Dr. George Hartlaub passed away on July 1, 2024. Dr. Hartlaub was a past Society member and analytic candidate of the Denver Institute for Psychoanalysis.
In Memoriam: George H. Hartlaub, M.D., 1930-2024
Colorado has lost a beloved teacher and clinician in the field of psychiatry and allied mental health practices. George Hartlaub, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, died peacefully at the age of 93 on July 1. He had completed nearly 60 years of devoted service as Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at CU Anschutz School of Medicine where he won recognition as an outstanding teacher/clinician with special interests in group therapy and human development.
George was born in 1930 in Chicago, the eighth of ten children. Following high school, he entered the St. Louis Province of the Marianist Society where he engaged in strict Catholic religious training, vows and practice. He left the Marianist Brothers equipped with wide-ranging spiritual talents combined with an enduring skepticism regarding dogmatism of all kinds.
He graduated from the University of Dayton, majoring in mathematics, in 1951 and received his M.D. degree from the Loyola Stritch School of Medicine in 1955. After completing his residency training in psychiatry at Colorado State Hospital in Pueblo, he entered private practice in Denver and completed his analytic training at the Denver Institute for Psycho-analysis.
A perpetually curious innovator, George frequently questioned the limited perspectives of classical psycho-analysis and became one of the founding faculty members of an alternative analytic institute in Denver which accepted master’s level practitioners from social work, family therapy, nursing and psychology. This institute and its students questioned the validity and usefulness of the analyst as a “blank screen” and emphasized the importance of a new, more empathic, real relationship as most salient in the healing process.
Along with Drs. Mark Rhine and Gary Martin, George coauthored a article entitled “Recontacts with the Analyst following Termination: A Survey of 71 Cases.” George continued to delight in hearing about the life journeys of his former patients. For him, “termination” was a rather negative descriptor applied to ending such an intimate and personal relationship. Better to say “graduation,” with the implication that occasional brief reunions were welcome.
In the context of increasing incidents and media coverage of therapeutic boundary violations, George and his second wife, Dr. Joan Shapiro, became founding members of a monthly men’s and women’s consultation group which focused on gender issues in psychotherapy. Their collaboration and the evocative discussions in this group led to the publication of a relevant, timely and subtly humorous book, Men: A Translation for Women, written by Dr. Shapiro and published in 1992.
Fascinated by neural network theory and the complexities of memory, George collaborated with Drs. James Grigsby and Dr. David Stevens at the University of Denver in researching the distinctions between procedural and declarative memory processes and their manifestations in psychodynamic psychotherapy. These findings were published by Grigsby and Stevens in The Neuro-Dynamics of Personality in 2001.
George was active in the Men’s Leadership Alliance, which used the practices, rituals and prayers of Indigenous Americans and the writings of Rilke, Hanh, Keene, Bly and others to better understand the nature of contemporary manhood and the mentoring of elders. Their activities and annual retreats in the Rocky Mountains gave birth to numerous leaders of the men’s movement and deepened relationships between fathers and sons.
While raising his family and mentoring residents and colleagues he took graduate courses in DU’s Korbel Institute for International Relations where he developed a life-long interest in foreign affairs. George read prodigiously and loved to travel, play guitar, drum, sing pop tunes, hike, snowshoe and ski well into his 80s in and around his second home in Salida, CO accompanied by his family members, co-workers and close friends.
Several years ago, George retired from psychiatric practice but, persistent in his desire to teach and help others, he became certified as a personal life coach and maintained an active practice into his late 80s.
George was a deeply spiritual person, teacher and an inspiring elder for all who knew him. He often quoted the saying: Ubi caritas et amor, ibi Deus est. (Where there is charity and love, God is there.) For many, including this writer, being with George was a touching experience of loving kindness.
George and several other mental health professionals founded a monthly men’s group which has lasted for over 35 years, which for many has become like a second family. Members of group recently described him as warm, affectionate, always eager to learn, a superbly empathic listener and an enduring model for facing mortality with gratitude, dignity and compassion for others.
He is survived by his daughter Maureen and sons Mark and Steve from his first marriage, by his second wife, Dr. Joan Shapiro, and their daughter Laura. At the time of his passing, he left over 60 grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces, nephews and their children.
May his memory be a blessing.
Respectfully submitted,
John S. Graves, M.D. APA Life Fellow
July 18, 2024
