Medard Boss was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who developed a form of psychotherapy based on the Dasein philosophy, this type of analysis linked the psychotherapeutic practice of psychoanalysis to the phenomenological existential philosophy of his friend and mentor Martin Heidegger.
The term Dasein, mainly used in philosophy, comes from German and means “to be there”. This philosophical term has been used by several German authors, but is more associated with Heidegger.
- The idea of combining psychology and philosophy may seem contrary to the idea of psychology as science.
- However.
- We must not forget that the role of philosophy was fundamental to the later development of science.
In this sense, psychology remains a science of the mind that has seen its origins in knowledge theory; in turn, the relationship between mind and ideas is of paramount importance for psychological study.
Next, we reveal how Dasein’s philosophy has profoundly influenced Medard Boss’s psychology and studies.
Medard Boss was born in St. Gallen, Switzerland, on October 4, 1903, but grew up in Zurich, at the time psychological studies were in full development.
He obtained his medical degree in 1928, studying in Paris and Vienna and being analyzed by Sigmund Freud himself, and then continued the analysis through sessions with Swiss psychoanalyst Hans Behn Eschenburg.
Upon his return to Zurich, he continued his training at Burgh-lzli Hospital, under the direction of psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler. Later, she completed her formal psychoanalytic training at the Berlin Psychoanalytic Institute (BPI), where her supervising analyst was Karen Horney.
At BPI, he studied with Hanns Sachs, Otto Fenichel, Wilhelm Reich and Kurt Goldstein.
He later moved to London, where he worked with Ernest Jones for six months at the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases.
Starting in 1938, back in Zurich, Carl Gustav Jung invited Boss to take a course with other doctors to study analytical psychology. This experience with Jung lasted nearly ten years and helped Boss see that psychoanalysis should not be limited to Freudian interpretations.
It was in the 1930s that Boss also met Ludwig Binswanger. Thanks to Binswanger, Boss came into contact with the work of the philosopher Martin Heidegger, who will play a crucial role in the future development of his career.
Thanks to Heidegger’s influence, Boss would forever convert to existential psychology. Its impact on existential therapy was so great that it is often mentioned with Ludwig Binswanger as its co-founder.
After four years at Burgholzli Hospital, he continued his studies between Berlin and London. In Germany and England, his teachers included several people from Freud’s inner circle, including Karen Horney and Kurt Goldstein.
For Boss, the existential point of the world is not something we interpret, it is something that exists beyond any interpretation, so his theory pointed out what something is revealed in it?Light? Del Dasein.
Essentially, Boss believed that the Dasein was a way to open his mind, to highlight a situation. The symbolism of light played an important role in Boss’s work: “Get out of the dark,” “Illuminate an idea?”And finally, “enlightenment. “
Boss also said humor plays a decisive role in how people react to their surroundings. An angry person, for example, would be especially sensitive to elements that would create feelings of anger.
Medard Boss’ medical thought and practice were influenced by his travels to India in 1956, 1958, and 1966, where he interacted with the Indian scholar Swami Gobind Kaul.
Boss has studied dreams more than any other existentialist and considers them important in therapy, however, instead of interpreting them as Freudians or Jungians do, it allows them to reveal their own meanings.
Boss therefore postulating that dreams created his own messages rather than displaying symbols of deeper feelings.
According to Boss, dreams show how we light up our lives. In other words, if we feel trapped, our feet will be bound in sleep; If we feel free, we’ll fly.
In 1971, the American Psychological Association awarded him the Grand Prize for Therapists and for nearly two decades was president of the International Society of Medical Psychotherapy.
Boss’s books include the existential foundations of medicine and psychology, the psychoanalysis and analysis of Dasein and the analysis of dreams. Medard Boss died in 1990, after a life full of academic successes and an interesting legacy for psychology.