Frankl encourages people to look not only at the depths of a person as psychoanalysis has us do but to look at the heights as well. What is the higher spirit of man that has the power to elevate him and overcome those aspects that bring him down?
Psychotherapy has developed over the years. Many methods utilize the imagination and cognitive processes, and emphasize the power of choice.
However, although psychotherapy is not the same today as it was in Frankl’s day, his message is even more pertinent, albeit more subtle, for the modern age.
Frankl urges us to not just picture ourselves as achievers but to see our full spiritual potential. He directs us to see not just to what is in our best interests but which values matter the most to us. Yes, we have choice, but who is doing the choosing? Is it merely the ego or is it an unconscious deeper ‘will?’
Regarding goals, I’m not sure much has changed since Frankl’s time. Are we only trying to reshape reality or adjust ourselves to make a more comfortable fit? Is our ultimate challenge to find a compromise between the demands of the unconscious on one hand and the requirements of society on the other? Is life all about my inner fulfillment and how to get it? In other words, is man in the center, standing in an adversarial relationship to the world?
Or is another goal possible and necessary to achieve health, the goal of breaking through to a higher dimension? In this higher dimension the world is not against me but offering potential values to fulfill, and this is what life is all about. (The Doctor and the Soul, pp. 8-9)