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10/20/14 1 The Defiant Power of the Human Spirit Viktor Frankl’s Discovery for Meaningful Living Part I: History Who was Viktor Frankl?
Transcript of Viktor$Frankl’s$Discovery$...
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The Defiant Power of the Human Spirit
Viktor Frankl’s Discovery
for Meaningful Living
Part I: History
Who was Viktor Frankl?
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Part II: Theory
What is Logotherapy?
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The Short Definition
Healing Through Meaning
Lack of Meaning in Life
The central problem of logotherapy
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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.
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Possible clinical results of
meaninglessness:
(1) depression
(2) aggression
(3) addiction
The Solution A 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
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Frankl’s Assumptions:
(1) Freedom of the Will
(2) The Will to Meaning
(3) Meaning in Life
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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
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The Will to Meaning the basic striving of the human person to find
and fulfill a concrete meaning and purpose in
personal existence.
Ultimate Meaning vs
The Meaning of the Moment
The Categorical Values
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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?
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„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
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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
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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.”
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The Spiritual Unconscious
Functions of the Human Spirit:
(1) Self-‐distancing
(2) Self-‐transcendence
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The Conscience
Part III: Practice
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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 Intention technique 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
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Dereflection technique 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 Dialogue in 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
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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.
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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
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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
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Marshall H. Lewis, Ph.D.
Diplomate in Logotherapy
kansasinitiative.org
