Logotherapy is the school of thought of Prof Dr Viktor Frankl (1905 1997), neurologist, psychiatrist, philosopher and famous author of Man’s Search for Meaning, a book on his triumphant survival of the Nazi concentration and death camps.
Healing through meaning
Logotherapy is both a philosophy of life and also a method employed in psychotherapy and counselling. Logos is the Greek word for meaning. Logotherapy literally means: healing through meaning. Meaning is found on a spiritual level of being. Frankl contended that, as human beings, we are essentially spiritual creatures. We seek for meaning in life. Only if we live with a sense of meaning, purpose and destiny in life, do we feel complete. We need to live on a higher plane of being than that of mere existence and the mindless struggle with the complex problems of human existence. If we miss to experience this higher dimension in life, we can be overwhelmed by physical and psychological afflictions. Difficult or unhappy circumstances then become too much to bear. We can sink into a state of meaninglessness and despair. We need to feel called in life. We need to feel that our lives are meant to be; that we have a life’s vocation; something unique and special to give to the world. We want to feel that our lives make a difference; that it adds something of value to the lives of others; that we are needed. This is what gives us a deep sense of self worth; a conviction that we are loved for who we are. With such a conviction, everything changes; takes on new meaning. We have a task or mission in life! It is here that Logotherapy has the most powerful effect on our lives, since it challenges us with responsibility, a state of active and committed involvement with life. Frankl challenges us to say “Yes!” to life, despite everything.
The meaning of life
Responsibleness is the essence of human existence, Frankl maintained. We are filled with a sense of responsibility when we feel we have something or someone to live for, a cause to serve, a mission to fulfil. For the sake of something more than ourselves, we can rise to any challenge; overcome any difficulty; face up to any problem; bear every distress, hardship and pain. It is in this regard that Logotherapy is the most positive of all therapies, because it addresses the negative and tragic issues of life, not as lamentable afflictions we are all doomed to suffer, but as tasks we are challenged to embrace and overcome in a spiritually mature and victorious way for the sake of some higher purpose in life. This is how we find ourselves, that is, become what we have been created to be; how we grow in human stature. This is also how we fulfil our unique and commissioned destinies in life; how we fulfil our life’s vocation; how we give our lives meaning!
Optimal living
In becoming what we are meant to be, we enjoy, in ever greater measure, a sense of harmony and inner peace. We are no longer the victims of the selfinflictions of insecurity and helplessness; nor are we overwhelmed by feelings of inferiority and a lack of selfworth. We live in an inspired and goaldirected way. Our happiness is no longer fleeting; the joys in life are ours, without anything or anybody being able to spoil it for us or take it away from us! Living in this way, we experience life in its fullness. This is what Frankl meant by the unconditional meaningfulness of life. Each and every life can be meaningful if the call, to take responsible control of it, is answered.
The will to meaning
A will to meaning, to have a life worth living, is the deepest and most fundamental motivation of every person, Viktor Frankl, the father of Logotherapy, contended. This has proved to be true. There is no greater or fuller healing possible than healing through meaning! Mental health and emotional wellbeing, in this more optimal sense of the word, makes Logotherapy a most necessary complement to any school or other method of psychotherapy and counselling. Logotherapy completes the picture! Clinical psychologists, professional counsellors, social workers, trauma and lay counsellors all reported that clients they have worked with, sometimes for years, underwent a dramatic and profound change after a Logotherapeutic approach was employed in therapy and counselling in assisting clients to find meaning and purpose in their lives.
A world in need of meaning
Logotherapy, as a philosophy of life, or as a life’s orientation, and as the very art of meaningful living, has far greater ramifications than only in therapy and counselling. It speaks to everyone in every situation, and at any time. Our world is in need of healing. The need to find meaning and purpose in life, and to be freed from of a state of victimization; to be lifted out of the afflictions and bondages of a savage or subhuman existence, has become the most urgent need of our times. The wellknown humanistic psychologist, Abraham Maslow, summed it up as follows:
“Without the Transpersonal and the Transcendent, we become apathetic, nihilistic, sick and violent. We need something bigger than we are to be awed by and commit ourselves to.”
The value of training any person, layman and mental health professional alike, first in finding greater meaning in their own lives, and by way of example, assisting others to do the same, is indisputable. Our courses in Logotherapy offer such training!
LOGOTHERAPY IN ISRAEL
A training in the logotherapy of Viktor Frankl is offered by the Viktor Frankl Institute of Logotherapy in Israel under the auspices of the Viktor Frankl Institute of Logotherapy of the United States of America, the main centre for logotherapy in the world. There are Institutes for logotherapy the world over and recently the Association of Logotherapy in Israel, a nonprofit organisation aimed at a broader outreach in bringing Logotherapy to Israel, was also stablished.
Websites:
The Association of Logotherapy in Israel:
The Viktor Frankl Institute of Logotherapy in Israel:
The Viktor Frankl Institute of Logotherapy of the United States of America The Meaning Seeker:
TRAINING OUTCOMES
The Itroductory Course is for personal enrichment and spiritual growth in the art of optimal living. In the case of further training in Logotherapy, the introductory course lays the foundation for the practice of logotherapy in a lay or professional capacity. You cannot transmit the truths of logotherapy in a healing way to others if these truths are not also your own!
The Intermediate Course aims to deepen an understanding of issues of meaning in life to enhance the interaction with others in the health or educational professions or those involved in welfare work of any kind. It also offers an introduction to the main methods and techniques of logotherapy in preparation for a training in their skilled use in the Advanced course.
The successful completion of the Advanced Course will enable students to use logotherapy, its methods and techniques, within the framework of their own particular professions or as lay logotherapy counsellors or to offer workshops, educational and corporate programs and other community or research projects in logotherapy.
The clinical track of the Diplomate Course is as a rule limited to licensed professionals who aim to set up practise as professional logotherapists and/or to become clinical trainers in Logotherapy. The educational/administrative track of the Diplomate Course is open to non professionals of high academic or professional standing wanting to use the expertise they have gained in logotherapy for further research or as presenters of workshops and programs in the educational or corporate world, the community or to the public in general, or as trainers in the educational/administrative field of Logotherapy.
Note:
The Association of Logotherapy in Israel and its affiliate body, the Viktor Frankl Institute of Logotherapy in the United States of America, are not licensing bodies. The training in logotherapy offered in Israel and accredited by the international body, the Viktor Frankl Institute of Logotherapy of the United States of America, has been designed to supplement the work of professionals in the mental health services who have acquired their registration and license to practice their professions via the prescribed routes set out by their respective professional bodies. As an educational institution, it also aims at empowering other than mental health professionals and also nonprofessionals to be active in their various fields and contexts to provide services aimed at enhancing the quality of the lives of all they work and interact with.
CONTACT DETAILS AND INQUIRIES
Please direct all academic Inquiries to: Batya Yaniger: batya.yaniger@gmail.com
And any administrative questions to Miryam Heiliczer: VFIinIsrael@gmail.com
Thank you and we hope you will be joining our training courses in Logotherapy here in Israel!
NOTE:
Joining the Association of Logotherapy as a member or friend, will keep you up to date concerning every activity (lecture, workshop, congress or logotherapy retreat) in Israel as well as offer you regular news and other interesting articles on its website. You will also find full particulars of the various services offered by qualified counselors and logotherapists and their contact particulars on the website:
