The theme of meaning in Viktor Frankl Already from the titles of Frankl's books and reports it becomes clear what topics his thought revolves around: "The question of meaning in psychotherapy", "In the beginning there was meaning", "A man in search of meaning", "The will to meaning." Frankl writes: “We realize the meaning of being - we

MAGNETIC DREAM AND VICTOR'S SISTER At the end of 1783, Armand-Marc-Jaques Chastanet, Marquis de Puysegur, 1755-1825, one of the largest landowners in France, found himself in his estate in Buzansy near Soissons. Artillery regiment officer

Chapter 6. Existential criterion in V. Frankl's theory of personality We will begin our presentation of V. Frankl's theory of personality by considering his general ideas about human nature. As he believes, human nature is characterized by a variety of heterogeneous forms of being, which

The more progressive and civilized the world becomes, the bigger and more miserable people become. Surprisingly, people are trying to create a society that will allow everyone to live for their own pleasure, but in the end it turns out that everyone lives even poorer. Psychoses, neuroses, and other neurotic states are proposed to be eliminated with the help of Frankl's logotherapy, who sets forth his goals, principles, techniques and methods.

Frankl's Logotherapy is a type of psychotherapy that offers its own unique method for eliminating various disorders in a healthy human body. When translated from Greek, "logos" should be defined as "meaning" (and not as "word"). Only in this case it becomes clear what the therapy consists of.

Viktor Frankl considers human life to be an eternal search for its meaning. If a person does not know why he lives, what is his meaning of life, then he becomes insane. He begins to get lost in all the expanses of his life, some people can not stand it and commit suicide.

For the treatment of any deviations and neuroses, the psychiatrist suggested conducting a conversation with the client so that he himself could find his own meaning in life. There is no need for persuasion, instruction and introduction of various dogmas. A person decides for himself what is the meaning of his life, which helps him to get out of a negative state.

What is logotherapy?

Logotherapy is a direction of psychotherapy, which implies a cure by finding your own meaning in life and giving it superimportance. Each person has his own meaning in life. Someone calls it a destination, a mission. We're just going to talk about the meaning of life. When a person has a meaning in life, then he does not feel lost and empty. When a person does not know what he lives for, then existential frustration arises, due to which disorders and psychosis develop.

The goal of the Frankl psychotherapist is to find, with the client, his meaning in life and to make it meaningful. Moreover, a person should really feel that this is important for him, without this his life will be unhappy. When the meaning of life is found, then the person recovers.

Finding the meaning of life through a conversation is achieved, when not the psychotherapist finds it, but the client himself. In this case, the therapist only directs the conversation in the right direction. The client should not pay attention to the difficulties and problems in his life in order to search for the light and the good, and not dwell on the negative.

For some people, the meaning of life is in religious belief. This happens especially often after tragic events, when a person loses a loved one, loses large sums of money, favorite job or home. When a person has nothing that he previously valued, then he becomes lost. And here people come to the rescue who offer friendship, help, support, even shelter over their heads, if he begins to believe in what they believe in.

However, you can create your own faith. Here we will talk about goals. The goals are different: public, group, individual. But sometimes it doesn't matter what goals a person chooses, the main thing is that they are, because thanks to them, a person can fulfill some of his functions and have a meaning in life.

It is very important for a person to have a purpose in life, as this creates him a certain faith in something. When a person believes, it is easier for him to move through life than when he has no goal at all. This is similar to the meaning of life - until a person determines it personally for himself, he will not be able to go in any direction. Although the purpose and meaning of life are completely different things, they are similar to each other: they have their own definition, in which a person believes and moves towards it.

The goal helps a person to belong to something, to some kind of society and to define himself and his actions. Having a goal, a person has a direction, a flow through life - and there is no need here to talk about the correctness of his choice, the most important thing is that he has at least some choice that will lead to something. With the help of the goal, a person flows either with other people and in the same direction, if he chooses generally accepted rules and concepts, or flows in his direction and a maximum of 2-3 people who sincerely share his views.

Having a goal and clearly defining it helps to quickly achieve what you set out to do. Thus, a person is much easier to achieve personal growth, self-development, the fruits of his labors and other things that were included in the plans. This is much more effective than simply wanting what everyone wants, or not setting any goals at all. In the first case, a person simply does not do anything, because, in principle, he does not need what he thinks about. In the second case, the individual does nothing and does not even know what to do, since he has not set himself a vector of direction where to go.

A person cannot live meaninglessly and without a goal, because otherwise he would simply sit and do nothing that would lead directly to death. The statement of aspiration is not based on the principle of “Make the right decision”. The main thing is that the goal is, and the correctness of it is determined by the person himself, who, having reached the desired end point of his path, will understand whether he made the right choice or not.

Thus, the meaning of life is the presence of a goal in a person, which inspires him, causes an internal uplift, energy. At the same time, the person feels happy. The meaning of life is actually invented by a person. At first, he lives in order to survive, and then he begins to set goals for himself - on which he will spend his energy, strength, money, attention and other resources, which in the end should make him a happy person.

If what a person has achieved remains unattained or was missed, a person feels as if he has lost the meaning of life. And in this case, you can seek the help of a psychotherapist on the site, a site that will offer:

1. try again to achieve your goal (which is his meaning of life);
2. find new goals that are just as meaningful and inspiring.

It is important that the goal (meaning of life) is very significant, the person needs it, does not think that he can give it up. It's like being addicted to air, when if you give up oxygen, you die.

Frankl's Logotherapy includes principles, methods, goals and techniques based on finding the meaning of life, the manifestation of will and the desire for freedom. The psychiatrist considered a person to be free. Despite the fact that society creates its own framework, beliefs, traditions, rules, a person continues to remain free inside. It is up to him to decide how to live and what to move towards, how to act and what results to face. However, many people get lost as they begin to live according to social rules, giving up their ability to independently decide how to live.

Frankl's logotherapy uses the following principles:

1. Free will - when a person is free to choose and make decisions on his own. If all this is backed up by force to defend one's position, despite the fact that someone will not like the person's decisions, then the person really becomes healthy.
2. Will to Meaning - Freedom itself is meaningless. A person acquires meaning when he begins to see the goal and strive for it.
3. Meaning of life.

Frankl's logotherapy techniques are:

• Dereflexia. Here, a person switches from the need to control himself and meet someone's expectations, switching to his partner.
• Logo analysis. A scale of values ​​is drawn up, discussing a person's whole life, where he talks about things that are important to him. This allows a person to see that his life still has a meaning and value that lie outside the problem that caused him to become neurotically ill.
• Paradoxical intention. A person is afraid of a certain situation, therefore, avoids it, which generates fear and anxiety, especially if it may arise again. To eliminate the vicious circle, you need to change your attitude towards the situation.

The goal of logotherapy is to encourage a person to study himself, to gain insight and understanding that he has many important aspects in life. Many modern people complain that they live meaninglessly. However, they may be wrong, because even the fact that they live like "driven horses" or "walk in circles" also includes some goal that they wanted to achieve, just went in the wrong direction.

Finding the meaning of life can be called self-examination, when a person immerses himself in his own experiences, talks about his life, talks about joys and disappointments. All this is the goal of logotherapy, because through a discussion of the events that have taken place with a person, an understanding comes that it was in fact full of interesting events and pursued some goal. It's just that today a person is in frustrated feelings and cannot see his goal because of the experience of his disappointment or grief.

Each situation in which a person finds himself has its own meaning. Even difficulties and problems do not just arise. Everything in human life is important and valuable. It's just that the person himself negatively perceives some events, allowing himself to forget about his meaning in life.

In fact, each person has their own meaning in life. A person may not be aware of it, but he is constantly going somewhere, striving for something, acting because he wants to achieve some goals. Small goals form one big goal, which determines the meaning of a person's life. And all the problems and troubles, because of which a person begins to suffer and forget about his meaning in life, are simply perceived negatively. A person does not see the meaning in them, although in fact, even in the most difficult and difficult situations, the individual, to one degree or another, strove towards his main goal.

Outcome

There is one big goal - the meaning of life, which gives value to all actions and situations that happen to a person. And there are small goals that are set by a person as he moves towards the main one. A person should not want to achieve his main goal in life in a short period of time, since this, most likely, will be impossible. However, you can set many small goals, attaining which you can gradually move towards the main one.

Perhaps the most important lesson that all people must learn is this: Walk with purpose through life. For each day, set a goal that you will achieve throughout the day. For each week and month, you need to set small goals that you will work on in order to achieve the most important goal within a year or several years.

The mistake that many people make is not having any goals. People dream, want something, want something. But if you look at what they devote every day of their lives, you can see that they devote less of their time to achieving their goals. There are goals, but no one reaches them either in a month, or in a year, or in many years.

A successful person is one who walks with a goal in life. A successful person is one who performs only those actions that correspond to the achievement of his goals. There is nothing superfluous in what a successful person does. Everything he does is aimed at achieving some goals. He sets big goals, and he breaks them down into small ones, which he achieves in a short period of time.

Go with a purpose in life. You are going somewhere - set the goal that you want to achieve where you are going. You are somewhere - set yourself a goal that you want to achieve while you are in this or that place. You are communicating with someone - set a goal that you want to achieve based on the results of the conversation with the interlocutor. You are doing something - achieve your own goal. In other words, achieve your goal at every step. Don't interact with people without a purpose. Don't go anywhere without a goal. Do not do business without a purpose.

Remember the wise words: “Until you have a goal, other people set it for you ... Until you have a direction in which you are going, other people determine it for you ... If you do not know why you are doing something, you can easily be manipulated ... ". If you do not achieve your goals, then you will have to achieve the goals of other people. Do you need it?

Go with a purpose in life. Any more or less business, whatever you do, should be subordinated to some of your goals. If you are communicating with a person, first set a goal of what you want to get from him, and then act only within the framework of this goal. You will no longer yell at a person if you want to receive his love. You will no longer threaten him if you want to cooperate with him. Set a goal for yourself and act within that goal.

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Among the many areas of psychotherapy that exist today, there is a special direction that was developed relatively recently - in the middle of the 20th century. Yes, it, like everyone else, presupposes a therapeutic effect on the human body and his psyche, however, it is based on the search and analysis of the meanings of his life. And as a website for self-development, we simply could not afford not to talk about this most interesting direction called "logotherapy".

What is logotherapy?

In more scientific terms, the term "logotherapy" refers to a type of psychotherapy based on a psychological-anthropological model that was developed by the Austrian psychiatrist and neurologist Viktor Frankl.

The word "logos" of Greek origin is interpreted in the presented context as "meaning". If we talk about other equally correct translations of the word "logos", such as "rational order" and "word", then they are hardly suitable for interpreting the main provisions of logotherapy, because the task of speech therapists is not to convince their clients of anything through rational arguments, but help in determining the deep, special and individual meaning.

Briefly about the origins of logotherapy

The history of the logotherapeutic approach goes back to the 30s of the last century. For the first time, the foundations of logotherapy were presented in 1938 by the aforementioned Victor Frankl, who developed them, taking as a basis the individual psychology of Alfred Adler and.

Today, logotherapy, often referred to as the “third school of psychotherapy in Vienna”, is an empirically based and internationally recognized psychotherapeutic approach.

Basics of Logotherapy

The main motivational force of a person, according to logotherapy, lies in his desire for meaning. According to Viktor Frankl, people in all situations and states strive for meaning and try to justify their existence, correlating it with the people around them and the world in general.

Frankl presented a three-dimensional model of personality, which contained two dimensions in the horizontal plane (mental and physical) and one in the vertical (noetic or spiritual). All three of these dimensions make up one indivisible whole.

The spiritual is in man what makes him different from animals. The features of measurement are opposed to homeostatic processes, as a result of which a tension is created between what has already been achieved and what only needs to be realized - this is the tension that supports the desire of a person to embody values ​​and realize meaning.

Frankl pointed out that mental health can only exist when there is a certain tension between a person and an external meaning that he must realize. To be human means, in its essence, to be open to something from the outside, to something that is different from a person who exists independently. In addition, man is a free, responsible and spiritual being. And the spiritual sphere here includes meaning, freedom of choice, intuition, inspiration, ideals, conscience, responsibility, ideas and humor.

To prove all this, Viktor Frankl cited the results of his research.

Foundations of Logotherapy

Viktor Frankl had his own professional credo, the meaning of which was that a person should not be reduced to his illness or its symptoms. In his work "Man in Search of Meaning", the scientist presents his credo through the example of working with mentally ill people.

So, he said that no conceivable circumstance can limit a person so that she is 100% deprived of freedom. Based on this, even a small part of freedom remains with a person, regardless of the restrictions created by neuroses or psychoses. Even the most severe psychosis is not able to touch the innermost core of the personality.

For a logotherapist, a person is always “something big”, and he always pursues the goal of finding points of contact with that part of the client's gut, which is “not affected by the disease,” and will try to help him come to an awareness of his capabilities and resources.

The basis of the logotherapeutic approach is formed by three philosophical and psychological components:

• free will
• The will to meaning
• Meaning of life

What is meant by this:

free will

Logotherapy says that a person is only partially conditioned and he has both the initial freedom to make decisions and the ability to take any position in relation to psychological, biological and social conditions. Freedom should be understood here as a space in which a person can shape his life within the limits of specific possibilities.

Freedom emanates from the realm of spirituality, which prevails over the physical and mental. As spiritual beings, people not only respond to stimuli, but also have a certain independence, and therefore the ability to build their lives.

Free will is of great importance in psychotherapy and enables people to act autonomously, even if they are concerned about spiritual or. Through this resource, people can cope with the symptoms of ailments and regain the capacity for self-determination and control over life.

The will to meaning

Man is not just free, but free to achieve. The pursuit of meaning is the primary motivating force. If a person is unable to realize their meanings, he will be disturbed by the feeling of emptiness and meaninglessness. He may also begin to worry about depression, addiction, aggression, and neurotic disorders.

With the help of logotherapy, people can understand and neutralize the factors that prevent them from pursuing meaningful goals in their lives. Logotherapy develops in people a sensitivity that allows them to perceive the possibilities of meaning, but one must understand that it should not be used as a means for setting goals. The logotherapist acts in the process of logotherapy only as an accompanying client who helps him realize the possibilities of meaning, which the latter must discover on his own.

Meaning of life

The main idea of ​​logotherapy is the idea that meaning is an objective reality. Logotherapy postulates that a person's task is to create a better self from "source material", as well as create a better world around us, through the realization of their freedom and responsibility, as well as through the recognition and realization of the meaning of all events that occur.

Particular attention should also be paid to the fact that the potential of meaning, which is objective in nature, relates to specific situations and people, and, therefore, is in the process of constant transformation.

Based on this, a person who has resorted to logotherapy receives invaluable support in his quest for maximum flexibility and openness, which can help him to give his daily life.

Logotherapy in practice

Today, logotherapy is practiced by specialists both as a separate method and in combination with other techniques, and is used in individual and group work. In addition to the field of psychotherapy, the parts also resort to logotherapy in.

The effectiveness of logotherapy has been proven in crisis prevention, crisis neutralization and post-crisis work; it turned out to be very effective in the prevention of depression, aggression and suicidal behavior, as well as in the elimination of neuroses. She was especially effective in working with psychiatric patients and prisoners.

Summing up, we can say that logotherapy, developed by Viktor Frankl, is an extremely effective method of psychotherapeutic assistance to people who have difficulties associated with finding the meaning of life and setting priorities. However, we sincerely hope that none of our readers will need the help of speech therapists.

ABOUT THE MEANING OF LIFE: Every person should have a meaning of life, but if it does not exist or its outlines are blurred, this does not mean that it is time to seek the help of a specialist. Perhaps you just need to brainstorm a little and understand yourself better. And in order to do this, we invite you to take our self-knowledge course, which will tell you a lot of interesting things about yourself. However, we recommend taking the course to each of our readers, regardless of the presence or absence of the meaning of life, because, you see, self-knowledge is always for the better.

So go towards the best - and we wish you success and meaning in absolutely everything!

Viktor Frankl (1905-1997) - Austrian psychiatrist, psychologist and neurologist. From 1942 to 1945, Frankl was in German concentration camps, including Auschwitz and Dachau. His father, mother, brother and wife died in the camps. Frankl is the founder of the third Vienna school of psychotherapy (logotherapy), after the first psychoanalytic school of Freud and the second school of individual psychology Adler (Gladding S., 2003). Logotherapy focuses on the pursuit of meaning, while psychoanalysis focuses on the pursuit of pleasure, and individual psychology focuses on the pursuit of power.

Word logos has the double meaning of "meaning" and "spirituality." Logotherapy thus deals with the existential and spiritual nature of man. According to Frankl (1990), the pursuit of meaning is the central motive of human existence. The meaning of life is unique to each person and changes over time. Patients often claim that the meaning of life is pleasure. If pleasure were the main source of meaning, it would hardly be worth living, since there are much more unpleasant sensations in life than pleasant ones. Those who are too busy looking for pleasure or happiness cannot find them because they concentrate too much on finding them. Frankl identifies three main ways that people can find meaning in life:

1) give something to life (values ​​of creativity);

2) take something from life (value of experience);

3) to take a certain position in relation to fate, which cannot be changed, for example, in case of inoperable cancer (attitude values).

In addition, past experiences and religion are two other areas in which people can find meaning.

The point is in work. Work is the main area in which people can go beyond themselves. The work that a person does does not really matter, the way that work is done does. It is necessary to explain this to neurotic individuals who complain that another occupation would allow them to better realize themselves. Frankl believes there are opportunities to do any job, although he admits that some jobs are mostly routine. In such cases, the meaning of creativity should be sought in activities that you can do at your leisure.

The existential importance of work is evident in what Frankl calls the "unemployment neurosis." The most pronounced symptom of an unemployed person is apathy, a sense of worthlessness and emptiness. In neurotic individuals, unemployment becomes an excuse for all failures and removes from them all responsibility to others and to themselves, as well as to life. At the same time, unemployment may be the result of neurosis rather than neurosis - the result of unemployment. Unemployment is not a stroke of fate to be resigned to. Some people respond to the existential challenge of unemployment by staying active and engaged, thus avoiding the neurosis associated with unemployment. There is an alternative to physical retreat under the pressure of social destiny. It is quite possible to engage in various other activities, to usefully spend time, to take a life-affirming position. Work isn't the only way to give meaning to life. A person is able to decide whether his attitude towards losing a job will be positive with elements of hope or apathetic. Logotherapy shows the unemployed a way to find inner freedom, despite an unfavorable situation, and teaches an awareness of responsibility, thanks to which he retains the opportunity to make his difficult life meaningful.

Employment can have both positive and negative meanings. Some people try to avoid facing the emptiness of their existence by seeking refuge in a job or profession.

The meaning is suffering. According to Frankl (1990), people can choose how they respond to suffering. For example, terminally ill people can see meaning in life until the last moment if they accept the challenge presented to them by fate and suffer courageously. Frankl quotes Goethe: "There is no such predicament that we could not ennoble either by action or by patience."

Some people can rise to the challenge of suffering and are able to be spiritually enriched and strengthened through it. However, people need to be careful not to accept fate too readily. Attitude values ​​should be addressed only when they have a firm belief that they are not able to change their destiny.

The meaning of love... “Love is just one of the possible ways to fill life with meaning, and far from the best way. Our existence would be very sad, and life poor, if their meaning depended on whether we experience happiness in love ... ”(Frankl V., 1990). At the same time, the lack of love can be explained more by neurotic failure than fate. External physical attractiveness is comparatively unimportant, and its absence is not a sufficient reason for giving up love. Refusal of love is usually associated with an overestimated or underestimated estimate of love. Neurotic individuals may fear the stress associated with unhappy, unrequited love, so they tend to avoid opportunities for love.

Super meaning. People are unable to understand the ultimate meaning of human suffering. However, this does not mean that suffering does not have such an ultimate meaning. Frankl does not agree with the provisions of secular existential philosophy, according to which one of the main tasks of a person is to endure the meaninglessness of life. Frankl believes that people must put up with their inability to embrace and see from a rational point of view the ultimate meaning of life. The Infinite God is more silent than dead.

One of the tendencies of modern life is not a departure from religion, but a weakening of the emphasis, which is placed on the differences between different religions. Frankl does not advocate for a universal religion. Instead, he sees the point in creating a deeply personalized religion that would allow people to speak to the supreme being in their own individual language, using their words.

Existential vacuum and existential neurosis. Frankl distinguishes between two stages of meaninglessness - existential vacuum and existential neurosis.

Existential vacuum, or existential frustration, - a phenomenon characterized by subjective experiences of boredom, apathy, emptiness, cynicism.

It is the existential vacuum (the feeling of emptiness and meaninglessness of life) that does not allow an individual to withstand life's difficulties with dignity. Frustration of the will to meaning is "existential frustration." Such frustration is sometimes substituted by a lust for power or pleasure.

Existential frustration is not always a pathological phenomenon. Frankl does not believe that the search for the meaning of existence, or even doubt about its existence, is necessarily due to any disease or leads to it. Often he calms non-patients by saying that their existential despair is an achievement rather than a symptom of neurosis. This is a sign of intellectual depth, not superficiality.

Existential, or noogenic neurosis, develops when neurotic symptoms join the existential frustration. Although existential conflicts can develop without a neurosis, every neurosis has an existential aspect. Neuroses, according to Frankl, are rooted in four different layers (or "dimensions") of human existence - physical, psychological, social and existential, or spiritual. The different types of neuroses differ in terms of the relative importance of each of these four dimensions. The purpose of diagnostics is to identify the primary among them. Noogenic neuroses account for only about 20% of cases of neuroses.

Therapy affects the whole person and can include physical (or medical) intervention, psychotherapy and logotherapy, in parallel or sequentially. Logotherapy aims not to take the place of existing psychotherapy, but only to supplement it with a spiritual dimension. It focuses on meanings and values.

Term noetic refers to the spiritual dimension. Noogenic neuroses arise from existential problems, among which the frustration of the will to meaning plays a significant role. Psychoses also includes existential aspects, which consist in the freedom to determine one's own attitude towards the disease. Hence, even psychosis is a test of the patient's human qualities.

Logotherapists are attentive to both overt signs of an existential vacuum (for example, the client's words, “My life lacks meaning”), as well as latent symptoms, such as apathy and boredom, which indicate that clients feel empty inside. Eliminating signs of existential frustration, such as apathy and boredom, is a “by-product” of seeking and discovering meaning. When clients begin to see more meaning in their lives, the severity of their symptoms (depression, drug addiction, aggression) usually decreases.

Massive neurotic triad. Frankl speaks of the neurotization of humanity due to the presence of an existential vacuum. The global impact of the existential vacuum is not limited to inducing feelings of meaninglessness and noogenic neuroses. Frankl uses the term “mass neurotic triad” to describe three main effects: depression, drug addiction, and aggression.

With regard to depression, there is objective evidence that suicide rates are rising, especially among young people. Frankl sees the reason for this in the spreading existential frustration.

When it comes to drug addiction, people with low life goals are more likely to try to find meaning in drugs than people with well-defined high goals in life. Addicts often claim that they turned to drugs to find meaning in life. Many alcoholics also suffer from a sense of meaninglessness.

When it comes to aggression, Frankl believes that people are most likely to become aggressive when they are overwhelmed by feelings of emptiness and meaninglessness.

Logotherapy methods. The value of logotherapy is that it helps clients find meaning in their lives. Logotherapy counselors strive to "confront" clients with their life goals and reorient clients to meet these challenges.

Logotherapy attaches great importance to the relationship between the patient and the psychotherapist. This relationship is the most important aspect of the psychotherapeutic process, a much more important factor than any method or technique. Relationships require a balance between two extremes, human closeness and scientific detachment. This means that the therapist should not be guided solely by sympathy or a desire to help the patient, but also should not suppress human interest in him, reducing the relationship to techniques.

In technical terms, logotherapy is close to cognitive-behavioral therapy. The methods of paradoxical intention, dereflection, change of attitudes and positive reformulation (they are called methods of Socratic dialogue) are characteristic of both directions.

One of the main methods of existential analysis - working with a biography - is contraindicated at high emotional stress, as it can lead to a state of overexertion and increase the suicidal risk in the client.

In neurotic states, the main methods of logotherapy are paradoxical intention and dereflexion.

Paradoxical intention. The use of paradoxical intention is recommended for short-term treatment of clients with obsessive-compulsive and phobic mental disorders.

The essence of the paradoxical intention is that clients are being asked to do exactly what they fear. In addition, the paradoxical intention engages and sustains the clients' sense of humor; due to their sense of humor, clients increase their sense of detachment from neuroses, as they begin to laugh at them.

Paradoxical intention is categorically contraindicated in psychotic depression.

Dereflexia. The purpose of using paradoxical intention is to help clients ridicule their neurotic symptoms, and the purpose of using dereflexion is to help clients ignore these symptoms. Dereflexion is especially useful in cases of male impotence and inability to reach orgasm in women. Dereflexion distracts attention from the performed action and one's own person, switching it to the partner.

In the presence of psychoses such as endogenous depression and schizophrenia, logotherapy can be used in combination with drug therapy. Logotherapy itself deals with the healthy part of the personality, helping clients see meaning in suffering.

Grade. It would be unfair to judge logotherapy in terms of paradoxical intention and dereflexion techniques. These are specific techniques for very specific symptoms or neurotic conditions. They are hardly applicable in the case of the more severe disorders that existential psychotherapy deals with, in particular with existential frustration and loss of meaning in life. Logotherapy is designed to address these philosophical or spiritual problems.

It is argued that logotherapy is more a belief, philosophy of life, secular religion than science or a school of psychotherapy in the usual sense of the word.

Frankl's therapy is "meaning therapy", and meaninglessness and the search for meaning will always be problems for a person; for this reason alone, one should expect that logotherapy will retain its significance as an independent form of treatment in the field of psychotherapy.