Logotherapy Knowing Your Goals

8/13/2019 Logotherapy Knowing Your Goals

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Logotherapy (first lecture) Kenneth Woodroofe

Finding Meaning in Life

One of the books that has influenced me very deeply is a little volume I

picked up in San Francisco about twenty years ago bearing the lurid title,"From Death Camp to Existentialism" written by an Austrian psychiatristnamed Viktor Frankl. At that time I had never heard of him but since thenhe has become internationally famous as the exponent of a psychologicaltheory known as logotherapy. What fascinated me at that time was hisaccount of the way in which he personally faced the devastating experience ofbeing a prisoner in a German concentration camp and managed to continueto find life meaningful and worthwhile.

Frankl was virtually stripped of everything. His father, mother, brother andhis wife died in camps or were sent to gas ovens. Excepting for his sister, his

entire family perished. As Professor Gordon Allport, of Harvard University.asked in his preface to Frankl's book, "How could he - every possession lost,every value destroyed, suffering from hunger, cold and brutality, hourlyfacing extermination - how could he find life worth preserving? A psychiatristwho personally has faced such extremity is a psychiatrist worth listening to."

And so I have found him to be.

A visit to Tokyo by Mr. Joseph Fabry, a student of Frankl's and executivedirector of the Institute of Logotherapy in Berkeley, California, rekindled myinterest in Frankl's philosophy and has inspired me to refer to him in my talk

today.

Frankl's experience in the German concentration camp proved a testingground for the philosophy of life he had already formulated before he wasimprisoned, a philosophy and psychological theory which as I have alreadymentioned, he designated logotherapy, a term based on the Greek word logos,which he translated as meaning. The essence of his point of view is that whatman needs above all is a sense that his life has meaning. As a matter of factthe book entitled "From Death Camp to Existentialism" was subsequentlypublished under the title of "Man's Search for Meaning." I suspect that thatwas Frankl's original title and that the more sensational title was chosen by

the publisher as he thought it would attract wider attention among thegeneral public!

In his own experience and in that of his comrades in the concentration campFrankl found ample confirmation of his deep conviction. In his book hedescribes how "under the influence of a world which no longer recognised thevalue of human life and human dignity, which had robbed man of his will andhad made him an object ot be exterminated 'having planned, however, to


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make full use of him first - to the last ounce of his physical resources) - underthis influence the personal ego finally suffered a loss of value --." A man'scharacter became involved to the point that he was caught in a mentalturmoil which threatened all the values he held and into doubt."

In such a situation, as Frankl observed, many a man simply gave up. Usuallythis happened quite suddenly. "We all feared this moment - not for ourselveswhich would have been pointless, but for our friends," Frankl said, "Usuallyit began with the prisoner refusing one morning to get dressed and wash or togo out on the parade grounds. No entreaties, no blows, no threats had anyeffect. He just lay there hardly moving. If this crisis was brought about by anillness, he refused to be taken to the sick bay or do anything to keep himself.He simply gave up." Such is the close connection between body and mind thatit was not long before the man died.

Occurrences of such as this provided negative confirmation of Frankl's

conviction that man mu7st find a meaning in his life. As a doctor and apsychiatrist, he was face with the problem of how to save men frompsychological and spiritual collapse. He recalled Nietzche's words: "He whohas a why to live for can bear with almost any how," which so aptlysummarised his own philosophy of life and which he has said could be theguiding motto for all psychotherapeutic efforts regarding prisoners."Whenever there was an opportunity for it," he says, "one had to give them awhy - an aim - for their lives in order to strengthen them to bear the terriblehow of their existence. Woe to him who saw no more sense in his life, no aim,no purpose, and therefore no point in carrying on. He was soon lost. The

typical reply with which such a man rejected all encouraging arguments was'I have nothing to expect from life any more.'"

"What sort of an answer can be given to that?" asks Frankl. In his book hetells us the answer that he found. "What was really needed," he says "was afundamental change in our attitude toward life. We had to learn ourselves,and, furthermore, we had to teach the despairing men, that it did not reallymatter what we expected from life but rather what life expected from us. Weneeded to stop asking about the meaning of life and instead to think ofourselves as those who were being questioned bu life - daily and hourly. Ouranswer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in riht action and right

conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the rightanswer to its problems and fulfil the tasks which it constantly sets for eachindividual."

Frankl recognises that these tasks, and therefore the meaning of life differfrom man to man, and from moment to moment. Thus it is impossible todefine the meaning of life in a general way. Questions about the meaning oflife can never be answered by sweeping statements. Life does not mean


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something vague but something very real and concrete, just as life's tasks arealso very real and concrete. They form man's destiny which is different andunique for each individual. No man and no destiny can be compared with anyother man or any other destiny.

It is Frankl's conviction that human life under any circumstances neverceases to have a meaning, and that this infinite meaning of life includessuffering and dying, privation and death. In fact, his system of logotherapy isbased on three tenets:

1. Life has meaning under all circumstances, even the most miserableones.

2. Every persoon has an innate desire to find meaning and this will tomeaning is man's principal motivation for living.

3. Every person has the freedom to find meaning.According to Frankl, life can be meaningful in three ways.

First, trough what we give to the world in and through what we do, what wecontribute, what we add to life, what we create. These Frankl calls creativevalues.

Secondly, through what we take from life and what life gives us, what weexperience. These are realised in receptivity toward the world - for example,in surrender to the beauty of nature or art, and above all in experiencinghuman beings in their uniqueness for to experience a human being in his

uniqueness is to love him. These Frankl calls experiential values.

But what of those who are deprived of the opportunity to find meaning in adeed, or in work, or in love, and are faced with an unalterable fate (such asthe situation in the concentration camp or an incurable disease, or going toblind, for example)? A third doorway of meaning is open to them in theattitude they take towards their situation, one choice remains that no onecan take away from us - the choice of our attitude toward it. Frankl quotes,Goethe as saying: "There is no predicament that we cannot ennoble either bydoing or enduring." And he has also cited a statement of Yehudi Bacon, aman who as a boy was imprisoned in Auschwitz and loft it when he was still

a boy. Bacon declared "Suffering can have a meaning if it changes you for thebetter." In this way, as Frankl has said, life can have meaning to the lastbreath.

A Jewish Rabbi, Rabbi Easl A. Grollman has described bow he once receiveda call from a woman dying of an incurable disease. "How can I meet thethought and reality of death?" she asked. The rabbi introduced many of theconcepts of immortality found in their faith and as an afterthought he also


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mentioned the attitudinal value concept of Frankl. "Much of the theologicaldiscussion made little impression upon her," the rabbi said, "but attitudinalvalues invited her curiosity - especially she learned that the founder of theconcept was a psychiatrist who was incarcerated in concentration camp. Thisman and his teaching captured her imagination for he knew more than just

the theoretical application of suffering. She resolved them and there if shecould not avoid the inescapable suffering, she would determine the mannerand mode in which she would meet the illness. She became a tower ofstrength to these around her, whose hearts were lacerated with pain. At firstit was a 'bravado' but with passage of time the act became invested withpurpose. She confided in me. "Perhaps my single act of immortality might bethe way I face this adversity. Even though my pain at times is unbearable, Ihave achieved an inner peace and contentment that I had never knownbefore. She died in dignity and is remembered in our community for herindomitable courage."

Frankl's philosophy has not only meaning for those in concentration camps orfor those faced with unalterable situations. He has a message for all of us.

As he has said, the meaning of life differs from man to man, from day to day,from hour to hour. What matters is not the meaning of life in general butrather the specific meaning of the moment in and through the demands of themoment. Frankl would agree with the assertion of Carlyle: "The situationthat has not its duty, its ideal, was never yet occupied by man. Yes, here, inthis poor miserable, hampered, despicable actual, wherin thou even nowstandest, here or nowhere is thy ideal. Work it out therefrom and working

believe, live, be free."

Logotherapy (second lecture)

What Life Offers Us

The talk I gave last time on Viktor Frankl's psychological theory oflogotherapy aroused so much interest that I have decided to devote furtherconsideration to some of the implication of his philosophy.

I propose therefore in my next talks to discuss in some detail the ways in

which according to Frankl, life can become meaningful.

You may recall that according to logotherapy we can discover the meaning inlife in three different ways.

1. Through what we receive from life, what we take from life, what lifegives us, what we experience (Experiential values)


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2. Through what we give to the world in and through what we do, whatwe contribute, what we add to life, what we create (Creative values)

3. Through the attitude we take when we are faced with situations inwhich we can do absolutely nothing as in the case of an incurabledisease, or being stricken with blindness, or losing a leg, Frankl

contends that nevertheless one choice remains and that is the choice ofour attitude toward it. Frankl calls this the last of human freedoms -the capacity to choose one's attitude in a given set of circumstances.Frankl declares that the noblest appreciation of meaning is reserved tothose people who faced with what looks like an unalterable situation,by the very attitude they choose to take to the predicament, rise aboveit and grow beyond themselves. What matters, he says, is the standthey take, a stand which allows for transmuting their predicament intoachievement, triumph and heroism. (Attitudinal values)

Today, I am going to talk about what he calls experiential values, what

we experience, what life gives to us and what we receive from it. Thisis the area of life where we receive things that we have not earned,where life gives us free gifts. Religious people call this grace,something that is freely given to us, that we have not earned,deserved, merited, worked for, achieved. There are many things ofvalue that come to us in this way. Harry Emerson Fosdick has pointedout three examples of such things. First of all, natural beauty: Sunsetand sunrise, mountains and the sea, flowers and trees, "all that webehold of this green earth," all these are bestowed on us freely withoutmoney and without price.

Then, there are the great spirits who have preceded us, and who havegiven enlightenment and inspiration to the human race - the greatteachers and prophets like Buddha, Jesus, Socrates and Lao-tzu - thegreat painters in both East and West, - the great writers and poets andcomposers. They have given of themselves freely. We could not ofourselves have earned or achieved what they have to offer. Yet it isours for the taking.

Thirdly, our most beautiful human relationships are a free gift.Fosdick points out that we did not pay in advance for the motherhood

that bore us all or the love that nourished us. All this was poured outfreely. Moreover, all fine friendships and true love are free bestowals.

In such experiences of beauty, truth, and love we can find meaning.

"The fullness of meaning which such values bring to human life mustnot be underestimated," Frankl declares. "The higher meaning of agiven moment in human existence can be fulfilled by the mere


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intensity with which it is experienced and independent of any action. Ifanyone doubts this, let him consider the following situation. Imagine amusic lover sitting in the concert hall where the most noble measuresof his favorite symphony resound in his ears. He feels that shiver ofemotion which we experience in the presence of the purest beauty.

Suppose now that at such a moment we should ask this personwhether his life has meaning. He would have to reply that it had beenworthwhile living if only to experience this ecstatic moment. Forthough only a single moment is in question - the greatness of a life canbe measured by the greatness of a moment: the height of a mountainrange is not given by the height of some valley, but by that of thetallest peak. In life, too, the peaks decide the meaningfulness of thelife, and a single moment can retroactively flood an entire life withmeaning. Let us ask a mountain climber who has beheld the alpinesunset and is so moved by the splendor of nature that he feels coldshudders running down his spine - let us ask him whether after suchan experience his life can ever again seem wholly meaningless."

Frankl himself recalls what it meant to him suddenly to see the sunsetthrough the barbed wire in the concentration camp - just such anexperience of beauty.

But, as Dr. Joseph Fabry, one of the leading exponents of logotherapy,(whose book "The Pursuit of Meaning" incidentally has been translatedinto Japanese) has pointed out, the greatest experience of all is that ofmature love - to know one human being in his or her uniqueness, for as

Frankl has said, to experience one human being as unique means tolove him or, in the words of Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy, "When we arewith a friend or someone we love deeply, we no longer ask why we liveor why we were born, we feel we were born for this."

We no longer ask why. That is because we know the value of what weare experiencing. We do not need to find reasons. It is not valuable forthis, that, or the other reason. It is good in itself and we know it.

While it is true that such experiences come to us as free gifts and as Ihave said are ours for the taking, it depends on us as to whether we

take them. All too often life offers as gifts and we do not take them,either through unawareness or insensitivity or being wrapped up inourselves. We go through life blind and deaf nor aware of what is beingoffered to us and so we miss "the many splendoured thing."

Let me quote here some very wise words of advice taken from "TheBetty Book" by Stewart Edward White.


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"Most people proceed through life busy with their own thoughts. Thatis the way ninety-nine times out of a hundred you will find yourself ifyou go out for a walk. The teeming inner life of your mental activitiesholds you so that you are cramped within yourself and things outsideare half-noticed or perhaps not noticed at all. Now stop short and let

things about you into your consciousness, You will be surprised to findhow many things actually have had no existence in you. Birds singing,for example. A moment ago you literally did not hear them. The linesof trees on the hill. You sensed vaguely that they were there becauseyou were staring straight at them, but the cast of them against the pileof green away behind. The light on their leaves, the curious moton lookof their foliage in mass, those things simply were not. You saw thefields, perhaps, but you did not sense them, The effect of the landscapewhatever it might be, was shut out because you were occupied withinthe narrow confine of yourself. Until you voluntarily threw openyourself to wider influences than those of your self they could not claimyou. By this shift of attention I do not mean a detached intellectualappraising of the surroundings, a cataloging, an enumeration offeatures and species and lines of composition . I mean simply the

expansion that is the result of the shift from a busy mentalconcentration within to a voluntary wide opening to influence fromwithout."

Let thing about your entire consciousness shift your attention frompreoccupation within to a voluntary wide opening to influence fromwithout - This is the key to a widening and deepening of the area of

experiential values in our life - a shift in attention.

Simone Weill says "absolute attention is prayer." May Sarton, theAmerican poet, has some interesting comments to make on thisstatement. She says she has used the sentence often in talking aboutpoetry to students, to suggest that if one looks long enough at almostanything, looks with absolute attention at a flower, a stone, the back ofa tree, grass, snow, a cloud, something like revelation takes place.Something is given and perhaps that something is always a realityoutside the self. We are aware of God only when we cease to be awareof ourselves, not in the negative sense of denying the self, but in the

sense of losing self in admiration and joy.

Another write, D.H. Lawrence, has pointed out that in these mattersso much depends on our attitude. We can cut ourselves off. One canshut many, many doors of receptivity in oneself or one can open manydoors that are shut. It is up to us.


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Logotherapy (Third lecture)

What We Give to Life

As I indicated last time I am proposing to continue to explore further in this

series of talks the philosophy of Victor Frankl and psychological theory whichhe calls "Logotherapy."

I wish to preface my talk by a short reading of a passage that I came acrossrecently and which in my view epitomises Frankl's whole philosophy of life.In fact, it might have been written by Frankl himself. The passage is to befound in the anthology "The Choice is Ours," edited by Dorothy BerkleyPhillips. I do not know who wrote it as the passage is given as anonymous butI suspect it might have been written by the editor of the anthology herself.Here it is:

"Life does not need comfort, when it can be offered meaning, nor pleasure,when it can be shown purpose. Reveal what is the purpose of existence andhow he may attain it -- the steps he must take -- and man will go forwardagain hardily, happily, knowing that an effort, concentration, is the only lifedeserving the devotion, satisfying the nature and developing thepotentialities of a self-conscious being."

"Reveal what is the purpose of existence and how he may attain it." This isexactly what Frankl aims at doing. As I mentioned in my last talk Frankldeclares that meaning is to be found through

1. what we give to the world (Creative values)2. what we take from the world (Experiential values)3. the stand we take toward a fate we cannot change, such as incurable

disease, an inoperable cancer (Attitudinal values)

Last time I dealt with what we take from the world (Experientialvalues). Today I

am going to talk about what we give to the world (Creative values).

From Frankl's point of view meaning is to be found moment by moment. Themeaning of Life differs from man to man, from day to day, from hour to hour.Every moment has its particular meaning and the act of living consists onresponding to the demand of the moment, whatever it may be. As Dr. JpsephFabry, Director of the Institute of Logotherapy suggests, the ultimatemeaning of life may remain beyond our reach but the demands of the momentcan be attained. He says: "In the concept of logotherapy, each person is aunique individual who from birth to death goes through a series of unique


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situations, each of which offers meaning potentials. To recognize the meaningof the moment and respond to it (to be response-able) is to lead a meaningfullife."

These moments may be experiential or creative. Moments in which we are

offered something which we take or not, as the case may be, or moments inwhich something is demanded or required of us, in which we are being askedto give and contribute. The meaning of the moment may either one in whichwe are called upon to be open and receptive, or active and creative andcontributive, or it may often be a combination of the two. The important thingis to be mindful of the moment, aware of its meaning and to respond fully toit -- to treat each moment as the most important at the moment and to giveoneself up to it.

Let me give you two examples. On Arturo Toscanini's 80thbirthday, someoneasked his son Walter what his father ranked as his most important

achievement. The son replied. "For him there can be no such thing. Whatever he happens to be doing at the moment is the biggest thing in his life --whether it is conducting a symphony or peeling an orange."

After the death of the Hasidic Rabbi Moshe of Kobryn, someone asked one ofhis disciples -- what had been the most important things for his master. Heanswered "Always just what he was engaged in at the moment."

Frannkl points out that man needs to recognize life is asking him questions,putting challenges to him, and the answer that he gives not with words but

with his life. To recognize the demand of the moment and to respond to itwholeheartedly and unreservedly is to live meaningfully.

Last time we saw that the key question was: what is life offering us? -- andeverything depended upon our awareness of and response to it. Here the keyquestion is: what is life asking of us and everything depends upon ourawareness and response to it. As Frankl sees it, life is challenging us with thequestion: What are you going to do with your life? What are you going togive? "Giving," says Eric Fromm, "is the highest expression of potency. In thevery act of giving I experience my strength, my wealth, my power. Thisexperience of heightened vitality and potency fills me with joy. Giving is more

joyous than receiving .. because in the act of giving lies the experience ofmy aliveness."

"What does one person give to another? He gives of himself, of the mostprecious he has, he gives of his life. He gives him of that which is alive inhim. He gives of his joy, of his interest, of his understanding, of hisknowledge, of his humour, of his sadness, of all expressions andmanifestations of what which is alive in him."


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It is in such giving that we find life meaningful and worthwhile. TheEnglishman, L.P. Jacks, himself a leading Unitarian, has stressed that thechief duties of a human being are to get to understand as much of theuniverse as he can and then on the strength of that knowledge to do hisutmost towards making it a better universe than it would have been if he had

not happened to be born, by creating some bit of new value, though it be onlymaking two blades of grass where one grew before, or mending the broken legof a sparrow.

"What are your purpose and business?," Jack asks. "Your purpose andbusiness are those of a creator of values. You are here to add value to theworld in which you find yourself."

It is for each of us to decide in what way, given the powers and gifts that wepossess and the situations with which we are confronted, we can add value tothe world around us and in doing so discover not in theory but in experience

the meaning of life.

Logotherapy (fourth lecture)

Everything Depends on Our Attitude

In this talk I am continuing my discussion of some of the main ideas inlogotherapy, the school of psychology founded by Viktor Frankl.

As we have seen according to Frankl we can discover meaning in life in three

different ways:

1. Through what we receive from life, what we take from life, what lifegives us, what we experience (Experiential values)

2. Through what we give to the world, what we do, what we contribute,what we add to life, what we create (Creative values)

3. Through the attitude we take when we are face with situations inwhich we can do absolutely nothing, as in the case of an inoperabledisease, or being stricken with blindness or losing a leg.

Frankl contends that one choice remains to us and that is the choice

of our attitude towards it. I have previously discussed the experiential andcreative values. Today I propose to discuss attitudinal values.

In my view Frankl's attitude towards unavoidable suffering is one of the mostvaluable of his contributions to the art of living. While he had alreadyformulated it before he was imprisoned in a concentration camp it was therethat its validity was tested and confirmed and it was there that he was able


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to see the living proof of its efficacy in the way in which his fellow prisonerswere able to cope with, and rise above, their miserable situation. Everythinghad been done to deprive them of everything that made life worthwhile, ofopportunities of encountering either experiential values or creative values. Itwas Frankl's great discovery that experiential and creative values are not the

only sources of meaning, that even if we are facing a fate which cannot bechanged, there is still meaning available in our lives. "When you can nolonger change the situation you may change yourself, which means you maychange your attitude towards your fate," he says. "Changing yourself in suchcases means rising above yourself, going beyond yourself."

Frankl has declared that as the director for a quarter of a century of aneurological hospital department he had watched people turning theirtragedy into triumph -- girls who yesterday were dancing in discos and todayare paralysed from the neck down, young men riding motor cycles and thenparalysed.

Since my last talk I have received a tape of a recent lecture by Dr. Frankl andso I am in a position to quote from some memorable examples that he gave.One was a case of a twenty-four year old woman who at the age of 18 wasinjured by a gunshot wound as she walked to the grocery store. She couldonly accomplish tasks by means of a mouth stick. She feels however that thepurpose of her life is quite clear. She watches the newspapers and televisionfor stories of people in trouble and writes to them, typing with themouthpiece, to give a word of comfort and encouragement.

Dr. Frankl also cited a case reported by one of his students. This was that ofa thirty-one year old mechanic who had received hundreds of thousands ofvolts of electricity either gangrenous or already mummified and had to beamputated. Dr. Frankl's student was assigned to him as a special nurse. Inher report she said: "The surgeons', physiologists' and nurses' faces were wetwith tears, their bodies shuddering with occasional ucontrollable sobs, asthey went through the necessary tasks of removing one by one both legs andboth arms from the young and healthy body of a fellow human being."

When he awakened he had to be told by the nurse that his arms and legs hadbeen removed. She goes on to say in her report:

"I searched for thoughts by which I might spark him with a meaning for hislife and his predicament. There was a young man who was paralysed fromthe neck down. He had learned to use his teeth and so forth. I took Bob tovisit him. They became friends and looked forward to seeing each other."

The nurse the felt that Bob was transcending his human condition She beganto ro read to hi for short periods. She read "Man's Search for Meaning." He


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would say: "Stop. Read that over again." He would discuss different parts ofthe book and how they related to his own condition. He was particularlyimpressed with the meaning one finds in suffering. He memorised somesentences. His favorite quotation was the statement: "It is the spiritualfreedom which cannot be taken away, which makes life meaningful and

purposeful."

"Bob opened a small business and was able to support his family," the nursereported. "Last summer in a specially equipped car he drove his wife and twochildren on a tour of the United States and he told me: "I was very emptybefore my accident. I stayed drunk all the time and was bored to death. Now,I truly know what it means to be happy."

"A man who had lost both arms and both legs and after the accident knowwhat it truly means to be happy." Dr. Frankl exclaims on the tape --"Fulfilling a meaning and finding a meaning n suffering. This is true

happiness and this is a real triumph." And I may add myself that it is indeedan awe-inspiring example of squeezing meaning out of suffering and turningtragedy into triumph.

Dr. Fabry in his book "The Pursuit of Meaning" also gives examples of thesame process taking place. He tells, for instance, of a woman who was indespair because she was going blind. With the help of another woman whohad been born blind she learned Braille and became so interested in themethod that she volunteered to transcribe books in Braille script. Her workbrought her into contact with other blind people and they formed a book

discussion group for the blind. By the time she had lost her eyesight entirely,she was no longer in despair.

As Dr. Fabry points out, logotherapy cannot prevent unavoidable suffering; itcan keep people from despair. By Frankl's definition despair is caused bysuffering in which the sufferer sees no meaning. "Suffering in itself has nomeaning." Dr. Fabry says, "but we can assume meaningful attitudes towardsevents that in themselves are meaningless."

But we need not confine ourselves to specific examples of the application oflogotherapy. The truth of the principle enunciated by Dr. Frankl is to be seen

at work in people who have never heard of logotherapy but are unwittinglyapplying its principles.

The very day on which I was preparing this lecture an article by AlecDickson, founder of Community Service Volunteers and Voluntary ServiceOverseas in England appeared in the Japan Times (March 2, 1981). In it Mr.Dickson cites a striking example very similar to those described by Dr.Frankl. I quote: "When polio struck Isamu Ito, an engineer in Tokyo, he was


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determined not to let it mar his enjoyment of winter sports -- and disciplinedhimself to ski on one leg. Then he wondered if there were others even moredisabled whom his experience might help.

"So today Miss Sanae Sato, a young spastic unable to walk, careers radiantly

down snowclad slopes because Ito, after long experimentation, devised a formof sledge which cradles her wheelchair .." "His technical gifts and personalacquaintance with being handicapped, allied to her zest for life, are onereflection of human value in service," comments Mr.Dickson.

But perhaps the most striking example that has come to my notice and onethat I shall never forget is the case of Ned Langford, an American soldier whoserved in the Philippines and who contracted leprosy. His story is told in abook entitled "Who Walk Alone" by Perry Burgess. When a doctor informedhim that he was suffering from leprosy he was naturally overwhelmed. Thedoctor pointed out to him that he might play a special role in the fight against

leprosy, saying "Man, if you could have a real part in that fight it would beworth ten ordinary lives like yours and mine." Langford's response was veryunderstandable. "I'm no hero and I don't want to be one. I haven't any herostuff in my makeup." The doctor looked at him for moment and then made acomment which marked the turning point in Langford's life "You have to dothis, soldier, whether you are scared or not. You can take it standing upfighting or you can lie down and let it beat you. And you're the only one whocan say about that." The doctor was a true logotherapist without knowing it.

Well, Langford did not take it lying down. He tool it standing up fighting. He

proved that his own assessment of himself was false. There was hero stuff inhis make-up and the account of the twenty-five year fight he put up is one ofthe most inspiring stories I have read. He fought what he called the goodfight not only for himself but for his fellow human beings in the colony, doingeverything he possibly could to help them help themselves.

Looking back on the twenty-five years of life in the colony he asked himself:"What did it mean? " And within him welled up this answer born of thoseyears:

"Life, no matter how it is lived, is always a mystery. To take it as it comes,

asking no quarter, fighting to the end, that is the creed the quarter centuryhas brought to me. Balancing the scales at the end of twenty-five years in alepro colony, the leper knows that he is, first of all, a man. For that man lifehas been worthwhile."

The decisive test was formulated in the statement of Yehuda Bacon, one ofIsrael's artists, who as a boy survived the Auschwitz death camp. "Sufferingcan have meaning," he said, "if it changes you for the better."


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Frankl confidently affirms on the basis not only the experience of sufferinghuman beings he has himself witnessed, but on the vast amount of evidenceprovided by the application of logotherapeutic principles in cases ofunavoidable suffering, that the sources of meaning in life are inexhaustible.He declares that meaning is available under each and every circumstance to

every human being, irrespective of age, sex, character, structure or religion.

I must confess that as I read those accounts of the heroic turning of tragedyinto triumph I wondered whether if faced with such circumstances, I wouldbe able to respond as they did. I am inclined to feel as Ned Langford did that"I'm no hero" but I take comfort from a statement of psychologist BonaroOverstreet. She says: "People always do what makes sense to them in termsof what they see. They do not do things which from their point of view, in themoment of action are stupid and uncalled for. They obey the imperative oftheir own awareness. Behaviour changes only as some expanded awarenessmakes the individual take into account what he did not notice before."

I think this is precisely where logotherapy helps. It helps us to take intoaccount what we did not notice before. It expands our awareness andintroduces us to a possibility of meaningfulness for our lives that we mightnever have glimpsed or conceived before. We are thus enabled to see thepossibilities of meaning that may be squeezed from it.

In his talk Frankl quoted a memorable saying of Jung's: "Meaning makesmany things, perhaps even everything, endurable and bearable." This issaying in another way what Nietsche said: "If you have a why to live for you

can put up with almost any how." It is discovery of a why to live for that isthe core of the matter. But this applies not only to those who are faced withinescapable suffering. It applies to each of us here and now.


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What is Logotherapy?

a) Definition

Literally, logotherapy means 'therapy through meaning'. It's anactive-directive therapy aimed at helping people specifically with

meaning crises, which manifest themselves either ina feeling of

aimlessness or indirectly through addiction, alcoholism ordepression. Logotherapy also employs techniques useful for phobias,

anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorders and medical ministry. Other

applications include working with juvenile delinquents, careercounselling and helping all of us find more meaning in life.

b) Foundations

i) Existentialism

It's existentialist becauseit emphasises the freedom of the will and

the consequent responsibility.It also, of course, asserts theimportance of the meaning of life. Whilst Freud said human's have awill to pleasureand Adler the will to power, Frankl says we have a

will to meaning. If it is frustrated, spiritual (noogenic) neurosesresult. Frankl argued that the the spiritual (noetic) dimension of

man should be added to the physical and psychological dimensions.For Frankl, ultimate meaning does exist andis unique to each person

and each situation. Each moment offers 'a sequence of unrepeatable

situations each of which offers a specific meaning to be recognised

and fulfilled'. Meaning cannot be invented but must be discovered.

ii) Stoicism

It's Stoic, because it holds that no matter what the state of theworld, our attitude can always help us. The Stoic Epictetus held that

'Men are not moved by events but by their interpretations'. Even in


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facing death and suffering, by showing courage we can turn a

situation into a supremely meaningful one.

iii) Frankl's own experiences, in concentration camps and as a

psychiatrist

"This was the lesson I had to learn in three years spent inAuschwitz and Dachau: other things being equal, those apt to

survive the camps were those oriented toward the future - toward a

task, or a person, waiting for them in the future, toward a meaning

to be fulfilled by them in the future" . But Logotherapy was also theresult of Frankl's own ideas and improvisations, not all of which are

very obviously connected with his experiences in the camps or themeaning of life.

1.Paradoxical Intention

The therapist encourages the patient to intend or wish for, even if only for a

second, precisely what they fear.

oUsed for obsessive, compulsive and phobic conditions (not for suicidal or

schizophrenic patients).

oUseful in cases of underlying anticipatory anxiety, often works very quickly.

oMobilises the human capacity for self-detachment, often with a sense of

humour

oHans Gerz claims that paradoxical intention is successful in 80-90% of

cases

The case of the sweating doctor(from Pyschotherapy and Existentialism, p

139)

A young doctor had severe hydrophobia. One day, meeting his chief on the

street, as he extended his hand in greeting, he noticed that he was

perspiring more than usual. The next time he was in a similar situation he


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expected to perspire again, and this anticipatory anxiety precipitated

excessive sweating. It was a vicious circle We advised our patient, in the

event that his anticipatory anxiety should recur, to resolve deliberately toshow the people whom he confronted at the time just how much he could

really sweat.A week later he returned to report that whenever he metanyone who triggered his anxiety, he said to himself, "I only sweated out a

litre before, but now I'm going to pour out at least ten litres !" What was

the result of this paradoxical resolution ? After suffering from his phobia

for four years, he was quickly able, after only one session, to free himself of

it for good.

You are the logotherapist

In the following cases, what paradoxical intention, if any, would you

recommend ?

i)A man is fearful that he will die from a heart attack. Physical check-ups

reveal him to be in good health.

ii) An obsessive-compulsive comes to you because she is concerned about the

number

of times she washes her hands each day.

iii) A young man comes to you for help with stuttering. What do you advice ?

iv) A schizophrenic is anxious that the people he sees on the tube are out to

get him.

Dereflection

The therapist diverts the patients away from their problems towards

something else meaningful in the world.

oused specifically for sexual dysfunction. Deflection indicated because (e.g.)

the more you think about potency during sex, the less likely you are to

achieve it,


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oNo use just telling them to stop thinking about something need to

substitute something positive ( e.g. insomniac -dont just tell them to stop

trying to sleep, tell them to count sheep).

o

More generally, logotherapy can be seen as dereflecting the patient awayfrom their presenting problem towards searching for meaning. Patient is

dereflected from their disturbance to something other than themselves.

Frankl's advice to Anna, 19-year old art student who displays severe

symptoms of incipient schizophrenia. She considers herself as being

confused and asks for help.

Patient What is going on within me ?

Frankl: Don't brood over yourself. Don't inquire into the source of your

trouble. Leave this to us doctors. We will steer and pilot you through the

crisis. Well, isn't there a goal beckoning you say, an artistic assignment ?

Patient: But this inner turmoil .

Frankl: Don't watch your inner turmoil, but turn your gaze to what is waiting

for you. What counts is not what lurks in the depths, but what waits in the

future, waits to be actualised by you.

Patient: But what is the origin of my trouble ?

Frankl: Don't focus on questions like this. Whatever the pathological process

underlying your psychological affliction may be, we will cure you. Therefore,

don't be concerned with the strange feelings haunting you. Ignore them util

we make you get rid of them. Don't watch them. Don't fight them.

Imagine, there are about a dozen great things, works which wait to be

created by Anna, and there isno one who could achieve and accomplish it but

Anna. No one could replace here in this assignment, They will be your

creations, and if you don't create them, they will remain uncreated forever

Patient : Doctor, I believe in what you say. It is a message which makes me

happy.


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3.Orientation towards Meaning

The therapist tries to enlarge the patient's discernment of meaning in thepast, present and future, and creatively, experientially and attitudinally.

1. Meaning through creative values

Frankl says that "The logotherapist's role consists in widening and

broadening the visual field of the patient so that the whole spectrum of

meaning and values becomes conscious and visible to him". A major source of

meaning is through the value of all that we create, achieve and accomplish.

2. Meaning through experiential values

Frankl (The Doctor and the Soul) writes "Let us ask a mountain-climber who

has beheld the alpine sunset and is so moved by the splendour of nature that

he feels cold shudders running down his spine - let us ask him whether aftersuch an experience his life can ever again seem wholly meaningless".

3. Meaning through attitudinal values

Frankl argued that we always have the freedom to find meaning throughmeaningful attitudes even in apparently meaningless situations. For example,

an elderly, depressed patientwho could not overcome the loss of his wife was

helped by the following conversation with Frankl.

Frankl asked "What would have happened if you had died first, and your wife

would have had to survive you".

"Oh," replied the patient, "for her this would have been terrible; how she

would have suffered !

Frankl continued "You see 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 her and mourning her."The man said no word, but shook Frankl's

hand and calmly left his office." (Man's Search for Meaning)

Case study of Harold (Chris Wurm)


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Harold was a middle-aged Australian whose life was rapidly spiralling out of

control As well as a drinking problem he had financial problems- not helped

by the amount he spent on drink - and was under considerable stress atwork. His wife's sympathy was running out - no wonder he was also having

trouble sleeping at night. He went to seeChris Wurm,a GP as well as alogotherapist. Wurm combined a medical approach - for example giving

information about the damage drink was doing - with logotherapy. Invery

fewsessions Harold's life was turned round, partly by the clarification the

role of alcohol in his life and the alternatives. Wurm says"It was possible to

discuss the notion that he could make choices and live his life in a variety of

ways " ( there we see logotherapy's emphasis on responsibility) " some of

which would be more meaningful than others. He was then able to reflect on

the choices he had been making (this is the orientation towards meaning and

values) , and the possibilities available in the future". "It was dramatic tosee how determinedand effective he became, once he saw how his old

strategies were backfiring".

3. Assessing Logotherapy

1) Strengths

+ Inspiration of Viktor Frankl's life

+ Relatively simple to understand, potentially life-changing and enhancing

+ Addresses dimension of life not addressed by other therapies+

+ Optimistic and constructive

b) Limitations

- Too authoritarian ?-

- Too religious and not sufficiently scientific or rigorous?-

- Too dependent on Frankl and his intuitions ?

- Too narrow ?


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4. Developments in Logotherapy

i) Attempts to focus on values and meanings more systematically.

James Crumbaugh, co-inventor of the Purpose in Life test, has devised anumber of exercises he gives to clients to help orientate them towards

meaning and values. (see separate handout). The idea is also to work out theunderlying values and how you might fulfil them, in order to lead a more

meaningful life.

Crumbaugh has also devised 6 lists that are used throughout analysis.

1. Life-long aims, ambitions, goals and interests going back as far as the

client can remember, including those s/he no longer considers important.

2. The strong points of personality, physical and environmentalcircumstances, "good luck".

3. The weak points of personality, failures, "bad luck".

4. Specific problems that cause the client's conflicts.

5. Future hopes (this list may overlap with the first list above but

emphasises the future whilst list 1 includes past ambitions).

6. Future plans, immediate and long-range.

In my own work, I have incorporated these into a broader framework (called

RSVP) which not only tries to find things that might be meaningful and

valuable put also tries to establish whether they really are

ii)Attempts to put logotherapy on a more scientific footing

Wong & Fry'sThe Human Quest for Meaning (1998) represents an attemptby a number of psychologists to create a more testable, rigorous and up-to-

date meaning-centred therapy.One advance is work on the Life Regards

Index to improve on the old Purpose in Life Test, in order to determine

which patients are good candidates for logotherapy and to measure theirimprovement


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Documents

Logotherapy Knowing Your Goals