VIKTOR FRANKL

(1905-1997)
 VIKTOR EMIL FRANKL
• Austrian-Jewish Doctor,Neuropsychiatrist, Individual
Psychologist andDoctor of Philosophy. He
receivedimportant prizes andrecognitions, among
them 29 titlesof Doctor Honoris Causa inUniversities of
the fivecontinents, and he published more than
30books. From very young Franklshowed great interest
in Medicine andExistential Philosophy as a way to
• Comprehensive understanding of the Ser-
• Human.
•
• He always fought for the dignity of the Human Being and the Re-
humanizationof Health. Initially oriented towards Medicine and
• Neuropsychiatry, he saw in the nascent Psychoanalytic movement
of
• Sigmund Freud and later, in the Individual Psychology
of Alfred Adler , the opportunity to achieve a broader
conception ofHealth. Differences with respect to determinism,
excessivepsychology and refusal to consider the phenomena
• exclusively human as the Sense of Life, the Freedom,
• Responsibility, Aut o-transcendence, V alores, ReligionY Art,
theytook Frankl toseparate from the two previous schools
andconsolidate their own thinking thatlater it would berecognized
• as "Third School of Psychology of Vienna".
•
• He directed attention programs at the Vienna
Polyclinic, attendingvarious cases such as
Psychosis, Depressive
Neuroses,SexualNeuroses, Organic
Pseudoneurosis, Phobias and Suicide.
• During World War II he goes through the most
tragic experienceof his life: His imprisonment
for more than 2years in 4
Naziconcentrationcamps(Auschwitz, Dachau,
Kaufering and Türkheim), wherehis parents,
brothers, wife (who was forced to abort)
andclose friendswould die.
•
• During World War II he goes through the most tragic
experienceof his life: His imprisonment for more than
2years in 4 Naziconcentrationcamps(Auschwitz, Dachau,
Kaufering and Türkheim), wherehis parents, brothers, wife
(who was forced to abort) andclose friendswould die.
•
• This experience gave rise to his book"The Man in Search of
the Sense" andallowed to make known in Europe and
• North America a new kind of
• Existential Humanistorientation psychotherapythat
Franklhad been developing sincethe 30s.
•
• This experience gave rise to his book"The Man
in Search of the Sense" andallowed to make
known in Europe and
• North America a new kind of
• Existential Humanistorientation
psychotherapythat Franklhad been developing
sincethe 30s.
•
• He consolidated this system bycalling it
LOGOTHERAPY and EXIS TENCIALANALYSIS,
thesame that integratedmedical,
psychological,psychoanalytic, philosophical
andanthropologicalscientificelements. During the
2nd Phase of its development was occupied
especially to disseminate his workand the specific
application of his therapy in the
"ExistentialVacuum" cases, as well as to
combat "Reductionism" in all its ways and
promote a "Integral Therapeutics" that rescue
The dignity of the human being.
• Dr. Viktor Emil Frankl died on September 2,
1997,after leaving a great work translated into
20 languages, numerous conferences, centers
for the promotion of Logotherapy in different
countries of the American Continent, in
India, Australia, Japan, as well as most of the
countries ofEurope
•
PRINCIPLES AND CONTRIBUTIONS
BY VIKTOR FRANKL
 ABOUT THE SENSE OFLIFETIME
• :
• We are not the ones who should ask for the meaning of life, butlife is the one to whom we must
respond, and the answer is apersonalsearch.The meaning is reached by the values, which
Frankl classifies into three groups:
• 1. Creative values
• : Find meaning by carrying out your own projects, tasksor jobs. They include creativity in art, music,
writing, invention and so on.
• 2. Experiential Values
• : Experience something or someone we value.The values ofrelationship with the other, be that
other the world, another person or a relationship with God. Here you could IAN include the
experi ences estét icas like watching a good ob ra of art ornatural wonders. But the most important
experience is to experience thevalue of another person, eg through affectivity and love.
• 3. Attitudinal values:
• The third way to discover the meaning is whenwe canonlychoose our attitude to what presents the
existence.They include suchvirtues as compassion, courage and a good sense of humor.First of all it
isour attitude towards suffering, guilt or death, which Frankl calls thetragic triad. Frankl argues that
suffering is inevitable because it ispart oflife, but that everyone has the freedom to always choose
their attitude towardssuffering.
•
 TRANSCENDENCE AND SUPRASENSE
•
•
• However, in the end, these attitudinal, experiential andcreativevaluesare mere superficial
manifestations of something much morefundamental, a suprasentido.
•
• The suprasense is the idea that, in fact, there is a final meaningin life; sense that does not depend
on others, or our projectsor even our dignity. Frankl admits that on thissuprasense we can be
wrong or not, because his lasttest will be death, however there is an intuition in manabout a
transcendence and an ultimate meaning, -thought notunderstood.
•
• This position places the existential analysis of Frankl in adifferentplace , say, from the existentialism
of Jean Paul Sartre.Thelatter, as well as other atheistic existentialists, suggest that life inits end lacks
meaning, and we must confront that nonsense withcourage. Sartre says that we must learn to
support this
• lack
• ofmeaning; Frankl, on the other hand, says that what we need is tolearn to support our inability to
fully understandthe
• great
• ultimate meaning.
•
 1. ANTHROPOLOGY:
• He highlighted the importance
of Anthropology, especially Philosophical Anthro
pology and Anthropology
• Medical, integrating it as an aspect
• priority of the formation of everything doctorand
therapist. He was the first inpropose an Integral
Anthropology andFocus of theBody-Mind-Spirit
Health in relation,
• explicitly recognizing the
• Human Spirituality and including it inthe
scientific and clinical field. Not onlymentioning
this fact butbasing these dimensions to
• through scientific, philosophical reviews
• and his own clinical experience.
 2. PHILOSOPHY:
• He stressed the importance of philosophy, especially existential
guidance,(existential analysis) in the therapeutic approach and as a fundamental
part of thetraining of every therapist. Promotes issues such as
Freedom,Responsibility, Will, Sense of Life and Values.
• "Many
• patients go to the psychiatrist, not because of psychic problems butbecause they
doubt the meaning of their life or despair of being able to find it
• "
• Especially
• in two of his works: "The Will of Meaning" and "ThePsychologicalIdeaof Man",
considers that the primary and fundamental to live
• agreement with our human dignity is to find a meaning tolife:
• "
• The worry about finding a way to existenciaes a primary realityis the most original
feature
• of the human being "
 3. BIBLIOTHERAPHY
•
• his
• work "The Man in Search of theSense" is a real and living testimony
of
• his thinking and has contributed to be a
• means of change and important motivationfor people who are
going throughdifficultsituations.In this way, he was a pioneer
inpromoting
• "
• Bibliotherapy
• "Or" Healingthrough Literature ", concept
• precursor on which they are based currentlythe
diffusedcontemporaryself-help books.
4. CONTRIBUTIONS TO PSYCHOLOGYASPOSITIVE
AND CONSTRUCTIVIST
•
• Frankl is one of the main Humanist
andExistentialistTpeanuts. It grants the main bases of
thePositive PsychologyIt is also considered byMichael
Mahoney as one of theprecursors ofthe Constructivist
Temples. Frankl,Nevertheless
• adds values ​of attitude to suffering, which is not
addressed in
• Many psychological schools.
•
 5. UNCONSCIOUS SPIRITUAL:
•
• Posed
• the theory of the "Spiritual Unconscious",
reassessing from
• psychology the authenticity of
varioustranscendentphenomena(self-
transcendence, love , art,religion, senseof life,
etc.) and integrating apsychodynamic system
withexistential philosophy and axiological
phenomenology (MaxScheler).
 6. NOODINAMIC TENSION:
•
• Introduced
• the concept of "
• Noodinamia
• "And" Tension "in Health,complementing the concept of"
Homeostasis "or" Balance ".
• Agree with others therapists (Kurt Goldstein,
Charlotte Bühler ,Gordon Allport and Abraham Maslow
• ), that Health is not reduced to "lackof balance", but thatsame
"balance" can generate discomfort ,suffering, illness and neurosis as
inthe case of "V acío Existecial", where the problem arises from the
lack oftensions that
• allow the deployment of Own resources of the person
ormotivations generating Healthand wellness.
 7. FREEDOM / RESPONSIBILITY:
•
• He defended the Free and Responsible
character of Being-Human,even in the
conditions in which his freedom isconditioned
by circumstances. What in
thescientificterraintranslates into a permanent
struggle againstreductionism and in the
therapeutic field, in promoting theFreedom
and Responsibility of thePerson.
 8. WILL:
•
• He stressed the importance of V oluntad as a
foundation
• of the Human Being, oriented towards a sense
and not onlyas internal motivation or conditioned
response that seeks thePleasure or Power as
aAverage Self- regulation orExternalBalance.
•
 9. THERAPHY CENTRATED IN THE
SENSE
• He promoted the importance of Meaning and thesearch for a Vital Sense as an
expressionof the Human Being, denying the definition of Freudas a symptom of
neurosis. Development one
• "THERAPHY centeredIn the sense" (Logotherapy
• Specific) as a means of treatment and prevention
• to the increasingly growing sensation of "Absurd","V acío Existecial"and "Lack of
Meaning ".
• Themeaning for Frankl acquires a Personal,Unique, Relational, Transcendent and
Appellative character,unlike Alfred Adler who spoke of the meaning insocial terms
(life tasks: The family-couple(love), the study-profession (work) and thesocial-
friendshiprelationships) or of thepessimistic or constructivistexistential
positionswhere the Sense does notexist, but is invented or created byindividuals,
reducing itself to the rank of the Meanings.
•
• Frankl gives the theme of Meaning acrucialimportance, not developed by other
schools of histime.
 10. ATTITUDE BEFORETHESUFFERING:
•
• It introduces the Facticidad (Heidegger) and Situaciones Limite(Jaspers) to the field
of Health, recognizing also thenegative, unchangeable and undeniable aspects
thatare an obligatory part of human existence as theyare the Inevitable suffering
that life poses to you, theinexcusable guilt and Unjustifiable and unavoidable
death:TRAGIC TRIAD.
•
• Frankl recognizes these experiences in therapy not onlyas negative aspects but as
possibilities fora more intense, responsible, authentic andmeaningfulexistence.
•
• his
• thought proposes not only "reducesuffering", but also "increase the capacity
forsuffering", accepting one's limitations and
• facticity that implies existence, but not with anindifferent, resigned, fatalistic or
avoidant attitude(unjust passivity) or a fight to avoid, deny orsolve an inevitable
fact that is not in ourhands to avoid (unfair activity), but firstaccepting the
limitations that existence implies(just passivity), to later reconcile us withlife and
assume a responsible, positive andsignificant attitude (Just attitude).
 11. DIAGNOSTIC CLASSIFICATION:
•
• Systematized the neuroses from an integral vision
of the
• Illness, combining the positive scientific method, the
• existential phenomenology (Heidegger) and
the axiologicalphenomenology(Scheler).Created a
system ofdimensionaldiagnostic classificationaccording
to the study of the origin and expression of thedisease
in relation to the various dimensions of Being
• Human.
 12. NEUROSIS NOOGENS:
•
• Introduced
• the concept of "Existential Frustration", "Conflict
ofV alores" and"V acío Existecial" inthe scientific
terminology. He created andfounded the following
categories of neurosis: "Neurosis
• Noogens
• "(Originated by the frustration of the spiritual dimension
• -existential)
•
 13. IATROGENIC NEUROSIS:
• Introduced
• the concept of "IatrogenicNeuroses" (Caused by
the
• action of the therapist himself), afterrecognizing
that many of thesymptoms and problems thathis
patients showed did not
• they were primarily originated by
• hisinitialillnesses or disorders, but rather
constitutedreactions to the previous
interventionof a therapist.
 15. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PERSON
ANDDISEASE:
•
• He stressed
• the difference between the "Human Person" (Healthy)
and"Illness
• -
• Character "(the sick), reassessing what is proper, what
• healthy and authentic in the Being-Human, even when
it isaffected, damaged or haslost
itspersonalitycharacteristicsand main functions.
•
 16. LOGOTHERAPEUTICS ATTITUDE:
•
• Rethink the concept of Health and Illness, going
beyondhaving something orsuffer (illness) or who has it
(sick),towards the attitude or response that the person
gives in front of hisillness. From this new paradigm, the
healthy person inLogotherapy is not the oneIt does not
suffer from an illness,but that which, even though it
may have, can give ananswer to it. This conception is
focusednot inpathogenesis (disease-producing factors),
but inthepotentialities and factors that promote health
with whichaccount
• Every Human Being.
 17. HUMAN ENCOUNTER:
•
• From the above, the role of the doctor is
derived not onlyas scientific-technical, but
also as theencounter between
sufferinghuman being(HomoPatiens)
withanother Human Being T erapeuta
(Homomedicus).
•
 18. SOCRÁTICO DIALOGUE
ANDHUMOR:
•
• It provided resources specific technical psychotherapy,
s iendo with Alfred Adler the precursor formal S
Dialogue ocrático
• (Mayéutica) in psychotherapy, as well as the use of the
"Sense ofHumor", the
• Derreflexion and Paradoxical Intention widely
• recognized in the Treatment of Phobias, Insomnia,
Disorders
• Compulsive Obsessive and Sexual Dysfunctions.
 19 MEDICAL CURE OF SOULS:
•
• Posed
• the possibility of a "Medical cure of souls" or
"MedicalPastoral" that implies an ethic, respect
andaccompaniment,
• even when the cure is not possible in medical
orpsychologicalterms. That being the
case,precursor of the T anatomy andPalliative
Care.
•
20. PSYCHOCHIENE AND PREVENTION:
•
• He highlighted, following Alfred Adler a stylepsycho-
educational, the
• importance of "Prevention" or "
• Psychohygiene", doing
• radio programs on health and psychotherapy topicsaimed
at the general public. He placed special emphasis onthe
• prevention of " Existential Life" and whathe called
"ContemporaryNeurosis" (Aggressiveness
• -Violence, Addiction is,Depression-
• Suicide).
 REFERENCES
•
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Frankl
•
• http://en.wikipedia.org/w iki / Man% 27s_Searc h_for_Meaning
•
• http: // www .facebook.com / l ogoterapia.existenciacial
•
• http: // www .mercaba.org / Fi losofia / Frankl / sentido_ de_la_vida_en_victor_fra.htm
•
• http: // www .facebook.com / p hoto.php? fbid = 20814 9749236445 & set
• = t.1144527544 & type = 1 & theater
•
• http://www.logoterapiaperu.org/
•
•