4/20/2011 Articles

A Brief Manual for Meaning-Centered Counseling (MCC)

CHAPTER TWO: A BRIEF REVIEW OF LOGOTHERAPY

Paul Wong
Ph.D, C.Psych
Tyndale University
Toronto, Ontario

Logotherapy literally means therapy through meaning. It may be translated as meaning-oriented

or meaning-centered therapy. Existential analysis is the therapeutic process to remove all the
unconscious blocks and awaken the human spirit to live responsibly and meaningfully.

Year 2005 marked the 100th birthday of Viktor Frankl, who continues to impact the world largely
through his autobiographical book “Man’s Search for Meaning”, which remains of the all time best
sellers.

His influence on psychology and psychotherapy is well documented in Batthyany and Guttmann
(2006) and Batthyany and Levinson (2008). His impact on positive psychology has been
highlighted by Wong (2008, in press).

Logotherapy and spirituality

Unlike Freud’s psychoanalysis and Alder’s individual psychology, Frankl considers logotherapy
as a spiritually-oriented approach towards psychotherapy. “A psychotherapy which not only
recognizes man’s spirit, but actually starts from it may be termed logotherapy. In this connection,
logos is intended to signify ‘the spiritual’ and beyond that ‘the meaning’” (Frankl, 1986, xvii).

Existential analysis is needed to make the clients aware of their spirituality and capacity for
meaning. “Inasmuch as logotherapy makes him aware of the hidden logos of his existence, it is
an analytical process” (Frankl, 1984, p.125). However, in Dr. Frankl’s writing, the two terms are
used either interchangeably or together as a compound term.

Logotherapy incorporates spirituality; it emphasizes the need to relate and respond to the
Ultimate Meaning, and makes clients confront the Logos within them. It focuses on the human
responsibility to live meaningfully and purposefully in every situation and every day in order to
become what they are meant to be. It is truly positive therapy because it is capable of providing
comfort and hope in the most tragic situations.

According to Frankl, three factors characterize human existence: spirituality, freedom, and
responsibility. The spiritual dimension is the very core of our humanness, the essence of
humanity. The defiant power of the human spirit refers to the human capacity to tap into the
spiritual dimension in order to transcend the detrimental effects of stressful situations, illness or
the influence of the past.

One of the propositions of logotherapy is that the human spirit is our healthy core, which does not
get sick, even when the psychobiological organism is injured. The human spirit may be blocked
by biological or psychological sickness, but it will remain intact; the spirit does not get sick, even
when the psychobiological organism is injured. Although the focus is always on the quest for
existential meaning, the main objective of existential analysis is to remove the blocks and free the
human spirit to fulfill its tasks.

The human spirit is the most important resource in psychotherapy. According to Fabry (1994,
p.18), the noetic dimension or the human spirit, is the “medicine chest” of logotherapy, which
contains various inner resources, such as love, the will to meaning, purpose in life, creativity,
conscience, the capacity for choice, sense of humour, commitment to tasks, ideals, imagination,

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responsibility, compassion, forgiveness. Therefore, existential analysis focuses on activating the
noetic dimension through a variety of therapeutic means, such as the appealing technique,
modification of attitude, Socratic dialogue, paradoxical intention, and dereflection.

When existential analysis is effective, the clients will become more open and more accepting of
themselves. They will also feel free to engage the world in a responsible and courageous
manner. As a result, they are able to lead an authentic and meaningful life.
Both logotherapy and MCC attempt to awaken people’s awareness of the importance of
spirituality, freedom and responsibility in recovery and personal growth. Happiness is a by-
product of the discovery of meaning.

The meaning of life

What is the meaning of life? This remains one of the most commonly asked questions.
Philosophers have wrestled with this perplexing question for thousands of years. Psychologists
have also researched this issue. The recent positive psychology movement considers the
question of what makes life worth living one of the most important research issues.

How do we answer the existential question: “Is life as a whole meaningful or meaningless”? On
the one hand, he avoids giving an abstract answer to such a general existential question; on the
other hand, he affirms the potential of finding meaning in all situations as life unfolds. Thus, a life
is worth living if one can erect an endless series of monuments of meaningful moments.

However, every meaning is unique to each person, and each one has to discover the meaning of
each particular situation for oneself. The therapist can only challenge and guide the client to
potential areas of meaning.

Frankl believes that “by virtue of the fact that meaning may be ‘squeezed out’ even from suffering,
life proves to be potentially meaningful literally up to its last moment, up to one’s last breath.” He
(1984) prescribes three ways of finding meaning: creative, experiential, and attitudinal values:

“According to logotherapy, we can discover this meaning in life in three different

ways: (1) b y creating a work or doing a deed; (2) b y experiencing something or
encountering someone; and (3) b y the attitude we take towards unavoidab le
suffering” (p. 133).

Attitudinal values are especially important in situations of unavoidable suffering. When every
freedom is taken away from us, we still have the freedom to choose our attitude to respond to our
fate.

“This is why life never ceases to hold meaning, for even a person who is deprived of both creative
and experiential values is still challenged by a meaning to fulfill, that is, by the meaning inherent
in the right, in an upright way of suffering” ( Frankl, 1969, p. 70).

Frankl emphasizes that there is “demand quality of life” in every situation and in each one’s life.
We are called to respond to what life demands of us in order to live with authenticity and fulfill our
destiny. We do not ask what we can get from life, but what life demands of us.

Frankl (1963) also emphasizes that meaning is discovered rather than created: “The meaning of
our existence is not invented by ourselves, but rather detected” (p. 157). This is intended to convey
the message that one cannot create meaning simply by arbitrarily pursing some misguided
ambition as in the case of Hitler; however, one can discover the meaningfulness of one’s action
and response in light of some enduring and transcendental human values.

He focuses on the unique meaning of each concrete situation and our responsible reaction to it.
“What matters, therefore, is not the meaning of life in general, but rather the specific meaning of a
person’s life at a given moment” (p. 171).
.
Viktor Frankl must be credited as the first psychotherapist who takes an unequivocally affirmative
position on this issue. He maintains that there is ultimate meaning and purpose in human
existence and that one can discover positive meanings even in the worst, unimaginable
situations. This affirmation of meaning is the cornerstone of logotherapy.

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Existential frustration and noogenic neurosis

Existential frustration is a universal human experience, because the quest for existential meaning
can be blocked by external circumstances as well as internal hindrances. When the will to
meaning is frustrated, one may develop noogenic neurosis or existential vacuum. “Noogenic
neuroses have their origin not in the psychological but rather in the ‘noological’ (from the Greek
noos meaning mind) dimension of human existence” (Frankl, 1984, p.123). Logotherapy is
specifically appropriate in dealing with existential neuroses.

Existential vacuum refers to general sense of meaninglessness or emptiness, as evidenced by a

state of boredom. It is a widespread phenomenon of the twentieth century, as a result of
industrialization, the loss of traditional values, and dehumanization of individuals. Most people
may experience existential vacuum without developing existential neurosis. Many people feel that
life has no purpose, no challenge, no obligation and they try to fill their existential vacuum with
material things, pleasure, sex, power, busy work, but they are misguided (Frankl, 1984).
According to Frankl (1986), feelings of meaninglessness underlie “the mass neurotic triad of
today, i.e., depression-addiction-aggression” (p. 298).

Existential vacuum is not a neurosis or disease. In fact, it may make us aware of our own
emptiness and trigger a quest for meaning. The therapist can empower and challenge the clients
to fill their inner emptiness. Logotherapy can supplement psychotherapy in psychogenic cases
and somatogenic neurosis, because “by filling the existential vacuum, the patient will be
prevented from suffering further relapses” (Frankl, 1984, p.130)

The meaning of death

The terror of death figures prominently in existential psychology. Like a menacing dark cloud,
death is always on the horizon, threatening to rob us of our most cherished happiness and hope.
The undeniable fact remains that all we have ever aspired and all we have achieved can be
nullified by a single stroke of death; this prospect of becoming nothingness makes us question
the meaning of human existence.

Frankl argues that death does not automatically render life meaningless, and proposes that the
meaning of death is predicated on the meaning of life. He then emphasizes the uniqueness of
every human being and the imperative of using our freedom to fulfill our unique destiny.

To live and die meaningfully, we need to value each moment in every situation. “The moment
becomes eternity if the possibilities hidden in the present are converted into those realities which
are held safely in the past for all eternity. That is the meaning of all actualizing” (Frankl)

Therefore, those who live well will die well. Those who live a responsible and meaningful life will
be able to die with satisfaction and hope, knowing that their spirit will live on not only through the
monuments they have sculptured, but also thorough the transcendental and eternal spirit.

The meaning of suffering

Buddhist first noble truth is that life is suffering. It is not possible for any human being to go
through life without ever experiencing pain, heartbreak, sorrow, weariness, agony, despair,
sickness and afflictions and finally death. No one likes suffering. It is only normal that we regard
suffering as bad, evil, and an unwelcome intrusion into our lives.

Viktor Frankl confronts the reality of suffering with profound courage and insight: “Suffering and
trouble belong to life as much as fate and death. None of these can be subtracted from life
without destroying its meaning.” Furthermore, he (1984) reasons that: “If there is a meaning in life
at all, then there must be a meaning in suffering. Suffering is an ineradicable part of life, even as
fate and death” (p. 88)

Suffering is not a necessary condition for meaning, but suffering tends to trigger the quest for
meaning. Frankl (1967) observes that the Homo Sapiens is concerned with success, while the
Home Patiens (the suffering human being) is more concerned about meaning.

Frankl (1963, 1984, 1986) has observed through his own experience and his observation of
prisoners and clients that people are willing to endure any suffering, if they are convinced that this

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suffering has meaning. Suffering without meaning will lead to despair.

Logotherapists do not ask for the reason for suffering, but guide their clients towards the
realization of concrete meanings, and choose the right attitudes. Often, logotherapists appeal to
their clients to take a heroic stand towards suffering, by suggesting that unavoidable suffering
gives them the opportunity to bear witness to the human potential and dignity. Frank (1986):

“Whenever one is confronted with an inescapab le, unavoidab le situation, whenever

one has to face a fate that cannot b e changed, e.g., an incurab le disease, just then
is one given a last chance to actualize the highest value, to fulfill the deepest
meaning, the true meaning of suffering” (p. 178).

Search for meaning is more likely to be occasioned by three negative facets of human existence:
pain, guilt, and death. Pain refers to human suffering, guilt to the awareness of our fallibility, and
death to our awareness of the transitoriness of life (Frankl, 1967, 1984). These negative
experiences make us more aware of our needs for meaning and spiritual aspiration. Neuroses
are more likely to originate from our attempt to obscure the reality of pain, guilt, and death as
existential facts (Frankl, 1967, 1984).

Logotherapy provides an answer to the tragic triad through attitudinal values and tragic optimism
(Frankl, 1984):

“I speak of a tragic optimism, that is, an optimism in the face of tragedy and in view
of the human potential which at its b est always allows for: (1) turning suffering in to
a human achievement and accomplishment; (2) deriving from guilt the opportunity
to change oneself for the b etter; and (3) deriving from life’s transitoriness an
incentive to take responsib le action” (p. 162).

One of the main purposes of logotherapy and MCC is twofold: (a) To make suffering more
bearable thorough the discovery and reconstruction of meaning, and (b) To awaken the defiant
human spirit of accepting and enduring suffering. This positive “attitude value” in the face of
suffering and death is possible, only when we fully grasp the essence of meaning and
responsibility.

However undesirable suffering can yield some benefits. It purifies and elevates our lives. It
awakens us to the need of repentance and amendments. Like surgery, psychological suffering is
often a necessary experience before we give up self-destructive habits. It teaches us what we
ought not to be and what we ought to be. It enables us to develop moral fortitude and the capacity
of perseverance. It clarifies for us what really matters most in life.

The Meaning of Work

Most people would agree that meaningful work is more important that a good paying job devoid of
intrinsic meaning and significance. But what does it mean to find meaningful employment? Does
it depend on the status of the profession? Does the work need to be intrinsically interesting?

Since we spend most of our adult life working for a living, it stands to reason the meaning of our
life to a large extent hinges on the meaning of our work. Underemployment, unemployment and
toxic employment can severely undermine life satisfaction. Making a wrong career choice can
also derail us in our quest for meaning and happiness.

Frankl debunking various myths about the meaning of work and points out the work itself does not
create meaning – it only gives individuals the opportunities to do so. The main thing is that what
people bring to work is more important that the work itself.

He then identifies the sources of meaning at work. These include meeting the higher human
needs, expressing one’s uniqueness, opportunities for creative and experiential values, and
fulfilling one’s life goals and missions.

The meaning of love

Love is perhaps one of the most powerful human motivations. It can fill our lives with happiness

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and meaning and uplift the welfare of humanity. However, when it is frustrated or misguided, it
can be a very destructive force for individuals and society.

Most people yearn for true love and realize that it is based on a meaningful relationship rather
than sexual attraction. But what is a meaningful relationship? What is the meaning of true love?

To Frankl, love is the precious gift that makes everything beautiful. He defines true love as an
enduring, unique, and exclusive intimate relationship that provides opportunities for fulfilling the
experiential values of meaning. Ideally, true love is its own warranty of permanence and
guarantee of fidelity, because the spiritual core does not change. Once we experience true love,
we will abide with this truth for ever. True love necessarily enriches both the lover and the beloved.
Thus, life is impoverished, when it is devoid of love.

In contrast, unrequited love is primarily an emotional response based on sexual attraction and
infatuation. Often, the object of infatuation is idealized to the extent that it bears little or no
resemblance to the real person, because unrequited love is hopeless and desperate love with a
phantom of one’s own creation to meet one’s frustrated need for intimacy. When love is not
reciprocated, it results in pain and pathological jealousy. Frankl’s insight can help people avoid
and overcome the vicious cycle of love addiction.

In spite of Frankl’s lofty ideals about true love, divorce does happen and now happens with
increasing frequency. Logotherapy and MCC provide helpful guidelines to maintain enduring
meaningful relationships through a deeper understanding each other’s values and meaning-
systems.

Neurosis and logotherapeutic techniques

The term neurosis has been replaced by mental or personality disorders in APA’s Diagnostic
Statistics Manual. However, Frankl’s classification and treatment of neurosis are still helpful to
counsellors and psychologists.

Frankl recognizes that only certain types of neuroses (e.g., existentially based mental disorders)
are most amendable to logotherapy and existential analysis. Logotherapy focuses on the
discovery of responsibility and existential meaning. General existential analysis addresses the
human concerns about the meaning of life and the meaning of death. Special existential
analysis addresses the existential needs underlying neurosis, depression and psychosis.

The three most commonly used logotherapeutic techniques are paradoxical intention, de-
reflection and Socratic questioning. This lecture will explain and illustrate how these clinical
skills can be effectively applied to treat individual neuroses.

The human capacity for self-distancing is essential for logotherapy, because it enables the clients
to separate themselves from the problem; this is similar to Michael White’s (2007) concept of
externalization in narrative therapy. The next step is to awaken the defiant human spirit and
empower clients to believe that they can overcome the problem or symptom which is not an
integral part of personhood.

Paradoxical intention (PI) is based on the capacity of self-distance – they are not their fears. PI is
paradoxical, because the clients are encouraged to intend or wish what they fear most.
Anticipatory anxiety can be greatly reduced through direct confrontation with fear itself.

Dereflection is based on the capacity for self-transcendence and the will to meaning. Through
dereflection, the clients learn to refocus to something or someone beyond their current concerns
and become immersed in something creative and meaningful.

Socratic dialogue serves the general purpose of drawing out from the clients what they already
know intuitively. The assumption is that deep inside our spiritual core, we know what is
meaningful and what we are meant to be. Socratic questions facilitate the discovery that they have
the freedom and responsibility to life’s demands.

Depression and psychoses

Frankl recognizes that in endogenous mental illnesses (such as clinical major depression,
bipolar disorders and schizophrenia), Logotherapy can be effective in treating the psychogenetic
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bipolar disorders and schizophrenia), Logotherapy can be effective in treating the psychogenetic
and existential aspects of endogenous psychoses, especially in terms of helping patients to
address existential anxiety and develop a positive attitude towards the constitutional or incurable
mental illnesses.

Central to both logotherapy and MCC is the importance of acceptance. The patients need to
accept the fact that they are sick and they need help. They also need to accept their endogenous
illness in order to counteract their tendency towards self-blame.

Another important component is belief or trust. We need to help patients believe that they can
discover new sight that will bestow new meaning on their condition. They need to believe that
some progress is attainable if they are committed to the regimen of medication. They need to be
patient and keep faith, which will facilitate recovery and healing.

With regard to moderate cases of psychoses, existential analysis can help patients externalize
their illness and see themselves as the real persons apart from their illness. We also need to
help them understand that they have a spiritual core which cannot be injured by psychoses. It is
important to awaken their defiant human spirit and maintain that the life of a psychotic patient is
still worth living - he or she can still maintain the dignity of a suffering person (Homo patiens).

Assessment of logotherapy

Logotherapy is unique in that it emphasizes the spiritual dimension of human existence as the
source of meaning, hope, dignity, uniqueness, and freedom. The importance of spirituality in
healing has gained widespread acceptance in today’s therapeutic community, but Frankl was the
first one to make spirituality the cornerstone of his approach to psychotherapy.

Frankl can also be credited as the father of positive existential psychology and positive
psychotherapy (Wong, 2007). Rather than focusing on what is wrong with us, Frankl focuses on
what is right with us and what is good about life, in spite of the horrors he has endured. He
emphasizes our capacity to respond to our meaning-potentials: through our affirmative and
optimistic responses to events, we can transcend negative forces and live meaningful lives
whatever our circumstances.

Logotherapy emphasizes the importance of attitude towards human existence, because our
worldviews and life-orientation may have far more influence on how we live our lives than our
cognitions and behaviours in specific situations. Because of its general holistic orientation,
logotherapy can be applied to a wide variety of disciplines, ranging from medicine, counselling,
pastoral care, education, and management. It can also be employed in all areas of our lives so
that we can fulfill our potentials.

Logotherapy is essentially an effective form of motivational counselling. Its emphasis on the

quest for meaning as a primary motive provides the common ground for a conversation on
reasons for living. Its appeal to the defiant human spirit provides the impetus for people to endure
the pain and overcome obstacles. Its focus on human responsibility can effectively reorient clients
from self-centered pursuit to something larger than themselves. When all is lost, when one is at
the end of the rope, logotherapy opens up new vistas of hope and empowers clients to move
forward.

However, there are three limitations. Firstly, logotherapy is often referred to by logotherapists as
the Franklian philosophy. It is indeed a philosophy of life, and a very powerful one. As an
existential-phenomenological philosophy, it is difficult to be subjected to empirical test, although
the general ideas of logotherapy about the vital role of meaning and purpose continue to inspire
empirical studies (Wong & Fry, 1998; Wong, 2006).

Secondly, Viktor Frankl intended logotherapy as an adjunct to whatever therapy one practices. It
offers several logotherapeutic techniques to treat existential neurosis, but it does not provide a
comprehensive system of counselling or psychotherapy.

Thirdly, many Frankl “loyalists” are opposed to any extension of logotherapy. They are more
“catholic then the Pope” in their rigid and dogmatic approach to logotherapy. Their entrenched
legalistic attitude has actually done more harm than good in terms of advancing Frankl’s ideals
around the globe. In fact, Viktor Frankl has always intended logotherapy for the betterment of
humanity, rather than a “clinical specialty” for the career benefits of a few psychotherapists.
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In the true spirit of Viktor Frankl, Joseph Fabry was also progressive and forward looking (Wong,
1999). He was largely responsible for introducing logotherapy to North America, and the founder
of Viktor Frankl Institute of Logotherapy and founding editor of the International Forum of
Logotherapy. It was thorough his unfailing support and encouragement that I was able to develop
the integrative meaning-centered counselling (MCC) (Wong, 1999a, 1999b).

©1998-2008, International Network on Personal Meaning, Unless otherwise noted

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