Anton Boisen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anton Boisen (1876-1965) is widely regarded as a pioneering figure in the hospital chaplaincy and clinical pastoral education movements. He introduced the concept of each person being a 'living human document,' to be respected, valued and learned from. Boisen graduated from Union Theological Seminary, and served as a rural Presbyterian minister and YMCA Expeditionary Force prior to finding his way into hospital chaplaincy.
In the 1920s, the emerging form of theological education known as Clinical Pastoral Education developed out of the innovation of Dr. William A. Bryan, Superintendent of the Worcester State Hospital , Worcester , MA when he hired Rev. Anton T. Boisen, a former mental patient, to serve as the hospital chaplain. Thus the research interests of this Congregational/Presbyterian minister became the motivation that began clinical pastoral education.
Anton Boisen had been hospitalized for psychotic breaks from 1920 to 1922, and during his time in the hospital, he felt a calling to "break down the dividing wall between religion and medicine." He believed that certain types of schizophrenia could be understood as attempts to solve problems of the soul.
In the summer of 1925, he invited four students, to participate in a clinical training group with him at Worcester State Hospital. He had learned the case study method from Dr. Richard Cabot, under whom he had studied social ethics at Harvard. One of the students, Helen Flanders Dunbar, a pioneer in the field of psychosomatic medicine, came as a research assistant. Dr. Flanders Dunbar later became the Medical Director of the Council for Clinical Pastoral Training of Theological Students in New York City.
In 1931, Boisen was followed by Rev. Carroll Wise at Worcester State Hospital . Wise had a different philosophy of what clinical training was all about. Boisen was primarily a researcher of religious experience connected to mental illness. Carroll was interested in a pastoral emphasis. Carroll remarked, “He (Boisen) finally forgave me for changing the Worcester program from a research to a pastoral emphasis.”
Where is Boisen in the midst of these various rivalries, factions, fights, and formations? In 1930, he had another mental breakdown after the death of his mother. (He had five episodes during his life.) Cabot felt that his ability to function as a supervisor was at risk, and he withdrew his support to Boisen. His influence in the day-to-day activity of Clinical Pastoral Education was diminished in the eyes of the Council for Clinical Training for Theological Students after this episode of mental illness.
In 1932, Anton Boisen transitioned to Elgin State Hospital near Chicago. This move brought him close to Chicago Theological Seminary where he was teaching one semester a year; and to Alice Batchelder, the unrequited love of his life, who worked in Chicago. He was a hospital chaplain and supervisor at Elgin until 1954.
He continued to make an impact on the pastoral care and education movement through his lecturing and writings. He contributed more than 150 articles, letters, and reviews, along with 4 books, and one hymnal for use in mental hospital settings. In 1936 he wrote his book, The Exploration of he Inner World that he dedicated to Alice who had died recently. The book was highly praised by the New York Times Review of Books as being a “significant contribution to the religious literature field.”
In his autobiography, Out of the Depths, published in 1960, he offers candid reflections on his struggles with mental illness and valuable insights he gleaned from these experiences, along with his pioneering work in chaplaincy.
For Boisen, a student of George Albert Coe, crisis periods in life also bring creative possibilities. He associated crisis with religious “quickening.” He writes, “In times of crisis, when the person's fate is hanging in the balance, we are likely to think and feel intensely regarding the things that matter most.” Amidst such circumstances new ideas flash into the mind so vividly that they seem to come from an outside source. They are moments bringing forth change either for better or for worse.
Boisen's work, leadership and vision helped lay the foundation for hospital chaplaincy, and continues to be influential today.
[edit] References
- ACPE History Corner
- Dictionary of Pastoral Care and Counseling. Rodney J. Hunter, ed. Nashville, Abingdon Press, 1990. Article entitled "Anton Boisen," by E.B. Holifield.
