Application of Logotherapy in Small Sharing Groups

Journal of Religion and Health, Vol. 13, No. 2, 1974

Application of Logotherapy in Small Sharing Groups JOSEPH B. FABRY

During the past five years I have been leading small sharing groups, applying the principles of logotherapy as developed by Viktor E. Frankl. ~ The groups met at the First Unitarian Church of Berkeley and at Unitarian summer conferences; at growth centers, such as Esalen, in the San Francisco and Los Angeles areas; as part of extension classes for the University of California at Berkeley and San Francisco and the California State College at Sonoma; for the California Human Services Organization; and for suburbanites who planned to join in experiments in communitarian living.

Logotherapy, as developed by Frankl in the thirties and tested in the merciless laboratory of Nazi concentration camps, is based on three assumptions: that life has meaning under all, even the most hopeless, circumstances; that every person has a will to meaning that goes deeper than does Freud's will to pleasure and Adler's will to power; and that everyone has, within obvious limits, the freedom to find meaning. 2

Logotherapy is translated as "healing through meaning." In the sharing groups I interpret "healing" in the widest possible sense: the participants are not "sick," but simply frustrated, trapped by circumstances, unfulfilled, caught in unwanted patterns, unhappy, not living up to their potentials, or suffering from an inner emptiness that Frankl has termed the "existential vacuum." Healing takes place when they fill their vacuum with the specific meanings of their lives rather than accepting their emptiness in despair or filling it with popular surrogates such as hedonistic pleasures, alcohol, drugs, "busyness," power, money, or prestige.

"Meaning" is interpreted on two levels. The first--Meaning with a capital M--is seen as an awareness that, in spite of apparent chaos, there is order in the universe; while chance exists, things somehow hang together, even if I, as an individual, cannot always perceive the connections; I am part of that order, and it is my decision to partake in, ignore, or resist that order; it does, therefore, make a difference what I decide to do or not do. My participation in the universal order may take place within the framework of any belief--religious, atheistic, or humanistic. It makes no difference whether the order is called "God," "life force," "nature," or--to use a modern

Joseph B. Fabry teaches logotherapy at the University of California, Berkeley and San Francisco, and at the California State College, Sonoma extensions. He is the author of The Pursuit of Meaning--Logotherapy Applied to Life and Aspects of Logotherapy (in preparation).

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Application of Logotherapy in Small Sharing Groups 129

term--"ecosystem." The existence of such a Meaning of Life cannot be proved or disproved, except in the existential experiment of living. It is an assumption. All a person can do is to live as if Meaning existed or as if it did not exist, and see which alternative is more fulfilling.

Being an assumption, however, Meaning with a capital M cannot be captured and held, just as Truth with a capital T or Beauty with a capital B cannot be found. These goals are like the horizon--they challenge us to search, but the closer we come in our pursuit, the farther they recede.

There are, however, meanings that we can, and indeed must, find if our life is to be fulfilled. Just as we cannot find Truth but many true facts, just as we cannot find Beauty but many beautiful manifestations, so we cannot find Meaning, but can have many meaningful experiences. In Frankl's concept, every person is a unique individual who from birth to death goes through a string of unique situations, each of which offers a specific meaning potential: to recognize the meaning of the moment and to respond to it--to be not only free but also responsible, "able to respond"--is to find meaning. The meaning of the moment may range from the trivial--to drive safely on a highway, to work, to rest--to the required, and even to the heroic--to comfort a friend in need, to save a drowning child. In our search for the meanings of the moment we are helped by our values--what millions of people in our culture have found meaningful in similar situations and what has come down to us through tradition, laws, and customs. But values give only general, not specific, guidelines. They can contradict each other, especially in times like ours when traditions are crumbling and authority is mistrusted, and we are torn by conflicting guidelines, or have no guideline we respect. In such times we are thrown back on our personal resources with nothing stronger to guide us than the weak and unreliable voice of our conscience.

To Frankl, the conscience is more than a superego; it is part of a genuinely human dimension that he calls the "no , t i c , " or the spiritual. The no,t ic dimension is our healthy core. Our body and our psyche may become sick, but not our "noSs"; it may be blocked by physical or psychological sickness, and it then becomes the task of the therapist to remove the blocks and enable the person to make use of the qualities of his no,t ic dimension not where he is driven by impulses, but where he is the driver and makes his decisions. In his no,t ic dimension, a person has his uniquely human qualities that help him retain or regain his mental health: among these qualities is his striving to find a meaning in life--what Frankl calls "man's will to meaning" and regards as the primary motivational force operant in man. Other such qualities are man's goal orientation, his ideals, his creative abilities, his intuitive perception, his religious faith, his capacity to relate to others on an I-Thou level, and his conscience, which tells him how to behave in conflict situations, even, where necessary, in opposition to traditional values.

The challenge of sharing groups based on the principles of logotherapy is to translate its concepts into practice. This is all the more difficult because

130 Journal of Religion and Health

logotherapy disdains "techniques" and "gimmicks." The essence of its teachings is to see human nature not only as nature, with its limitations, but as human, with its potentials. To use techniques would reduce the human creature to a machine that can be manipulated. He needs to be motivated to make decisions, to free his no,t ic dimension from all obstacles so he can use its contents--the creativity, the human relationships, the will to meaning--to the fullest.

Occasionally, the participants in logotherapy groups are disappointed because "all we do is talk." After having paid the price of a weekend workshop in a growth center, some people expect something more dramatic than mere word exchanges. Yet, while touching, hugging, role-playing may come up spontaneously, they are not planned as techniques. The most important part in a logotherapeutically oriented sharing group is to develop an atmosphere of trust where people will risk cautiously taking off their masks and looking at themselves not only as they are but as they have the vision of becoming. I make it a point early in the session to assure the participants of one principal rule: No one will be forced to speak about matters he does not wish to discuss; he is free to pass up any question that is directed at him. But if he decides to answer, he is to commit himself to honesty. The purpose of the sessions is to help the participant to become aware of the healthy part in him and to expand this awareness. I often start the session by asking everyone to write on a piece of paper the things he likes best about himself and what he likes least, with the assurance that, if he so desires, this will remain private information. The participants are asked to reveal only what they feel comfortable about sharing with the others. The emphasis is on the positive aspects of the person, what he has found meaningful in his past, his goals, his visions of himself, but also what is holding him back and what he thinks he can do about the roadblocks, traps, and unwanted patterns.

The function of the leader in sharing groups has been defined by Robert Leslie, a student of Frankl's and professor of pastoral psychology and counseling at the Pacific School of Religion at Berkeley. The leader, he says, is "not to solve problems, nor understand their origins, but simply to acknowledge them, encourage full expression of them and relate them to observed patterns of behavior; to provide support where needed, pursue tentative expression until the real emotion is revealed, and protect members from attack; to challenge the group and its members toward growth, point out learning as it is experienced, help self-understanding and understanding of others; and help people feel accepted as they are, without hiding the darker side. ''3 In my groups, I make it clear that neither I nor anyone else in the room will "prescribe" meanings to anyone, but simply open doors to meaning potentials that the participant may not have seen and through which he may decide to enter. In this effort all others in the group can help. But it is always up to the individual to make the decision himself.

There are, however, several ways in which doors to meanings can be


opened. The first is to assure the participants that the feeling of meaninglessness, which Frankl calls the "existential vacuum" and which is so pervasive today, is no disease but simply proof that they are human. Only a human being searches for meanings, has doubts, and feels frustrated if he cannot find them. The second assurance is to point out the ways in which, according to logotherapy, meanings can be found: in activities, paid and unpaid; in experiences through art, nature, and human relations; and in attitudes. The first two are obvious, but the third is the guarantee that meaning is available even in apparently meaningless situations of which the concentration camp provides a stark example. The inmates whose attitude was, "Why did it happen to me? What did I do to deserve this?" ended in despair, because the questions had no answers. But those whose attitude was, " I t happened--I don't know why. What can I do now?" saw an outline of meanings emerge. One does not have to be in death camps to experience the agony of unavoidable and undeserved suffering. Every person may find himself in concentration camp situations where he feels trapped beyond hope. One participant expressed one possible meaning in those traps by saying, "The meaning of suffering is to understand the sufferings of others, so you can help." Helen Keller is a prime example. Organizations like Alcoholics Anonymous and Synanon make use of the meaning potentials of sufferers who have decided to help others in the same situation. No one can help an alcoholic as well as someone who has gone through that hell himself. Only an incurably sick person can show his fellow-sufferers how to live in dignity while facing death. A young man told our group: "When Grandpa died it was he who cheered us up when we visited him. We kids never thought much of the old man, but he taught us a lesson I'll never forget." As Frankl once said, even our last moments can retroactively flood our entire life with meaning.

In the deepening climate of trust, members of sharing groups can be led to see several areas in which meaning suddenly may illuminate their life. They may, for instance, see meaning by discovering a truth about themselves--not a truth learned through someone else, but a personal revelation. This happened to Carolyn, a self-assured woman in her forties, a successful nurse who had expressed her disbelief, even contempt, when others had talked about their insecurities. Later in the session, a young man told about his wife, who had left him for another man who, in turn, had abandoned her when she developed heart trouble. The husband decided to take her back to care for her, although she had told him that she no longer loved him. Carolyn burst into tears, shouting: "Why can't someone care for me that much? I would be a loving wife, and you waste your sympathy on a bitch like that." She quickly caught herself and dried her eyes. Then the following brief exchange occurred:

Another male participant (to Carolyn): "I didn't like you. But now when you admit weakness, I feel soft and warm and helpful toward you. I don't want to misuse your weakness and hurt you."


A second male part ic ipant: " I only want to hurt you when you have your a rmor on."

Carolyn (soft ly): "When you see my armor I feel most vulnerable." She burst into sobbing again, and both men went to sit by her.

The truths hidden behind masks unb lock a person's no , t i c core and tell him that it is all r ight to admit weakness and reach out for help, and that the world will not come to an end if one admits failure, anxiety, and anger. But the leader must watch out that the person stops his unmasking, as Frankl warned, when he reaches his healthy self; otherwise he will tear off not only his masks, but his truly human mot ivat ions- -h is love, his honesty, his ideals. I f he reduces love to nothing but a subl imat ion of sex, and conscience to a mere superego that has to be obeyed, he will have surrendered the essence of his meaning potential , which is the f reedom to make decisions in matters that concern him.

A second area of meaning potent ia l is choice. The logotherapeutical ly or iented group must help the part ic ipants realize that, in spite of all physical, psychological , and environmental l imitat ions, every person has a core in which he does have choices; being aware of that center of choice may make the di f ference between a meaningful and a meaningless life. Choice is central in logotherapy, as it is in most existential therapies. Frankl emphasizes " the def iant power of the human spir it ," which enables a person to overcome, and even oppose, the l imitat ions of the body and the psyche. "One does not have to stand for all that nonsense f rom onesel f , " he advises.

There are many ways to persuade a part ic ipant to list the choices he has to escape an unwanted situation, or to reach a desired goal. Other part ic ipants can help, not by making the choice for the part ic ipant, but by recalling how they had chosen in a similar situation. But more impor tant than helping a person in a trap to make a choice is to make him aware that he actual ly has a choice. A part ic ipant in a group of counselors recalled having been te lephoned by a man about to commit suicide. The counselor said: "All right. You have a choice. Either you can kill yourself , or you can come to my off ice and we can talk things over." The man s tammered: " I do have a choice? I - -d idn ' t th ink I had any ." He came to the counselor, who reported that: "Once a person realizes that he has a choice, he can go ahead to find a so lut ion."

In situations of unavoidable suffering, the choices may be l imited to those of att i tudes. This is true of the way we decide to consider our past. No one can alter the facts of his past, remove chi ldhood traumas, undo mistakes, or change his early envi ronment . The choice here consists of either letting past mistakes drag us down or letting a lesson come through the experiences, using env i ronment and traumas as excuses for present failures or as challenges to be overcome. The past is not only a horror chamber, but also a treasure chest of achievements to be proud of. Beautiful experiences cannot be relieved, but can serve as assurance that something similar may happen again. A woman who had found meaning in her college studies and had


married could, at the age of 45, not become 18 again, but she could take advanced courses in college. Another woman, age 60, 20 years before had had a religious experience that had illuminated her life with meaning, but the experience had faded and no return to the same church had rekindled it. She kept searching, because she knew she had the capacity to feel the way she had once felt; her search, rather than a new "conversion," gave direction and focus to her life.

The third area in which meaning can be found lies in the individual uniqueness of the person. Most people who are suffering from an existential vacuum feel replaceable in their work, their community, even in their family. If a person is prompted to recall moments of fulfillment, he will remember incidents of personal human relations and creative activities: Only he could relate to a friend just the way he did; only he could make a poem just the way he wrote it. A student said: "To sit in a class of 500 is no achievement; but I know if I don't go and help Tom [a youngster in a deprived neighborhood] with his homework, no one else will." Similarly, a professor of zoSlogy said: "In science today, everyone is working on the same problems. But when I make collages from pebbles and driftwood, I know that no one would make them just the way I do."

Logotherapy stresses two more areas in which meaning can be found. They are less comfortable than the three mentioned, but they need to be emphasized in sharing groups. Everyone likes to find the truth about himself, make decisions, and feel unique. But logotherapy is a strict taskmaster and reminds us that freedom is not likely to bring meaning if it is not exercised responsibly. This message is not accepted cheerfully by group participants, especially the young. They sense authoritarianism behind the demands for responsibility--an attempt, as one young man expressed it, "to sneak the Puritan ethic in by the back door." Another resented the observation that "always to have a task to fulfill is therapeutic." Frankl, however, distinguishes between responsibility that is given to us as a duty and responsibleness that we assume ourselves as a self-chosen commitment. In the past, the task prescribed to us by an authority figure--a father, a priest, a king--was meaning fulfilling, but increasingly the guidelines of authority are questioned and resented. Where duties are rejected, a self-chosen commitment must replace responsibilities with responsibleness. This, however, many people find difficult to accept; they wish "to do their thing," but freedom without responsibleness brings not meaning but meaningless arbitrariness.

Closely connected with responsibleness is the fifth area of meaning potential: transcendence. Meaning comes with a commitment that tran- scends personal interests. Frankl speaks, in this context, of "self-transcendence" and defines it as the fact that human existence is intrinsically directed "toward something other than itself--be it a meaning to fulfill or another human being lovingly to encounter." In other words, meaning comes with reaching beyond the self toward causes to fulfill or people to meet. Meaning comes with acting "for the sake of" something or someone outside


of ourselves. This demand quality of meaning is difficult to get across to people. Intellectually they know that this is what they "ought" to do, but it requires patient effort to motivate them. In universal stress situations, transcendence comes naturally--in beleaguered cities or after an earthquake. The young find transcendence in the ecology movement; they are beginning to see that the entire earth is in a universal stress situation, and that the meaning of the moment for mankind is to help each other in order to survive.

Such considerations are far too theoretical for most participants in sharing groups. They have to be led, by personal recollections of instances, to see that life does not owe us pleasures, but offers us meanings. If we become conscious of these offers and respond to them, pleasure and happiness will come automatically as by-products. As Frankl is fond of saying, happiness cannot be pursued; it has to ensue. Group members also have to be led to see the validity of another Frankl insight: that a person's goal of living is not to eliminate all tension, but to live in the "healthy" tension field that exists between what a person "is" and what he has the vision of "becoming." The healthy tension is caused by the pull toward his goals and potentials.

To translate such basic philosophical concepts into a group experience that will motivate the participants is a challenge to both the leader and the participants who are always invited to share the responsibleness for success of the group. Together they explore the truths about themselves, their freedom of choice, their uniqueness, responsibleness, and transcending outreach. The most practical advice that can be given to participants, however, is to look for the meanings of the moment, step by step. As one participant, a scientist, put it: "Frankl uses a scientific approach. His hypothesis is that life has meaning. He asks us to test that hypothesis by picking up a lamp and stepping into the dark. By holding up the lamp, we will see one or two steps ahead. We are encouraged to take these steps and to hold up the lamp again. With patience and effort we will find our path."

It has been objected that logotherapy uses an intellectual approach. It is true that it is based on a philosophical concept of the nature of man and his place in the universe. But it becomes obvious in groups that the "man in the street" intuitively understands its message, and often on a deeper level than does the intellectual. It has been objected also that logotherapy is religiously oriented. This is true to the extent that it attempts to achieve what religions have always wanted to achieve: to give man a purpose. But logotherapy does not "give" meanings; it asserts that meaning exists and leaves it to the individual to find it within the framework of his belief--theistic, atheistic, or humanist. I have found this approach supportive in sharing groups. It focuses the healing process on what pulls a person toward goals rather than on what drives him to satisfy a need, as it centers on what is right rather than on what is wrong with him. The group allows the participant to see himself in his visions and dreams and to find himself in an environment where he can express his hopes without being knocked down. The primary aim of the


group is not to adjust a person to society, but to allow him to be himself despite the limitations society has placed on him. The emphasis on choice makes him aware that he can act against some conditions of society with which he disagrees, and that meaning will come from taking up such causes. But logotherapy also shows him that meaning possibilities are still available in areas where change is not possible. The leader in such a group is an integral part of it, searching and reaching toward growth as are the participants. He serves as an example in his pursuit of meaning rather than as a "healer."

A survey of 82 participants in sharing groups showed that 46 said they had found new directions; a high percentage of these, 38 of the 46, asserted one year later that they had learned to formulate their own meaning orientation. The most important discovery, 35 participants said, was not a specific meaning but the awareness that meaning existed and was available for their discovery. Asked what they had found most valuable in the groups, 14 listed the step-by-step approach to meaning, 12 their awareness of choice, 10 their recognition of their uniqueness, 6 the emphasis on responsibleness, and the rest the general philosophy of logotherapy. Almost two-thirds, 52 participants, had found comfort in the idea that the existential vacuum was no symptom of an approaching neurosis, but rather a challenge to fill it with meanings.

A second survey checked the long-range effect of the groups on interpersonal relationships. As a result of the group experience, most participants said they had learned new things about people's behavior (53 yes, 6 no) and listened more when people talked (43 yes, 18 no). Forty-three found that the experience had a significant influence on how they felt about themselves, while 21 found no such influence. Almost half the participants said that the group experience had brought significant changes in their lives (25 yes, 29 no). Here is a breakdown of the ways participants felt affected in their relations with others outside the group:

Get along with Better Worse Same

Spouse 17 2 17 Children 18 0 22 Boss 6 1 19 People in general 31 0 20

Written comments indicated that a significant number of the people surveyed found that important insights about themselves, others, and meaning orientation had come as a result of the group experience "on the way home from the meeting," talking to a spouse or a friend who had not attended the meeting, or "by thinking about it."


References

1. Frankl, V. E., Man's Search for Meaning. Boston, Beacon Press, 1962. - - , The Doctor and the Soul. New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1965. - - , Psychotherapy and Existentialism. New York, Washington Square Press, 1967. - - , The Will to Meaning. New York, World Publishing Co., 1969.

2. For a full discussion of the principles of logotherapy and their applications to life, see Fabry, J. B., The Pursuit of Meaning, Boston, Beacon Press, 1968.

3. Leslie, R. C., Sharing Groups in the Church. Nashville-New York, Abingdon Press, 1970.

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Application of Logotherapy in Small Sharing Groups