Gottfried Fischer (13 September 1944 – 2 October 2013) was a German psychologist, psychotherapist and psychoanalyst. He is considered to be the founder of

psychotraumatology Psychotraumatology is the study of psychological trauma. Specifically, this discipline is involved with treating, preventing, and researching traumatic situations and people's reactions to them. It particularly focuses on the treatment of post-tr ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and has been director of the Institute for Clinical Psychology and Psychological Diagnostics at the

University of Cologne The University of Cologne (german: Universität zu Köln) is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in the year 1388 and is one of the most prestigious and research intensive universities in Germany. It was the sixth university to ...

from 1995 to 2009.

Life

Fischer studied

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between ...

and philosophy. He received a doctor's degree in psychology and qualified as a professor in medical psychology at the University of Freiburg

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially german: Uni Freiburg), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (german: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg), is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemb ...

with a thesis on qualitative psychology research with the title: ”Contradiction and change – a dialectic model of change in the psychoanalytical process. A contribution to research on psychoanalytical processes in the framework of a qualitative single case study.” Fischer supervised the research at the German Institute for Psychotraumatology, which was founded in 1991. He also taught therapy and supervised the German and the

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

an Academy for Psychotraumatology. He managed the Institute for Research in Psychotherapy, Development of Methods and Professional Training for psychological Psychotherapists in depth psychological and analytical Psychotherapy at the University of Cologne. Fischer founded the German Society for the Science of Psychotherapy (DGPTW) and was managerial editor of the magazine for Psychotraumatology, the Science of Psychotherapy and psychological Medicine (ZPPM) and continued to treat patients in his own private psychotherapeutic practice.

Work

Since 1995 Fischer has been managing the

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

Help for Victims Project (KOM-Project). In the autumn of 1998 the state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia decided that the project would be implemented countrywide. As a part of the project the Center for Psychotraumatology was established in the Alexianer Hospital Krefeld in the summer of 2004 as the teaching and research department of the IKPPD. Fischer developed a method of etiology orientated treatment of psychical disorders, the Psychodynamic-dialectic Psychotherapy (PdP). This method incorporates elements of behavioral therapy with a psychodynamically guided conception of cases and shaping of relationships. The Multidimensional Psychodynamic Trauma Therapy (MPTT) is used for the psychotraumatic etiology. By using this method on average 10 therapy sessions are sufficient to treat people successfully, who are at risk of suffering from long-term traumatic disorders. In cooperation with

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

companies and institutions Fischer managed preventative procedures for victims of misfortunes. He developed a concept for recuperation weeks for traumatized people and helpers after stressful assignments as well as a training program for risk and personnel management in crisis situations for executives. Fischer also developed a documentation and planning system for Psychotherapy and the Treatment of Traumas (KÖDOPS). Further fields of teaching in the psychology degree course next to clinical psychology are work-, business and organizational psychology with a focus on the area of clinical institutions, psychotherapy research as well as art psychology and everyday esthetics.

Publications

Fischer has published about 200 works, including 10 monographs and publisher's compilations. * ''Fischer, G. & Riedesser, P.: Lehrbuch der Psychotraumatologie''. 4. überarb. Aufl., UTB Ernst Reinhardt, München, 2009 * ''Logik der Psychotherapie. Philosophische Grundlagen der Psychotherapiewissenschaft''. Asanger, Kröning, 2008 * ''Kausale Psychotherapie. Ätiologieorientierte Behandlung psychotraumatischer und neurotischer Störungen''. Asanger, Kröning, 2007 * ''Von den Dichtern lernen ... Kunstpsychologie und dialektische Psychoanalyse''. Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg, 2005 * ''Konflikt, Paradox und Widerspruch. Ausstieg aus dem Labyrinth - für eine dialektische Psychoanalyse''. Asanger, Kröning, 2004 * ''Neue Wege aus dem Trauma''. Patmos, Düsseldorf, 2003 ''In English:'' * Fischer, G. (1995). ''Methodological Issues in Psychotraumatology - Qualitative and Quantitative Strategies of Research''. In: Stiftung für Kinder (Ed.), Children - War and Persecution (pp. 49–52). Osnabrück: secolo Verlag.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fischer, Gottfried German psychologists German psychoanalysts German psychotherapists Academic staff of the University of Cologne 1944 births 2013 deaths