Logotherapy

Rather than power or pleasure, logotherapy is founded upon the belief that it is the striving to find a
meaning in one's life that is the primary, most powerful motivating and driving force in humans.

The notion of Logotherapy was created with the Greek word logos ("meaning"). Frankl’s
concept is based on the premise that the primary motivational force of an individual is to find a
meaning in life. The following list of tenets represents the basic principles of logotherapy:

 Life has meaning under all circumstances, even the most miserable ones.
 Our main motivation for living is our will to find meaning in life.
 We have freedom to find meaning in what we do, and what we experience, or at least in
the stand we take when faced with a situation of unchangeable suffering.

The human spirit is referred to in several of the assumptions of logotherapy, but it should be
noted that the use of the term spirit is not "spiritual" or "religious". In Frankl's view, the spirit is
the will of the human being. The emphasis, therefore, is on the search for meaning, which is not
necessarily the search for God or any other supernatural being.[2] Frankl also noted the barriers to
humanity's quest for meaning in life. He warns against "...affluence, hedonism, [and]
materialism..." in the search for meaning.[3]

[edit] Discovering meaning

According to Frankl, we can discover meaning in life in three different ways: (1) by doing a
deed; (2) by experiencing a value – nature, a work of art, another person, i.e., love; (3) by
suffering.[4] On the meaning of suffering, Frankl gives the following example:

Once, an elderly general practitioner consulted me because of his severe depression. He could
not overcome the loss of his wife who had died two years before and whom he had loved above
all else. Now how could I help him? What should I tell him? I refrained from telling him
anything, but instead confronted him with a question, "What would have happened, Doctor, if
you had died first, and your wife would have had to survive you?:" "Oh," he said, "for her this
would have been terrible; how she would have suffered!" Whereupon I replied, "You see,
Doctor, such a suffering has been spared her, and it is you who have spared her this suffering;
but now, you have to pay for it by surviving and mourning her." He said no word but shook my
hand and calmly left the office.[5]
— Viktor Frankl

Frankl emphasized that realizing the value of suffering is meaningful only when the first two
creative possibilities are not available (for example, in a concentration camp) and only when
such suffering is inevitable – he was not proposing that people suffer unnecessarily.[6]

[edit] Overcoming Anxiety

By recognizing the purpose of our circumstances, one can master anxiety. Anecdotes about this
use of logotherapy are given by New York Times writer Tim Sanders, who explained how he uses
its concept to relieve the stress of fellow airline travelers by asking them the purpose of their
journey. When he does this, no matter how miserable they are, their whole demeanor changes,
and they remain happy throughout the flight.[7]

[edit] Treatment of Neurosis

Frankl cites two neurotic pathogens: hyper-intention, a forced intention toward some end which
makes that end unattainable; and hyper-reflection, an excessive attention to oneself which stifles
attempts to avoid the neurosis to which one thinks oneself predisposed. Frankl identified
anticipatory anxiety, a fear of a given outcome which makes that outcome more likely. To
relieve the anticipatory anxiety and treat the resulting neuroses, logotherapy offers paradoxical
intention, wherein the patient intends to do the opposite of his hyper-intended goal.

A person, then, who fears (i.e. experiences anticipatory anxiety over) not getting a good night's
sleep may try too hard (that is, hyper-intend) to fall asleep, and this would hinder his ability to do
so. A logotherapist would recommend, then, that he go to bed and intentionally try not to fall
asleep. This would relieve the anticipatory anxiety which kept him awake in the first place, thus
allowing him to fall asleep in an acceptable amount of time.[8]

n 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:

 Freedom of Will
 Will to Meaning, and
 Meaning in Life

  ¦  Freedom of Will
According to LTEA 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. Freedom is here defined as the space of shaping one's own life within the
limits of the given possibilities. This freedom derives from the spiritual dimension of the person,
which is understood as the essentially human realm, over and above the dimensions of body and
of psyche. As spiritual persons, humans are not just reacting organisms but autonomous beings
capable of actively shaping their lives.

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 pschological 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.   ¦  Will to Meaning
Human beings are not only free, but most importantly they are free to something - namely, to
achieve goals and puposes. 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.

Logotherapy/Existential Analysis 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.   ¦  Meaning in Life
LTEA is based on the idea that meaning is an objective reality, as opposed to a mere illusion
arising within the perceptional apparatus of the observer. This is in contrast to the so-called
"Occupational and Recreational Therapies" which are primarily concerned with diverting the
clients' attention from disturbed or disturbing modes of experience.

According to LTEA 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. In this context it must be stressed that these
meaning potentials, although objective in nature, are linked to the specific situation and person,
and are therefore continually changing. Thus LTEA does not declare or offer some general
meaning of life. Rather, clients are aided in achieving the openness and flexibility that will
enable them to shape their day-to-day lives in a meaningful manner.