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Logotherapy is a unique and profound meaning-making therapeutic experience. Yes, if you're someone who has been looking for answers to 'Who am I?', 'Why am I here?', or 'How can I live after a life changing experience?', this therapy modality may help you find at least some of the answers.
Viktor Frankl was an Austrian neurologist and psychologist who found what he called the field of logotherapy, which has been dubbed the “Third Viennese School of Psychology”.
Logotherapy developed in and through Frankl's personal experience in the Nazi concentration camps. If you know about these experiences, you also know that death was a daily visitor in the camp, yet Victor wrote a book and survived.
“If you know the why, you can live any how.” - Friedrich Nietzsche
What is logotherapy in a nutshell?
You may be wondering about the logotherapy meaning and relevance in everyday life.
Logotherapy is a part of existential and humanistic psychology theories that are dedicated to understanding and describing our search for life's meaning as the central human motivational force.
Yes, it's not just being limited to beings motivated by food, money and other things. Rather, its about being motivated by this internal force that pushes us to find meaning. It goes beyond the concept of Ikigai.
We all have sufferings in life, no matter who we are, but the thing that matters is how we survive those situations. Hope is the only thing that will help us to pass through it.
If we understand that every suffering has something for us to learn from and there's a meaning in it, that's the hope rather than blaming the fate. That might sound very vague and abstract, but we all have an innate need to grow from our sufferings.
Logotherapy, apart from therapy method, is also a lifestyle. It gives something to our thought process that enable us to overcome hard situations. Not everyone wants to seek meaning in their life, which is completely fine.
You may or may not want to take this path, but by reading about logotherapy, you can become aware of your inner possibilties.
What is logotherapy in psychology?
Our need to find meaning is not just limited to existential crisis or devastating times.
Rather it can be something that we strive for each and every day. The most common use of this therapeutic modality is in psychological healing. It's one of the oldest and yet the most relevant therapies.
Whether you're experiencing major depressive disorder or battling the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, you know that your life has undergone significant changes due to the diagnosis.
While your diagnosis can't magically disappear with this modality of psychotherapy, you can learn to find meaning about it. You can learn to seek purpose even with a diagnosis.
Even if you're not dealing with a mental health issue, you may still be interested in exploring your inner values and goals. We live authentic lives when we live according to our own value and belief system.
Psychotherapy modalities can be applied even to your workplace: which situation do you think will be more effective? Would it be a workplace where your employees work for money and productivity or a workplace where employees work to foster a company's values?
It can be tempting to think that its the former, but in the long term, it will always be the latter. We live better when we live in accordance to our values. What will you choose: to live according to your values or those set by external factors?
Now that you know what's logotherapy, will you want to give it a try? The only thing that you have to take into consideration is meeting a certified logotherapist. Many mental health professionals may help you explore your meaning and purpose in life, but not every mental health professional can practice logotherapy.
If you want to start with something, it's highly recommended to read, 'Man's Search For Meaning'. This book goes through Viktor Frankl's life in Auschwitz's concentration camp and helps us understand how the idea of logotherapy can be useful to a person. In the cruelest times, humans can emerge stronger and resilient.
Janvi Kapur is a counselor with a Master's degree in applied psychology with a specialization in clinical psychology.
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