Book, Logotherapy and Existential Analysis 1/12[LS]

The definition of logotherapy is in its name. Logos means, in Greek, “sense”. Logotherapy then means “taking care of meaning”. “Meaning” seen as meaning, goal or purpose, which is the main motivating force of human beings. Thus, the work of logotherapy is based on confronting the patient with the meaning of their life, which is the basic motivation for the individual's behavior. Man's main concern is to establish and pursue a goal, and it is this search that gives meaning to his life, making him worth living, and not the satisfaction of his instincts and the relief of tensions, as orthodox psychoanalysis maintains. It is not, therefore, a meaning for life in general terms, but a personal meaning for the life of each individual. Logotherapy is a psychotherapeutic current considered, after Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis and Alfred Adler's individual psychology, as the “third Viennese current”. Its basic principle is to value human existence, focusing on its meaning and spiritual dimension. Logotherapy is taught around the world at the most diverse universities.