Logotherapy And Viktor Frankl example essay topic

Frankl's Views Viktor Frankl's work is thought to perhaps be the most significant thinking since Freud and Adler. Logotherapy has been officially recognized as one of the scientifically based schools of psychotherapy by the American Psychological Association. Frankl has written 32 books and they have been translated in 27 different languages. The one that this paper will concentrate on is Man's Search for Meaning.

Frankl's work and theories come from his experiences in the Nazi concentration camps watching which prisoners survived and which did not, provided there was an opportunity to survive. He adapted Friedrich Nietzsche's quote, "He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how". He found that the prisoners that had hope of being reunited with loved ones, or those who felt they had projects that needed completion, had a better chance of survival than those who had lost all hope. Logotherapy is the therapy which was invented by Viktor Frankl. From the Greek word logos, this can mean study, word, spirit, God, or meaning. Where as Freud felt the root of all human motivation was the will to pleasure, and Adler felt it was the will to power, logotherapy suggests it is the will to meaning.

Since people are capable of deciding, they are also responsible for their decisions. The objective of logotherapy is to accompany the clients on the way to finding possibilities for concrete meaning in their respective life situations. Logotherapy offers help at re-orientation and recovery by strengthening trust in the unconditional meaningfulness of life and the dignity of the person. Logotherapy also employs techniques useful for phobias, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorders and medical ministry. Other applications include working with juvenile delinquents, career counselling and helping all of us find more meaning in life. De reflection is when the therapist diverts the patients away from their problems towards something else meaningful in the world.

Frankl compares meaning to laughter, he said that meaning can not be given it must be found, in the same way you can not force someone to laugh, you can only tell them a joke. I like Frankl's approaches used with logotherapy. I think too often people lose sight of the true meaning in their lives. Today's society lives in the fast lane, I think logotherapy makes you slow down and take the scenic route.

Frankl also uses the Greek word no " os, which means mind or spirit. In traditional psychology, he says, we focus on psychodynamics, which sees people as trying to reduce psychological tension. In addition, Frankl says we should pay attention to no " o dynamics, where in tension is necessary for health, at least when it comes to meaning. People need the tension involved in striving for some worthy goal. One of Viktor Frankl's major concepts is conscience. He sees conscience as a sort of unconscious spirituality, different from the instinctive unconscious that Freud emphasized.

The conscience is not just one factor among many; it is the center of our being and the source of our personal integrity. One thing that Frankl liked to talk about was the existential vacuum. He says that meaninglessness is an emptiness or hole in our lives. Where ever there is a vacuum things run in to fill it.

He points out how boredom in our society is a sign of an existential vacuum. When we finally have the time to do what we want, we do not want to do anything. At first, I did not think this pertained to me, and then I thought for a minute. I always complain about not having enough time to say perhaps do my homework or even a more enjoyable task like doing my scrap-booking, but then on a day when I have no obligations to do anything I'll just sit and watch TV all day long and complain the next day that I never get anything done. The approach that most closely relates to Viktor Frankl's views is the humanistic approach. Both approaches focus on the individual's ability to control their own feelings and destiny.

In humanism people are encouraged to realize their inner potentials. It emphasizes the creative, spontaneous, and active nature of human beings. Abraham Maslow has his hierarchy of needs. A person goes through levels achieving one step after another, the last of all of these steps which is self-actualization. A self-actualized person has peak experiences, where they feel at one with the world.

They have realized their full potential and are spiritually fulfilled, loving, creative, and productive. There is a difference here with Frankl and Maslow's beliefs. Maslow is explicitly concerned with the actualization of one's potential and the development of one's own powers. Frankl does not focus on actualizing oneself but upon choosing to dedicate oneself to an end outside of the self. It is called self-transcendence and is concerned with ones involvement and contribution to the world. One issue many people have with logotherapy and Viktor Frankl is that he relies on religion.

He is said to try to re-insert religion in to psychology in a subtle manner. He asks us to base our understanding of human existence on faith, and the existence of an ultimate truth.