Medard Boss (October 4, 1903, St. Gallen – December 21, 1990, Zollikon) was a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

psychoanalytic PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: and is a set of theories and techniques of research to discover unconscious processes and their influence on conscious thought, emotion and behaviour. Based on dream interpretation, psychoanalysis is also a talk the ...

psychiatrist who developed a form of

psychotherapy Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of Psychology, psychological methods, particularly when based on regular Conversation, personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase hap ...

known as Daseinsanalysis, which united the psychotherapeutic practice of psychoanalysis with the existential phenomenological philosophy of friend and mentor

Martin Heidegger Martin Heidegger (; 26 September 1889 – 26 May 1976) was a German philosopher known for contributions to Phenomenology (philosophy), phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. His work covers a range of topics including metaphysics, art ...

Work

During his medical studies in Vienna, he initiated his psychoanalytic training by undergoing some psychoanalytic sessions with

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...

, an analysis he later continued at length in Zurich with Swiss psychoanalyst Hans Behn Eschenburg. Also upon his return to Zurich, he trained at Burghölzli Hospital under the supervision of the

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...

Eugen Bleuler Paul Eugen Bleuler ( ; ; 30 April 1857 – 15 July 1939) was a Swiss psychiatrist and eugenicist most notable for his influence on modern concepts of mental illness. He coined several psychiatric terms including "schizophrenia", " schizoid", "a ...

. He then went on to formal psychoanalytic training at the Berlin Psychoanalytic Institute where his supervisory analyst was

Karen Horney Karen Horney (; ; ; 16 September 1885 – 4 December 1952) was a German psychoanalyst who practiced in the United States during her later career. Her theories questioned some traditional Freudian views. This was particularly true of her theories ...

. While at BPI he studied with Hanns Sachs,

Otto Fenichel Otto Fenichel (; 2 December 1897, Vienna – 22 January 1946, Los Angeles) was an Austrian psychoanalyst of the so-called "second generation". He was born into a prominent family of Jewish lawyers. Education and psychoanalytic affiliations Otto ...

Wilhelm Reich Wilhelm Reich ( ; ; 24 March 1897 – 3 November 1957) was an Austrian Doctor of Medicine, doctor of medicine and a psychoanalysis, psychoanalyst, a member of the second generation of analysts after Sigmund Freud. The author of several in ...

, and

Kurt Goldstein Kurt Goldstein (November 6, 1878 – September 19, 1965) was a German neurologist and psychiatrist who created a holistic theory of the organism. Educated in medicine, Goldstein studied under Carl Wernicke and Ludwig Edinger where he focused on ...

. He later went to London, where he worked closely with Ernest Jones for six months at the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases. Back in Zurich he was invited by

Carl Gustav Jung Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and psychologist who founded the school of analytical psychology. A prolific author of over 20 books, illustrator, and correspondent, Jung was a ...

to join a workshop with other medical doctors to study analytical psychology, an experience that lasted nearly ten years and helped Boss to see that psychoanalysis need not be limited to Freudian interpretations. It was during the 1930s that Boss also became acquainted with

Ludwig Binswanger Ludwig Binswanger (; ; 13 April 1881 – 5 February 1966) was a Swiss people, Swiss psychiatrist and pioneer in the field of existential psychology. His parents were Robert Johann Binswanger (1850–1910) and Bertha Hasenclever (1847–1896). ...

, who introduced Boss to the works of philosopher

. During World War II, while serving in the Swiss Army, Boss began studying Heidegger's ''Being and Time'' and, upon the conclusion of the war, Boss contacted Heidegger, initiating a 25-year mentoring friendship. Through his study with Heidegger, Boss came to believe that modern medicine and psychology, premised on Cartesian philosophy and

Newtonian physics Classical mechanics is a physical theory describing the motion of objects such as projectiles, parts of machinery, spacecraft, planets, stars, and galaxies. The development of classical mechanics involved substantial change in the methods ...

, made incorrect assumptions about human beings and what it means to be human. He addressed an existential foundation for medicine and psychology two classic texts: ''Psychoanalysis and Daseinsanalysis'' (English version, 1963) and ''Existential Foundations of Medicine and Psychology'' (English translation, 1979). Whereas Boss's older colleague Ludwig Binswanger, is recognized as the founder of the first systematic existential approach to psychiatry and psychopathology, Boss is regarded as having founded the first systematic approach to existential psychotherapy. Other significant contributions Boss made to the literature in

existential psychotherapy Existential therapy is a form of psychotherapy based on the model of human nature and experience developed by the Existentialism, existential tradition of European philosophy. It focuses on the psychological experience revolving around universal h ...

include ''The Meaning and Content of Sexual Perversions'' (English Translation, 1949), ''The Analysis of Dreams'' (English Translation, 1958), and ''A Psychiatrist Discovers India'' (English translation, 1965). Boss saw dreams as coming from a person's life as a whole, not from a separate "dream state". He also did not see the "unconscious" as a place where the denied impulses were kept, which was the way Freud presented it.

Select bibliography

* Zollikon Seminars: Protocols, Conversations, Letters (editor; Martin Heidegger, author) (2001). F. Mayr, trans.

Northwestern University Press Northwestern University Press is an American publishing house affiliated with Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. It publishes 70 new titles each year in the areas of continental philosophy, poetry, Slavic and German literary criticis ...

. *Existential Foundations of Medicine and Psychology (1979). S. Conway and A. Cleaves, trans. Northvale, NJ:

Jason Aronson Jason Aronson was an American publisher of books in the field of psychotherapy. Topics dealt with in these books include child therapy, family therapy, couple therapy, object relations therapy, play therapy, depression, eating disorders, per ...

. *Psychoanalysis and Daseinsanalysis (1963). L. E. Lefebre, trans. New York: Basic Books. *A Psychiatrist Discovers India (1965). Wolff. *I Dreamt Last Night... (1977). S. Conway, trans. New York: Gardner Press. *The Analysis of Dreams (1957). J. Pomerans, trans. New York: Philosophical Library. *The Meaning and Content of Sexual Perversions (1949). L. L. Abell, trans. New York: Grune and Stratton. *Psychotherapy for Freedom: The Daseinsanalytic Way in Psychology and Psychoanalysis. E. Craig (ed.). A Special Issue of ''The Humanistic Psychologist'', Volume 16, Spring, 1988.

External links

Brent Dean Robbins' Medard Boss Page
* Zollikon Seminars (at Wikipedia). Martin Heidegger and Medard Boss (seminars, letters, discussions). {{DEFAULTSORT:Boss, Medard 1903 births 1990 deaths 20th-century Swiss people Daseinsanalysis Existential therapists Analysands of Sigmund Freud 20th-century Swiss psychologists