Obituaries

Joseph Morton Natterson, MD, distinguished psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and author, beloved husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather. Born in Wheeling, West Virginia, the youngest of five siblings and the only son of Anna and Sam.

He graduated from West Virginia University in 1943. In 1946, he received his BS from West Virginia University School of Medicine in 1946 and then attended Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis where he received his MD in 1948. At the time of his passing, he was their oldest living medical school graduate.

After Pearl Harbor, Joe joined the U.S. Navy, serving through the end of WW2. He re-enlisted in 1951, becoming Lieutenant, Medical Corps, U.S.N.R., and serving as Medical Officer at U.S. Naval Hospital, Great Lakes Illinois and Navy Camp Psychiatrist at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

Joe began his clinical career as a psychiatrist at St Louis City Hospital and at V.A. Mental Hygiene Clinic in Los Angeles. He opened a private psychiatric practice in Los Angeles in 1955 and subsequently completed his psychoanalytic training at the Southern California Psychoanalytic Institute. He remained an active faculty member at the New Center for Psychoanalysis in Los Angeles until his death. He also worked as a Psychiatric Consultant at City of Hope Medical Center in Duarte, CA, where he met his future wife, Idell, while both worked on staff there. Coincidentally, the father of his future son-in-law was CEO of City of Hope.

Throughout his career, Joe held a variety of teaching positions including Clinical Professor, Dept. of Psychiatry, USC School of Medicine; Clinical Professor, Dept. of Psychiatry, UCLA School of Medicine; and Visiting Professor, Dept. of Psychiatry, State University of New York. Over the years, he won numerous “Outstanding Teacher” awards.

He was a prolific writer of articles and books on psychoanalysis, including the books “The Dream of Psychoanalysis,” “Beyond Countertransference,” “The Sexual Dream” and his latest published in 2019, “The Loving Self.”

Joe is survived by Idell, his wife of nearly 67 years; their three children, Amy Kroll, Barbara Natterson-Horowitz and Paul Natterson; six grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Funeral services will be on Monday June 12, 2023 at 10 am at Hillside Memorial Park in Culver City.