In the field of medicine various names have been used for treatments outside the standard treatment given by the medical establishment. The language has changed over time. It has been called alternative but more recently it has been called complementary. I like the Hebrew term, refuah mashlima (a “completing” healing modality).
The new language expresses that it’s not meant to replace a different healing intervention when that is indicated and is not merely a useless adjunct but rather, completes the process that would be incomplete without it, and sometimes really does stand on its own when the “alternative” treatment will be the more effective and therefore preferred one.
In a similar way, logotherapy is a “completing” psychotherapy.
When is logotherapy indicated?
Frankl mentions three types of situations where logotherapy is helpful.
a) For people seeking meaning in their life, when life feels empty or boring or somehow not on track. Frankl refers to this condition of modern society as noögenic neurosis. If existential frustration has caused you to lose your sense of purpose and direction in life, logotherapy is designed specifically for someone like you.
b) In most cases where people seek therapy, logotherapy should be used an adjunct to other therapies. Any therapeutic intervention deemed helpful can and should be used. However, a complete healing can only take effect if logotherapy is included in some way. This complementary application of logotherapy parallels Frankl’s perspective of the human organism as an entity made up of parts (physical body, emotions, etc) – which require biological, psychological and behavioral interventions – as well as an aspect that cannot be broken up into parts but rather indicates the wholeness or essence of a human being – and this fact points to the need for a different kind of intervention (a Logotherapeutic one) that will relate to the spiritual essence of a person.
c) In situations where people are faced with spiritual problems as a result of physical incapacitation such as amputation, disfigurement or inoperable illness. Frankl refers to this as “Medical ministry.” In this case, logotherapy is applied to minister to people who are struggling to find meaning in their suffering.
Based on this breakdown, I would like to suggest the following application for programs in psychology, social work, family therapy, medicine and all of the various helping professions.
1) Logotherapy should be a course requirement as part of the curriculum, in all training courses for all helping professionals.
2) Logotherapy should be an option in programs for continuing education as a specialty, alongside programs in cognitive therapy, family therapy, etc.
3) Logotherapy should be offered to non-professionals, so that they can use it to help people in category (a) and should be offered to the client in a manner of mutual referral. The logotherapy expert will have learned to recognize the client’s need for other types of psychological or medical intervention and refer for that if need be, and the other professionals would refer their client to the logotherapy expert if they have not received training in logotherapy and they see the client has a need for that, whether due to existential frustration (a), spiritual suffering (c) or to complete the healing process (b)
(The Doctor and the Soul, pp. xvii-xviii)