. In opposition to the classical view of change ...

Postmodernism Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, Culture, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism. They have in common the conviction that it is no longer possible to rely upon previous ways of depicting ...

, and Scriptology. He became close friends with philosopher

Charles Hartshorne Charles Hartshorne (; June 5, 1897 – October 9, 2000) was an American philosopher who concentrated primarily on the philosophy of religion and metaphysics, but also contributed to ornithology. He developed the neoclassical idea of God and ...

in the final years of Hartshorne's life, helping him at his home in Austin, Texas.

Early life and education

Howard Blatner was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in 1937 to parents who had immigrated from Eastern Europe around 1910 due to the

persecution of Jews The persecution of Jews has been a major event in Jewish history prompting shifting waves of refugees and the formation of diaspora communities. As early as 605 BC, Jews who lived in the Neo-Babylonian Empire were persecuted and deported. Antis ...

. He was awarded

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

during his Junior year, and then graduated in 1959 with honors in the field of cultural aspects of religion. He attended medical school at the

University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It is part of the University of California system and is dedic ...

, graduating in 1963. After internship in Los Angeles, Dr. Blatner did specialty training in the psychiatric residency program at the

Stanford University Medical Center Stanford University Medical Center is a teaching hospital which includes Stanford Health Care and Stanford Children's Health. It serves as a private hospital for the Stanford University School of Medicine. In 2022–23, it was ranked by the U ...

. While there he discovered the therapeutic role playing approach called

, which became one of his sub-specialty interests, integrated with a general exploration of other types of psychotherapy.

Proponent of psychodrama

While serving for three years in the U.S. Air Forces at a base in England as a child and adult psychiatrist, Blatner began writing ''Acting-In: Practical Applications of Psychodramatic Methods''. First published in 1973, the book was translated into ten languages, revised twice, and became a primary textbook in the field of psychodrama. Later books include ''The Art of Play: Helping Adults Reclaim Imagination and Spontaneity.'' co-authored with Allee Blatner (1988), ''Foundations of Psychodrama: History, Theory, and Practice'' (1988), ''Interactive and Improvisational Drama: Varieties of Applied Theatre and Performance.'' (2007), and ''Action Explorations: Using Psychodramatic Methods in Non-Therapeutic Settings'' (2019).

Personal life

Blatner later lived in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

Georgetown, Texas Georgetown is a city in Texas and the county seat of Williamson County, Texas, United States. The population was 67,176 at the 2020 census, and according to 2024 census estimates, the city is estimated to have a population of 101,344. It is no ...

, and

San Luis Obispo, California ; ; ; Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfway betwee ...

. His 13-year marriage to Barbara Fisher ended in 1976, and he later married Allee Blatner. His son,

David Blatner David Blatner is a writer and speaker specializing in desktop publishing software, such as Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, and QuarkXPress. Blatner has written 15 books on varied subjects with over a half-million books in print, including ''Spect ...

, became an author and expert in publishing systems; his daughter, Alisa Piette, became a marriage family therapist.

References

Additional sources

Official Web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blatner, Adam 1937 births 2021 deaths Jews from California American psychiatrists Psychodramatists Physicians from Los Angeles