Grabengasse 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
In 1925, Blos attained a teaching certificate from Heidelberg University.
University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
Blos obtained a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Biology from the University of Vienna.
Grabengasse 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
In 1925, Blos attained a teaching certificate from Heidelberg University.
University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
Blos obtained a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Biology from the University of Vienna.
https://www.amazon.com/adolescence-psychoanalytic-interpretation-Peter-Blos/dp/B0006AX998
1962
(This book analyzes the normative stages of male and femal...)
This book analyzes the normative stages of male and female adolescence, as well as discussing the mutual influence of the adolescent and his surroundings, body image, acting out and delinquency and the developmental approach to psychic structure formation.
https://www.amazon.com/Adolescent-Passage-Developmental-Issues/dp/0823600955/?tag=2022091-20
1979
(A psychological look at the father/son relationship.)
A psychological look at the father/son relationship.
https://www.amazon.com/Son-Father-Before-Oedipus-Complex/dp/0029036801
1985
Peter Blos was born on February 2, 1904, in Karlsruhe, Germany, to Edwin Blos and Eva Lewinstein-Blos. His father was a doctor, who inspired Peter by speaking often about the spiritual teachings of Gandhi and Luther. Eva, Peter's mother, had a large circle of friends, and particularly liked dancing and acting.
In 1925, Blos attained a teaching certificate from Heidelberg University, and then, he obtained a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Biology from the University of Vienna.
During the 1920's, Blos was introduced to Anna Freud, who asked his help in creating a school for children, undergoing analysis. The project was supported and encouraged by Eva Rosenfeld and Dorothy Burlingham, a friend of Anna Freud, whose children attended the small school. Blos invited Erik Erikson to join him there. Within the Vienna psychoanalytic circle, August Aichhorn exerted a considerable intellectual influence on Blos, which strongly affected his psychoanalytic training. Blos entered psychoanalysis through teaching, while giving his work orientation and sensitivity, influenced by spirituality.
In 1934, to escape the rise of Nazism, Blos fled Vienna for the United States, where he settled down in New Orleans. There, he was hired as a teacher in a private school, before leaving for New York, where he continued his analytic training. According to Aaron H. Esman, Peter became a member of the New York Psychoanalytic Society, becoming a special member in 1965 and then a supervisor and trainer. As a teacher, he introduced, in 1972, a course on delayed adolescence, which he discontinued in 1977. Then, Blos continued his clinical practice and did some teaching at the Columbia Psychoanalytic Center as a co-founder of the Association for Child Psychoanalysis.
When Peter retired from professional life, he spent his time, writing poetry and fiction, playing the violin and practicing carpentry in his country home in Holderness, New Hampshire, where he died at the age of ninety-three by the side of his second wife.
Peter Blos was a notable psychoanalyst, educator and author. He gained prominence as a key authority in the field of adolescent psychology.
Of his four published books, it is "On Adolescence: A Psychoanalytic Interpretation", that led to his national and international recognition. This book, supported by his extensive clinical experience with adolescents, picks up the thread of an idea, that Sigmund Freud failed to develop. To be more precise, Freud identified the beginning and end of the process of puberty, largely ignoring the intermediary stages. Blos decided to elucidate the various stages of development of the personality, from latency to post-adolescence. His goal was to present a unified theory of adolescence, a necessary first step in introducing adolescent-specific psychopathology and psychotherapeutic technique. As a result, Peter developed a key concept, inherited from the work of Margaret Mahler, the "second individuation process". In this stage, the child must separate from the father just as the child had to separate from the mother during early childhood.
The "second individuation process" is what made Blos well-known. His theoretical and clinical approach to the gradual development of the personality, delinquency and the problems of the ego (superego, ego ideal, integrative capability) also made a significant contribution to understanding adolescence. In the United States, he was considered an eminent specialist, a forerunner of child and adolescent analysis, who trained several generations of analysts in adolescent psychotherapy.
(This book analyzes the normative stages of male and femal...)
1979(A psychological look at the father/son relationship.)
1985
During his career, Peter was called "Mr. Adolescence" as a result of his research into the problems of teenagers and his theories, describing their struggles between wanting to break free of their parents and desiring to remain dependent.
Quotes from others about the person
Albert J. Solnit described Blos as a strong-willed, but patient man, who had a flair for dealing with teenagers.
Peter was married twice. His first wife, Merta Grone, died in 1979. Bessy Thomas Blos was Peter's second wife. Also, Blos was a father of two children — Peter Blos Jr. and Lillemor Beenhouwer.
