Logotherapy is treatment through finding meaning in life’s daily sufferings and the life-changing events that people go through.

While psychology views behaviors as stemming from needs and drives, logotherapy addresses the human being’s inherent search for meaning in their life.

What is Logotherapy & How Does It Work?

The founder of Logotherapy is Viktor Frankl (1905-1997) who was a prisoner surviving in concentration camps for many years and later encouraged the theory of Will To Meaning.

Logotherapy encourages people to take responsibility for their lives by finding meaning in their daily suffering via choosing to live authentically according to their values and goals.

This form of therapy is humanistic because it focuses on the individual’s unique living experience and encourages their use of personal agency.

While psychotherapy focuses on the past, mental illnesses, and broken instincts—

Logotherapy instead focuses on the present and future by finding meaning in life.

Logotherapy is known to help with the following:

• anxiety
• depression
• trauma
• addiction
• etc.

It can also help people cope with major life events, such as the loss of a loved one or a major life transition.

Logotherapy provides a variety of practical techniques, such as:

Paradoxical Intention, which involves intentionally trying to do the thing that one is afraid of in order to overcome the fear.

Dereflection, which involves shifting one’s focus away from negative thoughts and emotions and towards positive goals and values.

What are the 3 Pillar Concepts of Logotherapy?

The three pillar concepts of logotherapy are:

Freedom of Will, which gives human beings the ability to choose their own path in life. By living authentically and aligning their goals with their “inner consent” and values, you are able to take responsibility for yourself and stand behind the actions you take.

Will to Meaning, is a natural instinct in all human beings. Whether consciously or unconsciously, we all look at the world through a lens that will bring us closer to our goals and judge based on our personal values.

Meaning in Life is a combination of the prior two points, whereby you are facing your suffering head-on and using your free will to attribute meaning onto your life.

This means allows people to take responsibility for their own lives and actively pursue their values and goals in order to achieve a fulfilling life.

Understand that the healthy human animal seeks to find meaning in life that will provide emotional and mental healthiness.

Meanwhile, the unhealthy human animal is traumatized and undergoes moral deformity that causes them to perform acts of creative destruction as if life is meaningless.

The 6 Assumptions of Logotherapy (Essence in a Nutshell)

The six assumptions of logotherapy are:

1) Life has meaning under all circumstances, even the most miserable ones.

A universal meaning that can be applied to any situation is that “The World is always trying to bring more Love into the World.”

In this sentiment, the word World is synonymous with Love, Truth, Awareness, Self-Love, Self-Awareness.

Each of those words are the opposite of Devilry, Selfishness, Control, etc.

When my brother’s best friend died a few years back, his death brought in more Love in the World in the form of a stronger brotherhood among friends, an annual tradition of remembrance, an increased appreciation for life and time spent with loved ones, and much more.

When an abuse victim escapes their abuser, they went from being controlled, to living a Life where more Love is brought into the World, in the form of new, healthier relationships, more freedom, more time spent on hobbies and interests (self-discovery and self-awareness), and more Love.

2) Our main motivation for living is our will to find meaning in life.

Ask yourself this:

Why do you go on living?

My brother’s response is “to be happy”.

What do you want that will make you happy?

His response, “To make good money, get married, provide for a family.”

Although he has no real clue if these things will make him happy, my brother sees these aspirations as the ingredients for a meaningful life.

He’s not wrong.

According to logotherapy, meaning is found in the following:

Creative Values – Creating a work or performing a deed; achievement and accomplishment.

Experiential Values – Experiencing something or encountering someone; experiencing Goodness, Truth, Beauty, nature, culture, full acceptance of another through Love—allowing the receiver to become aware and actualize their own potentials.

Attitudinal Values – By the attitude we choose to take in the face of unavoidable suffering. Transforming a personal tragedy into a triumph. Especially when we are no longer able to change a situation.

3) We have freedom to find meaning in what we do, and what we experience, or at least in the stand we take when faced with a situation of unchangeable suffering.

Life is suffering and we all suffer in some way daily. It is your duty to pick up the responsibility of choosing your suffering to make life worth having it.

The following principles are important in both Logotherapy and Existential Analysis:

Freedom which mobilizes you into Life while being aligned with your core essence.

Responsibility is a requirement to freedom because it is what allows you to stand up yourself and stand behind everything you say and do.

Authenticity requires responsibility for yourself so you can deal with yourself and the world in a way that brings you inner harmony and makes your daily suffering worth bearing.

To be human is being-in-the-world, which is being in an inseparable connection with the world, including the Otherness that we both like and dislike—this is Existence

Your Person, your Being, is the culminated expression of both your inner world and outer world.

Being-in-the-World requires Openness.

Being Free requires Positioning.

This Openness and Positioning demands you meet your existential needs of (1) proper attitude and (2) personal activity.

It is by dialoging with your inner and outer world that you reach Inner Consent.

The proper existential attitude can be quoted by Viktor Frankl:

“The point is not what we expect from life, but rather what life expects from us.”

What does the situation demand of you instead of what you can claim from it. Let yourself be the decisive center of the World.

To be human means to be questioned. To live means giving answers.

To position yourself demands inner consent to what you do. It’s an inner knowing of whether you are authentically agreeing or disagreeing with your own words and actions. This is how you actualize your personal freedom—through Commitment, which leads to Inner Fulfillment.

4) We can find meaning in life through three different avenues: creating a work or doing a deed; experiencing something or encountering someone; and the attitude we take toward unavoidable suffering.

To be more specific, this is how you create a meaningful life with those three avenues:

Through the use of perception, evaluation, choosing, and realization you find meaning.

This involves asking the questions of: what, how, who, and where?

What is there? You must be able to perceive the reality of the situation. No escapism, wishes, dreams, etc.

How is that forming? Pay attention to your feelings, what is pleasant, what you value, what higher meanings do you allow to take you.

Who is going to do that? Be honest about what you’re really ready to do, refer to your own aims and visions, and make personal decisions and pick up the responsibilities that will grant you those freedoms which mobilize you into life.

Where am I going to do that? Figure out the actions you must take and make a personal commitment to those responsibilities that will make your daily sufferings worth having to attain to meaning you are after.

5) Suffering in and of itself is meaningless; we give our suffering meaning by the way in which we respond to it.

Logotherapy points to the idea that life isn’t about gaining pleasure or avoiding pain, but instead to see meaning in life.

Keep in mind that suffering doesn’t have to be a precondition to meaning, there is no need for unnecessary suffering.

But in the case that suffering exists, it’s wise to find meaning in it so you may suffer bravely.

6) Life is not primarily a quest for pleasure, as Freud believed, or a quest for power, as Alfred Adler taught, but a quest for meaning.

Suffering is inherent to Life. You don’t weep over your daily suffering, you accept it. You accept your daily suffering by choosing how you suffer.

You choose the best way to suffer which aims to benefit you and the people you love. Whether it works is an act of faith and a commitment to this destiny.

Maturity means to stop escapism and accept the daily suffering that is built-into living. You accept it fully and face it deliberately and intensely.

This is what living is.

What are the Disadvantages of Logotherapy?

Here are some of the disadvantages of logotherapy:

It may not help people with severe mental health issues. This largely applies to those who find the emphasis on the search for meaning via personal responsibility to be unhelpful or overwhelming.

Those who are debilitated psychologically may not have the energy necessary to take adequate personal responsibility. This can be very discouraging and cultivate a self-image of inadequacy. So this would take very careful, professional help if put into practice for a patient like this.

Those who are spiritually bankrupt and/or disordered will find the search for meaning as pointless due to a severe lack of empathy. These patients would need another form of therapy with logotherapy as supplementation.

Keep in mind that these internal factors, and many external factors, are in fact, largely outside of a person’s control.

Logotherapy is considered humanistic because it considers that every person has a unique experience and perspective.

It strives to give people an empowered attitude against their suffering; “don’t let your illness be an excuse.”

How is Logotherapy Evidence-Based?

A study by National Institutes of Health found logotherapy to be effective in treating depressed patients who have advanced cancer.

Another study shows logotherapy helps reduce anxiety in patients who suffer from chronic pain.

In summary, although more research is necessary to fully comprehend the effectiveness of logotherapy, the evidence available suggests that it can be a helpful approach for anyone looking to find meaning and purpose in their life. It may also be beneficial for those seeking treatment for mental health concerns.

10 Books about Logotherapy, Meaning, and Suffering

Here are 10 books on logotherapy, meaning, and suffering:

1. “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl
2. “The Doctor and the Soul” by Viktor Frankl
3. “Psychotherapy and Existentialism” by Viktor Frankl
4. “The Unheard Cry for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl
5. “The Will to Meaning” by Viktor Frankl
6. “The Meaning of Anxiety” by Rollo May
7. “The Courage to Create” by Rollo May
8. “Love and Will” by Rollo May
9. “The Art of Loving” by Erich Fromm
10. “Escape from Freedom” by Erich Fromm

If you are interested in Logotherapy, or finding meaning in suffering and life, the book Man’s Search For Meaning is a must-read. Personally, I read the book via Kindle app since I consider it a light, but incredibly insightful, read.

How is Logotherapy Effectively Used Today?

Logotherapy is effectively used today in places like:

• Education
• Business
• Coaching
• Private Practices
• Mental Health Clinics
• Hospitals

Aside from helping people work through mental health issues, logotherapy is also used to help people deal with difficult life incidents and suffering, such as the death of a loved one.

Logotherapy has been used in conjunction alongside other types of therapy and/or medication.

There are a variety of techniques and practices used in logotherapy:

Paradoxical intention is used in logotherapy to help people with anxiety issues. Two specific techniques that use paradoxical intention are (1) hyper-intention and (2) dereflection.

Hyperintention can be described as “wanting it too much” and causes someone to mess up and foil their intentions.

The reverse of this would be putting hyperintention on what you are insecure about, allowing you to “outgrow the problem” either physically or mentally.

Dereflection can be described as pointing your focus to a person or task outside of yourself. This allows you to take your mind off yourself and your inner ongoings, long enough to avoid self-sabotage.

These techniques encourage you to intentionally point your attention in certain directions to help reduce your fear and anxiety. Which helps you increase your sense of control over your thoughts and behaviors.

Overall, logotherapy is a powerful and effective approach to therapy that can help individuals find meaning and purpose in their lives, even in the face of difficult circumstances.

It allows people of all kind, including students, hospital patients, businessmen, and so on, find meaning and purpose in their suffering or their pursuits.

How Did Viktor Frankl Invent Logotherapy?

The founder of logotherapy, Viktor Frankl, developed his theory to meaning during is time imprisoned in concentrations camps during World War II.

He believed that human behavior was primarily driven by meaning, and by finding meaning in one’s own life will allow them to overcome their daily suffering.

In 1946, Viktor Frankl had published Man’s Search For Meaning, a book about his theory of logotherapy based on his experiences in the concentration camps and how it helped people in his clinical practice since then.

By deliberately finding meaning in their daily lives, people are mobilized into taking responsibility for their lives in order to live authentically, aligned with their inner consent, and commit to a source of meaning that gives them genuine fulfillment.

It was through his own inhumane suffering in the concentration camps that Viktor Frankl observed the importance of meaning and developed the three pillars of logotherapy:

1. Freedom of Will
2. Will to Meaning
3. Meaning in Life

Viktor Frankl’s logotherapy has helped countless people find meaning in their lives, through brave, voluntary suffering and individual responsibility.