You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
The first edition of this book developed from a series of lectures which the author gave to physicians to introduce them to the art of psychotherapy. He attempted to give firm directions on how to “handle” a case, but emphasized that each psychotherapist had to improvise and be inventive because of the uniqueness of each individual. He felt that one might become an eclectic out of courage, as well as out of weakness, and that the kind of tool was less important than how it was used.
This book, the second edition, is divided into three sections: theory, diagnosis, and therapy. In the theoretical section Frankl summarizes briefly the highlights of his existential analysis and logotherapy, and how he differs from Freud and Adler. He believes that man is more than just a product of instincts, heredity and environment. He contends that man cannot find the purpose of his existence in a will to pleasure or a will to power, but that man is really striving to fulfill a meaning and to actualize values in his life. Frankl calls this “will to meaning,” and gives it a central place in his teachings. If a person has lost the meaning of his existence, he is confronted with an existential vacuum which is often perceived as utter boredom. If he is unable to fulfill his will to meaning, he experiences existential frustration which, in turn, may lead to neurosis.
Frankl distinguishes three major groups of neurotic disorders: somatogenic or pseudoneuroses; psychogenic neuroses or neuroses in the strict sense; and noogenic neuroses which are caused by a spiritual problem, a moral conflict or an existential crisis. For the first group he recommends drug therapy, for the second, insight therapy, and for the third, logotherapy which he considers specific for this group. His rationale is that since this latter group originates from mental and ethical conflicts, the logical curative approach must be an intellectual and spiritual one. He further maintains that logotherapy