On Paternal Presence - Heribert Blass
About this episode
Heribert Blass explores the evolving role of the father in contemporary psychoanalysis.
In the wake of profound cultural change, the traditional image of the father has been destabilized, prompting renewed psychoanalytic reflection. No longer confined to authority alone, the paternal figure is now expected to embody both care and limit. What psychic space does the father occupy in the life of the child? In this episode, Heribert Blass explores fatherhood through a contemporary psychoanalytic lens. Drawing on clinical experience, interdisciplinary research, and cultural observation, he outlines a model of committed paternity that integrates emotional presence with symbolic function. From early play to Oedipal conflict, the father's task is to protect, to differentiate, and to support the child's path toward autonomy. Rather than fading, he emerges as a complex figure situated at the intersection of intimacy, separation, and symbolic function—and essential to the child's inner world. Heribert Blass, medical doctor, is a psychoanalyst for adults, children, and adolescents; a training and supervising analyst of the German Psychoanalytic Association and the IPA; also a specialist in psychosomatic medicine and psychotherapy, and psychiatry, working in private practice in…
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