This is a presentation about Viktor Frankl's Logotherapy.

1. LOGOTHERAPY
Is life worth
living?
Viktor Frankl shows us how
to make life worth living no
matter what.
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2. BORN: MARCH 26, 1905. VIENNA
PROFESSOR OF NEUROLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY
SPENT 3 YEARS AT A CONCENTRATION CAMP
DIED: SEPTEMBER 2, 1997, VIENNA
VIKTOR FRANKL INSTITUTE VIENNA FOUNDED 1992
(http://logotherapy.univie.ac.at)
LIFE AND WORK

3. THE DOCTOR AND THE SOUL, 1955
MAN’S SEARCH FOR MEANING. AN INTRODUCTION TO
LOGOTHERAPY, 1963
THE UNCONSCIOUS GOD. PSYCHOTHERAPY AND THEOLOGY,
1975
MOST IMPORTANT BOOKS

4. The development of Logotherapy and Existential
Analysis dates back to the 1930s.
On the basis of Sigmund Freud's Psychoanalysis and
Alfred Adler's Individual Psychology the psychiatrist
and neurologist Viktor Emil Frankl (1905-1997) laid
down the foundations of a new and original approach
which he first published in 1938.
Logotherapy/Existential Analysis, sometimes called
the "Third Viennese School of Psychotherapy", is an
internationally acknowledged and empirically based
meaning-centered approach to psychotherapy.
LOGOTHERAPY AND
EXISTENTIAL ANALYSIS

5. WILL-TO-MEANING (FRANKL)
LOGOS – THE SPIRITUAL, THE MEANING
LOGOTHERAPY

6. LOGOTHERAPY – PSYCHOTHERAPY IN TERMS OF THE MIND
LOGOTHERAPY MUST SUPPLEMENT PSYCHOTHERAPY, NOT
REPLACE IT
(OTHERWISE PSYCHOTHERAPY FALLS INTO THE ERROR OF
PSYCHOLOGISM)
FROM PSYCHOTHERAPY TO
LOGOTHERAPY

7. In Logotherapy/Existential Analysis (LTEA) the search
for a meaning in life is identified as the primary
motivational force in human beings.
Frankl's approach is based on three philosophical and
psychological concepts:
FRANKL’S BASIC CONCEPTS

8. •humans are not fully subject to
conditions but are basically free to decide
and capable of taking their stance towards
internal (psychological) and external
(biological and social) conditions.
•As spiritual persons, humans are not just
reacting organisms but autonomous beings
capable of actively shaping their lives.
FREEDOM OF WILL

9. The freedom of the human person plays an important role
in psychotherapy, in that it provides clients with room for
autonomous action even in the face of somatic or
psychological illness. And it just that resource which
enables clients, in the context of the techniques of
Paradoxical Intention and Dereflection, to cope with their
symptoms and to regain control and self-determination.
FREEDOM OF WILL

10. Human beings are not only free, but most
importantly they are free to something -
namely, to achieve goals and purposes.
The search for meaning is seen as the
primary motivation of humans.
When a person cannot realize his or her
"Will to Meaning" in their lives they will
experience an abysmal sensation of
meaninglessness and emptiness.
The frustration of the existential need for
meaningful goals will give rise to
aggression, addiction, depression and
suicidality, and it may engender or increase
psychosomatic maladies and neurotic
disorders.
WILL TO MEANING

11. Logotherapy assists clients in perceiving and removing
those factors that hinder them in pursuing meaningful
goals in their lives. Clients are sensitized for the
perception of meaning potentialities; however, they are
not offered specific meanings. Rather, they are guided and
assisted in the realization of those meaning possibilities
they have detected themselves.
WILL TO MEANING

12. According to Logotherapy humans are
called upon, on the grounds of their
freedom and responsibility, to bring forth
the possible best in themselves and in the
world, by perceiving and realizing the
meaning of the moment in each and
every situation.
MEANING IN LIFE

13. BY REALIZING:
CREATIVE VALUES – ACHIEVING TASKS
EXPERIENTIAL VALUES – EXPERIENCING THE
GOOD, THE TRUE, THE BEAUTIFUL OR
EXPERIENCING ONE HUMAN BEING AS
UNIQUE (LOVING HIM/HER)
ATTITUDINAL VALUES – FACING SUFFERING
WITHOUT FLINCHING – THE HIGHEST
ACHIEVEMENT
HOW TO GIVE MEANING TO OUR
LIVES?

14. EXISTENTIAL ANALYSIS may be understood as the
philosophical and scientific basis of logotherapy as well as
an essential part of a therapy proper.
Basically, existential analysis means analysis with respect
to existence, or "explication of existence" with
consideration of a self-responsible, self-realized and
humane life.
EXISTENTIAL ANALYSIS

15. In "general existential analysis" the pursuit of meaning is discussed and identified
as a basic motivation in humans, and arguments are provided that demonstrate
the fundamental possibility of finding meaning in life. On this basis the
therapeutic effects of a successful search for meaning may be explained.
GENERAL EXISTENTIAL
ANALYSIS

16. AFFIRMATIVE ATTITUDE TOWARDS LIFE - CRUCIAL
CONDITION OF LONGEVITY
PLEASURE PRINCIPLE – AN ARTIFICIAL
CREATION OF PSYCHOLOGY
PLEASURE – NOT THE GOAL OF OUR
ASPIRATIONS, BUT A CONSEQUENCE OF
ATTAINING THEM
MEANING IN LIFE

17. we are not here to enjoy ourselves
human freedom is not a “freedom from” but a “freedom to”
freedom to accept responsibility
this freedom predicates a sense of responsibility
reverence for life (Albert Schweitzer)
life has unconditional value – consciousness of having a task in
life, a mission
having such a task makes the person irreplaceable and unique
„FREEDOM TO”

18. LACK OF SUCCESS DOES NOT
SIGNIFY LACK OF MEANING
LACK OF PLEASURE IN LIFE DOES
NOT DETRACT FROM ITS
MEANING
SUFFERING HAS A MEANING IN
ITSELF
THE MEANING OF SUFFERING

19. 1. Whatever does not kill you makes you stronger
2. Suffering purifies the soul
3. It makes you wiser
4. It increases your compassion
5. It teaches you how to pray and wait upon God
6. It compels you to do something to make life better for all
7. It prepares you for heroic achievements.
7 BENEFITS OF SUFFERING

20. WORK – ACTUALIZING CREATIVE VALUES,
THE RESPONSE WITHIN THE ACTUAL CONDITIONS OF
EVERYDAY LIVING, WITHIN THE AREA OF HUMAN
RESPONSIBILITY
BOTH EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT MAY BE MISUSED
AS MEANS TO A NEUROTIC END
THE MEANING OF WORK

21. LOVE IS LIVING THE EXPERIENCE OF ANOTHER PERSON IN ALL
ITS UNIQUENESS AND SINGULARITY
LOVE ENORMOUSLY INCREASES RECEPTIVITY TO THE FULLNESS
OF VALUES
THE MIRACLE OF LOVE – A CHILD
THE MEANING OF LOVE

22. MEANING:

23. Certain attitudes and expectations may be obstacles to meaning fulfillment. They
can alienate a person from the meaning potentialities in his or her life, thus
accentuating neurotic disorders, or even producing them via repeated
maldecisions and formation of behavior patterns.
SOCRATIC DIALOGUE /
MODIFICATION OF ATTITUDES

24. It is important to note that the therapist or physician must refrain from imposing
his or her own values or meaning perceptions. Rather, clients are guided to
perceive their unrealistic and counterproductive attitudes and to develop a new
outlook that may be a better basis for a fulfilled life.
SOCRATIC DIALOGUE /
MODIFICATION OF ATTITUDES

25. Socratic dialogue is a conversational method frequently used by logotherapists.
Specific questions are aimed to raise into consciousness the possibility to find,
and the freedom to fulfill, meaning in one's life. In the philosophical setting this
technique of guiding by questioning was introduced by Socrates, who
characterized it as a sort of "spiritual midwifery".
SOCRATIC DIALOGUE /
MODIFICATION OF ATTITUDES

26. It doesn’t matter what we expect from life, but what life expects
from us.
Love is the ultimate and highest goal to which man can aspire.
He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how.
That which does not kill me, makes me
THOUGHTS FROM FRANKL

27. 1) Awaken to need for meaning & purpose
2) Believe that life has intrinsic meaning
3) Choose to do what is right & kind
4) Devote oneself to living a responsible, virtuous and resilient life
5) Elevate mundane activities to the transcendental realm,
6) Find positive potentials in negatives
7) Go the extra mile for others.
7 ATTRIBUTES OF MEANING-
MINDSET