Contains the essence of the logotherapeutic writings of Viktor Frankl, who noted that many readers report that they understand some parts of logotherapy for the first time after reading this book. Fabry wrote in the introduction: Many older therapies place responsibility for our difficulties on our early upbringing. Logotherapy is education to responsibility. Outside influences are important but not all-determining. Within limitations we have a say about who we are and who we want to become. We need never let ourselves be reduced to helpless victims. Consequently, logotherapy-unlike therapies that aim at equilibrium by adjusting patients to society-does not see a tensionless life as a therapeutic goal. Tension is part of living as a human being in a human society. To remain healthy, the unhealthy tensions of body and psyche are to be avoided. But the healthy tension of the spirit strengthens our spiritual muscles. The healthiest tension is between what we are and what we have the vision of growing toward, or, to use Frankl's favorite phrase, the tension between being and meaning (Psychotherapy and Existentialism, p. 10). The struggle for meaning is not easy. Life does not owe us pleasure; it does offer us meaning. Mental health does not come to those who demand happiness but to those who find meanings; to them happiness comes as a side product. It must ensue noted Frankl. It cannot be pursued (Unconscious God, p. 85). Logotherapy maintains and restores mental health by providing a sound view of the human being and the world as we know it. It draws on the huge reservoir of health stored in our specifically human dimension-our creativity, our capacity to love, our reaching out to others, our desire to be useful, our ability to orient to goals, and our will to meaning. Logophilosophy emphasizes what is right with us, what we like about ourselves, our accomplishments, and our peak experiences. It also considers the qualities we dislike so we may change them, our failures so we can learn from them, our abysses so we may lift ourselves up, knowing that peaks exist and can be reached.

In our world, there is a growing unease, a sense of frustration and anxiety among individuals from all walks of life. There is a gnawing feeling that maybe there must be something more than success, a promotion, the latest technology, a new car. The question that comes to mind is is this all there is? Could there be something more? Does my life have meaning?

Meaningful Living, (2nd expanded edition) by Elisabeth Lukas gives a thorough introduction to the theory and practice of logotherapy. Individual chapters detail the application of modulation of attitudes, paradoxical intention, dereflection, and the suggestive technique. Numerous case studies are used to illuminate the theory throughout. Elisabeth Lukas and Bianca Hirsch present a concise overview of logotherapy theory and praxis in the second part.

Excerpts from the book: There is an order in the universe despite chaos, destruction, and injustice. In this worldview, all of creation is full of meaning, and every life ​situation has its unique meaning, opportunities, and possibilities. (p. 164)

True human freedom is never freedom from but always freedom to something. Freedom goes beyond release from rules and guidelines by outer authority. Its corollary is the freedom to follow inner authority--self-chosen tasks, commitments, goals. Freedom is not doing as we please but pleasure in doing what we consider meaningful. (p. 19)

To cure and prevent worldwide meaninglessness is not merely a matter of psychotherapeutic methods or interpretation of symptoms. It is a matter of defining a new concept of human nature. (p.22)

Distress does not inevitably cause psychological collapse; it may contain the possibility of finding new meanings....To solve conflicts it is not always essential to dig up childhood traumas or to focus on an unhappy past. It may be more important to widen and strengthen the inner meaning orientation of individuals so they can grow from distress situations instead of being defeated by them. Distress does not inevitably cause psychological collapse; it may contain the possibility of finding new meanings. (p. 14)

This 1986 classic has been renewed with fresh graphics and crisp typesetting. Elisabeth Lukas' artistic discovery of the uniqueness of each individual shines across dozens of case studies and examples; thus she illuminates the potential for meaning in the presence of even intractable pain, guilt, and suffering. Lukas demonstrates a living logotherapy, not by standardized techniques, but by the compassion and insight she brings into each therapeutic relationship. The true heroes of life are not the triumphant victors, but the defeated who find a ray of hope (p. 52).

As Lukas notes in the introduction:

For thousands of years, people have done pretty well without the science of psychotherapy. Yet, something like psychotherapy has always existed-through persons who, with charisma, persuasiveness, and force of conviction, were able to bring comfort to those looking for help. Such help was usually based on a specific philosophy of life.

The afflicted were promised eternal well-being and justice in the hereafter, their suffering was presented as a test on their way to happiness, or philosophical-ethical images were invoked to make blows of fate bearable. Psychotherapy was religion and vice versa.

This embeddedness in mysticism made it difficult for psychotherapy to find a scientific approach. Today, if we try to find rational explanations for irrational behavior and offer rational help for irrational psychological problems, we stand on a narrow ridge between two abysses: On the one side lies the danger of reverting to mysticism; on the other, slipping into a mechanized manipulation of the human person.

Has psychology, on its long development through magic, exorcism, trickery, and fanaticism, finally attained the status of science? In recent decades, great strides have been made in that direction. Successes were conspicuous and resulted in a great variety of tools in a giant psychological workshop to serve people, but unfortunately the specifically human dimension--the spirit--was left out. Psychotherapy without magic has been replaced by psychotherapy without spirit. What was gained in the field of science was lost from humanity. Psychotherapists may choose from a great number of methods, but are forced to walk on that narrow ridge between old views and new perspectives, between speculative interpretations and human programming. It is a path illuminated by alarmingly few firm criteria.

This book is written for those who trust psychotherapy to find comfort. The trust of patients is valuable but must not be blindly given, or they may be pushed into one of the abysses on either side. They may fall under the spell of speculative psychoanalytic] hypotheses from which they cannot free themselves, or they may be wrecked by a cold, impersonal behavioral] conditioning process because they no longer can sense the meanings of their lives.

The book is also for psychotherapists who walk that narrow ridge, weighed down by responsibility for those who trust them. Few are the guideposts, many the contradictory theories, the confusions, the criticisms. What school are they to believe, what concepts to make their own?

This book suggests a path for both lay reader and professional, a path through the maze of psychological schools to a psychotherapy that no longer is a myth. To do so, it must include the human spirit, combine science and humanity; in so doing, it can justify our trust, especially the trust of the suffering person. The value of a psychotherapy is tested by what it can do for those who suffer. Where help is no longer possible, comfort must be given; where no comfort is possible, any psychotherapy is useless.

Human beings not only have a will to pleasure (Sigmund Freud) and a will to power (Alfred Adler), but also a will to meaning (Viktor Frankl). The person therefore is not merely a collection of drives, but also has a uniquely human component-a human spirit. This noëtic dimension is responsible for the ability of each individual to face the inevitable blows of fate that life gives us with courage, creativity, and insight. It is not us who question Life, Frankl noted, it is Life that questions us, and to which we must answer.

But how do we do that?

Guideposts to Meaning offers step-by-step processes for discovering what really matters in your life--the personal meanings, beliefs, and values that can truly make your life worth living.

In Man's Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl told the story of his experience in the Nazi concentration camps, and outlined the basis for finding meaning in life, which he called logotherapy. Elisabeth Lukas is one of Frankl's foremost students, and has written numerous books and given lectures and training courses around the world.

This book contains a distillation of the writings of Elisabeth Lukas, based on decades of reflection on, and application of, the core ideas embodied in the logotherapy of Viktor Frankl. Available for the first time in English, this collection of articles and keynote addresses gives further insights into topics including:

• The role of meaning in finding health
• Moving beyond self-actualization toward self-transcendence
• How our view of past, present, and future can be healing: no tic temporality
• The importance of key words in preventing the imposition of values
• How relapses can be reduced using the concepts of logotherapy
• Unique characteristics of logotherapy that distinguish it from other approaches

From the book:

Logotherapy is often nothing but the correction of a how in a patient's viewpoint. The future will give 50 lashes or 50 gold pieces. It will reward or punish for the views and attitudes chosen--attitudes to the same situations For the attitude: Why should I take care of my children? No one took care of me it will strike such an individual 20 years later when the great distance to his or her children causes great pain. For the attitude: I suffered as a child, so I want to spare my children that lot it will place something precious into that person's hands 20 years later, when the children give their warm greetings and affection. (p. 35)

In our world, there is a growing unease, a sense of frustration and anxiety among individuals from all walks of life. There is a gnawing feeling that maybe there must be something more than success, a promotion, the latest technology, a new car. The question that comes to mind is is this all there is? Could there be something more? Does my life have meaning?

Meaningful Living, (2nd expanded edition) by Elisabeth Lukas gives a thorough introduction to the theory and practice of logotherapy. Individual chapters detail the application of modulation of attitudes, paradoxical intention, dereflection, and the suggestive technique. Numerous case studies are used to illuminate the theory throughout. Elisabeth Lukas and Bianca Hirsch present a concise overview of logotherapy theory and praxis in the second part.

Excerpts from the book: There is an order in the universe despite chaos, destruction, and injustice. In this worldview, all of creation is full of meaning, and every life ​situation has its unique meaning, opportunities, and possibilities. (p. 164)

True human freedom is never freedom from but always freedom to something. Freedom goes beyond release from rules and guidelines by outer authority. Its corollary is the freedom to follow inner authority--self-chosen tasks, commitments, goals. Freedom is not doing as we please but pleasure in doing what we consider meaningful. (p. 19)

To cure and prevent worldwide meaninglessness is not merely a matter of psychotherapeutic methods or interpretation of symptoms. It is a matter of defining a new concept of human nature. (p.22)

Distress does not inevitably cause psychological collapse; it may contain the possibility of finding new meanings....To solve conflicts it is not always essential to dig up childhood traumas or to focus on an unhappy past. It may be more important to widen and strengthen the inner meaning orientation of individuals so they can grow from distress situations instead of being defeated by them. Distress does not inevitably cause psychological collapse; it may contain the possibility of finding new meanings. (p. 14)

The Therapist and the Soul: From Fate to Freedom by Elisabeth Lukas

Elisabeth Lukas is one of the leading practitioners of logotherapy in the world, and is internationally known for applying and extending the work of Viktor Frankl. Frankl noted that, For Lukas, there is no human being who does not retain a chance to grow, no situation which does not have its spark of meaning.... To elucidate meaning possibilities is the art of Elisabeth Lukas and entirely in the tradition of logotherapy.

In this book, Lukas offers hope to those who suffer from guilt or fear, whether justified or not. Each must be dealt with differently; for example, it is common for a person to suffer from guilt for an accident for which there is no responsibility. Such unjustified guilt is actually the result of the blows of fate, which were not chosen and for which the person was therefore not responsible. On the other hand, where guilt is justified, the offering of absolution is not appropriate, and practical measures must be offered for the individual to address it.

Lukas devotes separate chapters to meaningful approaches to the unique struggles facing men and women; working with problem children; the use of books for self-therapy; the prevention of suicides; as well as justified vs. unjustified guilt, among others.

Lukas establishes (using examples and case studies) that it is not necessary to dredge up the past, uncover old wounds, or analyze childhood traumas in order to find meaning and healing. What awaits us all is a meaningful choice among a constellation of possibilities.

Excerpts from The Therapist and the Soul: From Fate to Freedom

Everybody can be good for something or someone, independent of the perhaps miserable position in which the person exists. At the very moment when such a being good for something (that is, a meaning element of one's own existence) lights up, the question why live? or why go on living? is already answered. (p. 186)

How can helping support be given in the search for meaning, which every person faces sooner or later? One fact has to be kept in mind: Meaning can never be given--it must be discovered. (p. 12)

It is the central concern of the logotherapist to guide vulnerable people towards meaning-oriented thinking and to rouse in them supportive attitudes which will prove themselves in times of need and crisis. (pp. 185-186)

It is not the intention of those practicing logotherapy to put blame onto patients; nor are practitioners interested in exonerating patients of guilt. Rather, the logotherapist is concerned with insight into just how far we are free and hence responsible, in contrast to how far we are the plaything of fate and hence not responsible or guilty. Which possibility is preferred is an open question. (p. 221)

Fate entails that the circumstances themselves cannot be changed. But we are not responsible for what we cannot change and have not chosen, nor can we be at fault in such circumstances. However, what we have chosen freely, done freely, decided freely to be a part of our own lives, to this we have committed ourselves with all its consequences. It is undeniably our own deed or our own fault.

When we look at it this way, we may hesitate to prefer the area of freedom. For freedom may well be a gift, but it is also a sentence to responsibility. And fate may well force us to do something, but it is also a pardon from responsibility. (p. 218)

Family counseling requires a holistic approach to address complex problems that emerge in families. Elisabeth Lukas has helped hundreds of families using ideas embodied in Viktor Frankl's logotherapy. In this book, topics include:

• Meaningful education
• The search for meaning in youth
• Self-transcendence in conflict resolution
• Self-help and crisis intervention
• Meaning-centered family counseling
• The meaning of children's play

From the book:
We do not need theories of dysfunctions caused by unconscious traumas, repressed sex symbols, and inferiority complexes; we need education for responsibility. The crisis of our time can be seen as primarily educational, a failure to educate people so they see themselves as full human beings. (p. 3)
Young individuals have not had much chance to discover meaning structures. Their existence is full of yet-unlived possibilities. But precisely because they have not discovered many meaning potentials, their search is more urgent. If they want to fulfill innate longings for a meaningful life, they have to start the quest. To start a harvest for their empty granaries they must go out into the fields, rain or shine. (p. 30)

Chronic illnesses exact a toll--the symptoms are ever-present and whittle away at the individual's life energy and experience. Tinnitus is an example of an ongoing series of symptoms that can create havoc in a person's inner life. In this book, Lukas uses tinnitus as an example of a chronic illness that can be addressed by finding an inner point of stillness and concentration.

From the book:

Tinnitus carries its own challenge and message, which could be put like this: You will have to acquire new hearing, not that of physical ears, but rather of the heart's ears. You must develop what Frankl called your organ of meaning, the conscience, which hears the daily and hourly call knocking on your door, the call to a concretely meaningful form of existence.... The person who is attuned to his or her conscience is quite simply tuned in some octaves higher than the one who is only picking up the noise of the daily invasive din. (p. 3)

There is a most meaningful path for every person, with signposts to unique tasks that we--and only we--can and ought to fulfill. All human beings are awaited by something in particular which can and ought to be theirs; there is something intended for each of us in this world. (p. 77)

In this book, Ann Graber takes the reader on a marvelous journey: first, through her own experience of having to confront her mortality when she suffered a traumatic injury, came very close to dying, and gained remarkable insights about death as the beginning of our ongoing adventure of being; next, through helping others face the process of dying and its associated fears; and finally, through the memoir of Kay, who moved through the final stages of life with courage and preparation, enabling the reader to enter into the spirit of her transition into Light. Examples of celebrating the life of a departed loved one-with commemorations that console the bereaved-are included.

Contains the essence of the logotherapeutic writings of Viktor Frankl, who noted that many readers report that they understand some parts of logotherapy for the first time after reading this book. Fabry wrote in the introduction: Many older therapies place responsibility for our difficulties on our early upbringing. Logotherapy is education to responsibility. Outside influences are important but not all-determining. Within limitations we have a say about who we are and who we want to become. We need never let ourselves be reduced to helpless victims. Consequently, logotherapy-unlike therapies that aim at equilibrium by adjusting patients to society-does not see a tensionless life as a therapeutic goal. Tension is part of living as a human being in a human society. To remain healthy, the unhealthy tensions of body and psyche are to be avoided. But the healthy tension of the spirit strengthens our spiritual muscles. The healthiest tension is between what we are and what we have the vision of growing toward, or, to use Frankl's favorite phrase, the tension between being and meaning (Psychotherapy and Existentialism, p. 10). The struggle for meaning is not easy. Life does not owe us pleasure; it does offer us meaning. Mental health does not come to those who demand happiness but to those who find meanings; to them happiness comes as a side product. It must ensue noted Frankl. It cannot be pursued (Unconscious God, p. 85). Logotherapy maintains and restores mental health by providing a sound view of the human being and the world as we know it. It draws on the huge reservoir of health stored in our specifically human dimension-our creativity, our capacity to love, our reaching out to others, our desire to be useful, our ability to orient to goals, and our will to meaning. Logophilosophy emphasizes what is right with us, what we like about ourselves, our accomplishments, and our peak experiences. It also considers the qualities we dislike so we may change them, our failures so we can learn from them, our abysses so we may lift ourselves up, knowing that peaks exist and can be reached.

In Man's Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl told the story of his experience in the Nazi concentration camps, and outlined the basis for finding meaning in life, which he called logotherapy. Elisabeth Lukas is one of Frankl's foremost students, and has written numerous books and given lectures and training courses around the world.

This book contains a distillation of the writings of Elisabeth Lukas, based on decades of reflection on, and application of, the core ideas embodied in the logotherapy of Viktor Frankl. Available for the first time in English, this collection of articles and keynote addresses gives further insights into topics including:

• The role of meaning in finding health
• Moving beyond self-actualization toward self-transcendence
• How our view of past, present, and future can be healing: no tic temporality
• The importance of key words in preventing the imposition of values
• How relapses can be reduced using the concepts of logotherapy
• Unique characteristics of logotherapy that distinguish it from other approaches

From the book:

Logotherapy is often nothing but the correction of a how in a patient's viewpoint. The future will give 50 lashes or 50 gold pieces. It will reward or punish for the views and attitudes chosen--attitudes to the same situations For the attitude: Why should I take care of my children? No one took care of me it will strike such an individual 20 years later when the great distance to his or her children causes great pain. For the attitude: I suffered as a child, so I want to spare my children that lot it will place something precious into that person's hands 20 years later, when the children give their warm greetings and affection. (p. 35)

Chronic illnesses exact a toll--the symptoms are ever-present and whittle away at the individual's energy and experience. Tinnitus is an example of an ongoing series of symptoms that can create havoc in a person's inner life. In this book, Lukas uses tinnitus as an example of a chronic illness that can be addressed by finding an inner point of stillness and concentration. The book ends with a section on reflections on a psychotherapy with dignity.

From the book:

Tinnitus carries its own challenge and message, which could be put like this: You will have to acquire new hearing, not that of physical ears, but rather of the heart's ears. You must develop what Frankl called your organ of meaning, the conscience, which hears the daily and hourly call knocking on your door, the call to a concretely meaningful form of existence.... The person who is attuned to his or her conscience is quite simply tuned in some octaves higher than the one who is only picking up the noise of the daily invasive din. (p. 3)

There is a most meaningful path for every person, with signposts to unique tasks that we--and only we--can and ought to fulfill. All human beings are awaited by something in particular which can and ought to be theirs; there is something intended for each of us in this world. (p. 77)

This is a rare collection of papers by leading authorities on addiction recovery. The distinguished list of contributors includes Alan Marlatt, George Vaillant, Stanton Peele, Jaak Panksepp, and Scott Tonigan. Although each represents different theoretical perspectives of addiction and recovery, all see recovery as more than mere abstinence. The first half of this book contains addresses from the Fourth International Meaning Conference, which focused on meaning and addiction. The second half of this volume uniquely focuses on the positive psychology of meaning and spirituality as an answer for addiction. The existential dilemmas of meaninglessness, boredom, and anxieties often trigger cravings for substance abuse. Geoffrey Thompson and Paul T. P. Wong articulate that only a personally meaningful life is powerful enough to overcome addictive cravings and satisfy the deep-seated human yearnings for happiness and meaning. Ken Hart connects the spiritual underpinnings of Alcoholics Anonymous to the New Thought movement and transpersonal psychology. This edited volume offers practical resources not only for addiction counselors and treatment centers, but also for college and university professors who teach addiction studies. Instead of focusing on coping skills and cognitive-behavioral strategies, a holistic approach emphasizes fulfilling the human needs for well-being, meaningful living, and self-transcendence. This book is transformative, renewing a sense of aliveness and community from the deadness of addiction. -Brent Potter, PhD, author, Elements of Self-Destruction This bracing volume offers an open-minded and open-hearted exploration of many key issues touching addiction and its treatment, from grief and loss to meaning and spirituality. It ranges far beyond the narrow and limiting confines of the usual reductionist perspectives. -Gabor Mat , MD, author, In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addiction Perhaps one of the most important additions in years in the literature on the intersection between existential and positive psychology, and its application for substance abuse disorders. -Alexander Batthyany, PhD, International Academy of Philosophy in the Principality of Liechtenstein; University of Vienna; Director, Viktor Frankl Institute, Austria; principal editor, Collected Works of Viktor Frankl (14 volumes).

Family counseling requires a holistic approach to address complex problems that emerge in families. Elisabeth Lukas has helped hundreds of families using ideas embodied in Viktor Frankl's logotherapy. In this book, topics include:

• Meaningful education
• The search for meaning in youth
• Self-transcendence in conflict resolution
• Self-help and crisis intervention
• Meaning-centered family counseling
• The meaning of children's play

From the book:
We do not need theories of dysfunctions caused by unconscious traumas, repressed sex symbols, and inferiority complexes; we need education for responsibility. The crisis of our time can be seen as primarily educational, a failure to educate people so they see themselves as full human beings. (p. 3)
Young individuals have not had much chance to discover meaning structures. Their existence is full of yet-unlived possibilities. But precisely because they have not discovered many meaning potentials, their search is more urgent. If they want to fulfill innate longings for a meaningful life, they have to start the quest. To start a harvest for their empty granaries they must go out into the fields, rain or shine. (p. 30)

Papers and presentations from conferences held by the International Network on Personal Meaning. Articles are included from luminaries such as Howard Gardner, Harold Koenig, Sal Maddi, Jordan Peterson, Donald Meichenbaum, Crystal Park, Paul Wong, Kirk Schneider, and Bernard Weiner. Freshly edited and typeset, this book contains a broad range of essays on meaning and spirituality. The Positive Psychology of Meaning and Spirituality contains a number of must-have essays on topics from suffering, death, and grieving to meaning, spirituality, and virtues.