The Defiant Power of the Human Spirit

Viktor Frankl’s Discovery

for Meaningful Living

Part I:History

Who was Viktor Frankl?

Part II:Theory

What is Logotherapy?

The Short Definition

Healing Through Meaning

Lack of Meaning in Life

The central problem of

logotherapy

A person experiencing loss of

meaning in life is living in a world

in which previous traditions and

values no longer provide guidance

on what to do and a world in

which the person may not even

know what he or she wishes to do.

A person in this situation may

then simply do what others do

(conformism) or do what others

direct (totalitarianism).

Loss of meaning can affect attitudes. It may be

characterized by:

(1) a provisional attitude toward life–living as if

there is no tomorrow;

(2) a fatalistic attitude toward life–acting as if

one has no control over one’s destiny;

(3) collectivist thinking–a denial of one’s own

personhood; and

(4) fanaticism–a denial of the personhood of

those who think differently.

Possible clinical results of

meaninglessness:

(1)depression

(2)aggression

(3)addiction

The SolutionA philosophy of life that demonstrates life has

meaning for each and every human person no

matter how dire the circumstances.

“There were always choices to make. Every day,

every hour, offered the opportunity to make a

decision, a decision which determined whether

you would or would not submit to those powers

which threatened to rob you of your very self, your

inner freedom; which determined whether or not

you would become the plaything of circumstance,

renouncing freedom and dignity to become

molded into the form of the typical inmate.”

--Viktor Frankl

Frankl’s Assumptions:

(1)Freedom of the Will

(2)The Will to Meaning

(3)Meaning in Life

Freedom of Will

Image of the Person Motivation Theory

Frankl: Nous vis-a-vis Freud: Libido

Adler: Self Esteem

Behav.: Learning history

Frankl‘s Two-Fold Revolution

“We who lived in concentration camps can

remember the men who walked through the huts

comforting others, giving away their last piece of

bread. They may have been few in number, but

they offer sufficient proof that everything can be

taken from a man but one thing: the last of the

human freedoms–to choose one’s attitude in any

given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own

way.”

--Viktor Frankl

The Will to Meaning

the basic striving of the human person

to find and fulfill a concrete meaning

and purpose in personal existence.

Ultimate Meaningvs

The Meaning of the Moment

The Categorical Values

Meaning may be found by:

(1)The creative value

(2)The experiential value

(3)The attitudinal value

The Tragic Triad:

(1)pain

(2)guilt

(3)death

What Does it Mean to Be Human?

25

„For the first time in their approx. 150 years, the behavioural sciences not only tell us how we function (mechanics of the mind), but also who we are (architecture and substance of the mind).“

--- Alexander Batthyány

26

Think back to the time before matter had collapsed into the first stars. Since the

universe at this time consisted of simple particles randomly scattered through vast

reaches of spaces, it seems unlikely that there was experience anywhere to be found.

If the universe in this condition was wholly experience-free, how can simply

rearranging the same elementary particles have given birth to something

fundamentally new and different: consciousness?

How can the bringing to gether of non-experiential things ever produce an

experience? Even the simplest experience seems to be something wholly other than

a collection of physical atoms.

The materialist‘s problem

First Law of Dimensional Ontology

“One and the same phenomenon projected

out of its own dimension into different

dimensions lower than its own is depicted

in such a way that the individual pictures

contradict one another.”

Second Law of Dimensional

Ontology

“Different phenomena projected out of

their own dimension into one dimension

lower than their own are depicted in such a

manner that the pictures are ambiguous.”

The Spiritual Unconscious

Functions of the Human Spirit:

(1)Self-distancing

(2)Self-transcendence

The Conscience

Part III:Practice

Clinical Indications (according to Frankl):

(1) Logotherapy is a specific treatment when the source of

the psychological disturbance is a lack of meaning-

orientation.

(2) Logotherapy is a non-specific treatment when the source

of the disturbance is rooted in physiology or psychology.

(3) Medical Ministry

(4) On the level of society, Logotherapy is seen as a tool to

counter the influence of nihilism.

(5) Within the medical and therapeutic community,

Logotherapy is seen as a tool to counter reductionism.

Primary Techniques of

Logotherapy:

(1)Paradoxical Intention

(2)Dereflection

(3)Socratic Dialogue

Paradoxical Intentiontechnique of logotherapy in which one is

encouraged to do or to wish that which is feared.

Paradoxical intention is based on the uniquely

human capacity of self-distancing

Dereflectiontechnique of logotherapy in which one is enabled to

ignore the self, ignore symptoms, and to become

directed toward the concrete meaning of personal

existence.

Socratic Dialoguein logotherapy, method to bring the healthy, noetic

core of the human person to conscious awareness

such that spiritual resources can be used

therapeutically.

Ancillary Techniques of

Logotherapy:

(1)Values Clarification

(2)Writing Assignments

(3)Structured Experiences

Part IV:Research

Toward an evidence-based

practice of logotherapy

A Review of the Research

Most Well Documented Findings

(based on over 20 studies)

1. A positive correlation exists between

meaning and measures of well-being and

coping.

2. An inverse correlation exists between

meaning and a diagnosis of mental illness.

3. When mental illness does occur, an inverse

correlation exists between meaning and

symptom severity.

Other Well Documented Findings

(based on 10-20 studies)

1. An inverse correlation exists between

reasons for living/purpose in life and

suicidality.

2. An inverse correlation exists between

meaning and a diagnosis of substance use

disorder.

3. A positive correlation exists between

meaning and health.

Emerging Findings(based on less than 10

studies)

1. Meaning in life is positively correlated

with occupational functioning.

2. An inverse correlation exists between

meaning and criminal or antisocial

behavior.

3. Meaning in life is positively correlated

with social functioning.

The First Logotherapy Treatment Manuals

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

2014

Randomized Controlled Studies demonstrate the

efficacy of logotherapy in reducing desire for

hastened death in persons diagnosed with stage III

and IV cancer.

A Kansas Initiative

Source: Kansas Department of Health and Environment

Marshall H. Lewis, Ph.D.

Diplomate in Logotherapy

marshallhlewis@yahoo.com

kansasinitiative.org