Oskar Pfister (February 12, 1873 – August 6, 1956) was a Swiss Protestant minister and lay psychoanalyst who was native of Wiedikon. He studied theology, philosophy and psychology at the Universities of Zurich and Basel, and earned his degree in 1898 at the philosophical faculty. Subsequently, he was a minister in Wald, Switzerland, where he remained until 1920.
Pfister is remembered for his work involving the application of psychoanalysis into the discipline of education, and his belief system of a synthesis concerning psychology and theology. He was a pioneer of modern Swiss psychology, and belonged to a psychoanalytical circle in Zurich that was centered around Eugen Bleuler and Carl Jung. In 1919, he formed the Swiss Society for Psychoanalysis. Though the psychiatrist Emil Oberholzer founded a separate Swiss Medical Society for Psychoanalysis in 1928, Pfister stuck with the group he had started, defending Sigmund Freud's position on lay analysis that Oberholzer's group rejected.[1]
Pfister was an early associate of Freud's, and maintained an ongoing correspondence with him between 1909 and 1939. Pfister believed that theology and psychology were compatible disciplines, and advocated the concept of a "Christian Eros". He was particularly interested in Freud's concepts of the Oedipus Complex, castration anxiety and infantile sexuality. Pfister proposed the elimination of fear in religion, and advocated a return to the original fundamental teachings of Jesus Christ.
Today, the Oskar Pfister Award is awarded by the American Psychiatric Association as well as the Association of Professional Chaplains for significant contributions to the field of religion and psychiatry.