Man’s Search For Meaning by Viktor FranklChelsea Potter

Developmental Psychology

Viktor Frankl (1905-1997)

Successful neurologist and psychologist

Holocaust survivor-deported to camp in 1942

-lost his wife & family

Writer of ‘Man’s Search For Meaning’

Man’s Search For Meaning• He found personal meaning in surviving the Holocaust

• “We cannot avoid suffering, but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and move forward with renewed purpose” -Frankl

• Devoted his life to telling his story and teaching his strategies for survival

LogotherapyForm of psychotherapy focused on helping patients find meaning in life in three ways:

• Work and hobbies

• Experiencing life and people (love)

• Developing a positive attitude!

His Holocaust experience confirmed his theories

Traumatic experiences• Not necessary for

development, but potentially beneficial

• Mentally stronger

• Suffering brings understanding of life’s meaning

• Higher level of maturity development

• More adaptable

Mental Survival• Credits his survival to holding onto vision of the future

• Observed who did & did not survive- the difference between the two was meaning and hope for the future (mental sense of control > physical strength).

• People have the ability to develop emotionally, cognitively, and socially in order to adapt and survive (Evolutionary Developmental approach)

• “He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how” –Frankl

The Existential Vacuum• Concept he developed while in

concentration camps

• Psychological condition of the feeling of meaninglessness

• Boredom is the major symptom

• We try filling our vacuums with satisfaction- overeating, promiscuity, drinking, passive entertainment, etc.

“Mass Neurotic Triad”

Finding MeaningThrough Logotherapy (work, love, attitude)

• Psychoanalyzed prisoners around him, taking notes, helping other prisoners

• Thoughts and hope of his wife

• Staying optimistic- turning his suffering into an ‘achievement’

• Frankl’s stimulus-concentration camp, isolation from loved ones

• Response- logotherapy

Meaning in Suffering?• “Has all this suffering, all this dying around us, a

meaning? For, if not, then ultimately there is no meaning for survival”

• Frankl didn’t deny his feelings of suffering

• He encourages us to acknowledge our feelings

Frankl’s Theory• “Meaning in life is the major motivational factor to live”

• Learned through the Holocaust that pleasure wasn’t as important as meaning

• His current situation was full of pain- focused on meaning of being there through helping others and staying optimistic about future

Freud’s Theory• Major driving force is

pleasure and conscience

• Strive to achieve pleasure and satisfaction within limits of values and morals

• Society motivated

Frankl vs. Freud

Frankl’s Message• “Even in the most painful, dehumanizing situations, life

can be given meaning, and so too can suffering”

• His experience at a concentration camp taught him that our main motivation in life is neither pleasure (as Freud had thought) or power, but meaning.

• “We cannot avoid suffering, but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and move forward with renewed purpose” -Frankl