Logotherapy, developed by psychologist Viktor Frankl, is a form of existential analysis focusing on the search for meaning in life. Unlike other psychologists who emphasize exploring past experiences or analyzing unconscious drives, a logotherapist emphasizes that humans’ primary motivational force is to find a purpose or meaning in life. Many times, I use logotherapy techniques within the context of other approaches, including narrative therapy and gestalt therapy. The post concludes with some logotherapy examples to illustrate what the therapy would be like.
Key Concepts of Logotherapy 
1. Will to Meaning: This is the fundamental drive in humans to find meaning and purpose. Frankl believed that even in the most challenging circumstances, individuals can find meaning in their lives, thereby overcoming suffering.
2. Freedom of Will: Logotherapy asserts that individuals can choose their attitudes and responses to life’s situations, even when faced with unavoidable suffering.
3. Meaning in Life: According to Frankl, meaning can be found in every situation, whether through creating work or deeds, experiencing something or encountering someone, or by our attitude towards unavoidable suffering.
4. Existential Vacuum: This term describes a sense of emptiness and meaninglessness, often seen in individuals who lack a sense of purpose. This can lead to feelings of boredom, apathy, and depression.
Viktor Frankl’s Contributions
Viktor Frankl was an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist, as well as a Holocaust survivor. His experiences in Nazi concentration camps profoundly influenced his development of logotherapy. Frankl documented his theories and personal experiences in his seminal book, “Man’s Search for Meaning,” which has inspired countless individuals worldwide. If logotherapy sounds meaningful to you, read that book, which is quite short and very moving.
Logotherapy Techniques
Logotherapy employs several techniques to help individuals find meaning and purpose in their lives. These feelings may arise during periods of transition or more generally as we age. Here are some key techniques used in logotherapy:
Dereflection in Logotherapy
Dereflection shifts the individual’s focus away from their symptoms or problems and towards something more meaningful. This technique is particularly useful for addressing issues like general anxiety and obsessive thoughts. By diverting attention from the problem and towards positive goals and values, individuals can reduce the intensity of their symptoms.
Example: If someone is overly focused on fear of failure, the therapist might encourage them to engage in a meaningful and fulfilling activity, thereby redirecting their attention. This is a technique that can be used with cognitive behavioral therapy to deepen its impact and imbue it with greater meaning.
Paradoxical Intention
Paradoxical intention involves encouraging individuals to engage in or embrace the very thing they fear. This technique helps reduce the power of the fear or anxiety through humor and detachment.
Example: If a person experiences insomnia due to fear of not falling asleep, the logotherapist might suggest that they try to stay awake as long as possible. This often leads to relaxation and, eventually, sleep because the pressure to fall asleep is removed.
Socratic Dialogue in Logotherapy
Socratic dialogue asks open-ended, thought-provoking questions that help individuals explore and reflect on their beliefs, values, and attitudes. This technique encourages self-discovery and the identification of personal meaning.
Example: I might ask you, “What gives your life meaning?” or, if you’re facing a challenge, “How can you turn this into an opportunity for growth?” This technique works well with positive psychology approaches, which also emphasize cultivating a positive outlook even in the face of challenges.
Attitude Modifying Logotherapy Techniques
This technique focuses on helping individuals change their attitudes towards unchangeable situations. By adopting a new perspective, individuals can find meaning even in suffering.
Example: I might encourage clients facing a long-term illness or diagnosis to find meaning in their experiences by focusing on the love and support they give and receive during this challenging time.
Value Clarification Logotherapy Techniques
Value clarification helps individuals identify and affirm their personal values. This process involves exploring what is truly important to them, which can guide their decisions and actions. This can be quite important during transitions or crises.
Example: Through guided discussions with their logotherapist, clients may recognize the value of creativity and decide to pursue a career in the arts, leading to a more fulfilling life. The example below elucidates this technique.
Existential Reflection
This technique involves reflecting on life’s existential questions, such as the meaning of life, the inevitability of death, and the individual’s role in the world. Reflecting on these questions can lead to a deeper understanding of oneself and one’s purpose.
Example: I might facilitate a discussion on how facing mortality can inspire you to live more authentically and fully. I often use this technique with people facing life transitions, when feelings of mortality frequently arise. I also use logotherapy techniques like this in my fear of flying treatment, which also often involves feelings of mortality.
Applications of Logotherapy Techniques
Logotherapy has been applied in various contexts, including psychotherapy, counseling, and coaching. It is beneficial for individuals facing existential crises, such as those dealing with loss, trauma, or long-term illness. It is also effective in enhancing personal growth and development by helping individuals clarify their life goals and values, especially when they feel a lack of meaning or purpose.
Specific Uses
– Treatment for Anxiety and Depression: Logotherapy techniques like dereflection and paradoxical intention can help individuals manage and reduce symptoms.
– Crisis Intervention: Attitude modification and existential reflection can provide individuals with new perspectives during times of crisis.
– Life transition therapy: For expected and unexpected changes in the path of your life
– Personal Growth Counseling: Socratic dialogue and value clarification are logotherapy techniques that can guide individuals towards self-discovery and fulfillment.
Logotherapy techniques are versatile and adaptable to various therapeutic settings. They help individuals find meaning and purpose in diverse aspects of their lives.
What is a Logotherapist?
A logotherapist is a clinician trained in Logotherapy, the meaning-centered therapy developed by psychiatrist Viktor Frankl, author of Man’s Search for Meaning.
At its core, logotherapy rests on three ideas:
- Life has meaning under all circumstances — even painful ones.
- We are motivated by a “will to meaning,” not just pleasure or power.
- We always retain the freedom to choose our attitude, even when we cannot change our situation.
So a logotherapist isn’t primarily hunting symptoms — they’re helping people reconnect with purpose, values, responsibility, and dignity.
What Does a Logotherapist Actually Do?
Logotherapists work with:
- Burnout
- Midlife and other transitions
- Existential anxiety
- Depression tied to emptiness or loss of direction
- Trauma survivors who feel life no longer “makes sense”
- High-functioning professionals who feel hollow despite success
In sessions, a logotherapist might:
- Explore what feels missing in the client’s life
- Identify blocked or abandoned values
- Use Socratic dialogue to surface meaning gently
- Apply paradoxical intention to loosen anxiety’s grip
- Help clients reframe suffering into purposeful action
- Guide life-review or legacy-building work
- Anchor decisions in responsibility rather than avoidance
The question slowly shifts from:
“How do I get rid of this pain?”
to
“What is life asking of me right now?”
How Is a Logotherapist Trained?
Most logotherapists are already clinical psychologists, counselors, social workers, physicians, or spiritual care professionals who pursue specialized training thereafter.
Training usually includes:
- Graduate-level coursework in Frankl’s theory
- Supervised clinical application
- Instruction in existential phenomenology
- Ethics of meaning-centered care
- Formal certification programs (e.g., Viktor Frankl Institute programs)
- Personal meaning-centered development work
It’s not something you memorize — it’s something you internalize.
What Is It Like to Be a Logotherapist?
It’s a deeply human role, as you’ll see in the logotherapy examples below.
You sit with people at:
- the collapse of old identities
- the edge of grief
- the terror of wasted potential
- the ache of quiet dissatisfaction
- the shock of unexpected life turns
But instead of patching holes, you help them rebuild a compass.
Logotherapists don’t rescue — they stand beside.
They don’t tell people what their meaning is — they help them remember how to find it themselves.
It’s not flashy work.
It’s sacred work.
For many clinicians, it becomes not just a method but a way of living: choosing responsibility over comfort, purpose over avoidance, and courage over despair, one session at a time.
Logotherapy Examples
Logotherapy techniques offer a unique approach to psychotherapy that emphasizes the human capacity to find meaning and purpose in life, regardless of the circumstances. This focus on meaning can lead to profound psychological healing and personal growth. The following logotherapy examples should help you get a feel for what the therapy would be like.
Logotherapy Example: Adult
Here is a fictitious example of logotherapy to illustrate how I might apply logotherapy in my practice:
Maria, a 45-year-old woman, has been feeling lost and depressed since her children left for college. She has dedicated her life to being a strong and connected mother, and now she feels that some of her sense of purpose and meaningfulness has disappeared. She works at a fitness club and enjoys her work, but it has always been secondary to raising her children.
I start by understanding Maria’s background, her feelings of emptiness, and her sense of purpose being tied to her children. I acknowledge the significant life change Maria is experiencing and encourage her to reflect on the times when she felt most fulfilled. Together, we identify what made those moments meaningful. Maria recalls volunteering at a local shelter before her children were born, which gave her a sense of community and a sense of contribution.
Recognizing Current Sources of Meaning
I help Maria see that her role as a mother was meaningful, but it was not the only source of meaning in her life. We discuss other aspects of her life that could provide fulfillment, such as pursuing a job promotion, a new job that may be more fulfilling now that she has a less demanding home schedule, her hobbies, relationships, and potential new roles.
Future-Oriented Perspective
I ask Maria to envision a meaningful life for herself now that her children are grown. I introduce the concept of “self-transcendence,” in which finding meaning entails reaching beyond oneself. We explore possibilities such as volunteering, pursuing a passion, or considering a new career. Many logotherapy techniques strive to remain future-oriented, as does my overall humanistic approach and its positive-psychology underpinnings.
Maria expresses her fear of starting something new and the potential for failure. I propose that suffering can be given meaning by how one responds to it. I suggest that her current struggles can be viewed as opportunities for growth and self-discovery.
Logotherapy Action Plan
Together, Maria and I create a plan for her to start with small, achievable steps toward rediscovering her sense of purpose. This includes:
- Reconnecting with the shelter to explore volunteer opportunities.
- Attending community events to meet new people.
- Setting aside time each week for a hobby she enjoys.
- Talking to her boss about additional challenges she can take on
At the same time, she will explore the changing relationships she has with her children, realizing that they still need her but just in different ways and knowing that they will still be home a decent amount. She will cherish the time even more and be proud of their growing into wonderful young adults.
Logotherapy Follow-Up
Over subsequent sessions, I continue to support Maria as she takes these steps, reinforcing her efforts and helping her reflect on meaningful experiences. We explore her feelings and adjust the plan to align with her evolving sense of purpose.
Through logotherapy techniques, Maria comes to view her life transition not as an end but as a new chapter, offering opportunities to find meaning in different ways. By focusing on what brings her fulfillment and how she can contribute to others, Maria starts to rebuild a sense of purpose and direction in her life.
Logotherapy Example: Teen
When working with adolescents, who often face unique challenges as they develop their identity and purpose, logotherapy techniques can be empowering. Here’s a logotherapy example of how I might use this method with a teenage client:
Background
Alex is a 16-year-old high school student struggling with emptiness and purposelessness. She has been experiencing anxiety, mild depression, and a lack of motivation, especially regarding school and social life. Alex reports feeling that “nothing matters” and often questions the purpose of life. She has supportive parents, but feels they don’t fully understand these internal struggles.
In the first few sessions of this logotherapy example, I used empathic listening to create a safe space for Alex to express their thoughts and feelings. I introduce the concept of logotherapy, emphasizing that it’s about finding personal meaning and purpose, not necessarily immediate happiness.
Logotherapy Techniques Used
- Exploring Values and Interests
I ask Alex about activities, people, or experiences that have felt fulfilling or meaningful in the past. Alex reflects on her love for drawing and meaningful conversations with close friends. Through these discussions, I helped Alex realize that even if life feels meaningless at times, she can still connect to small moments of purpose. - Addressing Existential Frustration
Alex expresses frustration with the pressure to achieve high grades, attend college, and develop future career plans. Through a logotherapeutic lens, I encourage Alex to look beyond societal expectations and consider what personally resonates as meaningful. This reframing logotherapy technique helps Alex feel less pressured by external standards and more curious about exploring her own path. - Purpose and Legacy Exploration
I introduce the idea of contributing to something beyond oneself. I explored with Alex how her interest in art could be used to bring joy or insight to others, such as by drawing comics that address teenage mental health challenges. This helps Alex envision ways to express themselves and possibly help others who feel the same way. - Logotherapy and Paradoxical Intention
Alex often worries about failing or not finding a purpose, which leads to a cycle of anxiety. I use paradoxical intention, encouraging Alex to humorously “try” to feel anxious on purpose. This logotherapy technique often reduces the grip of anxiety and helps Alex gain a sense of control over her emotional reactions. - Meaning in the Moment
As sessions progress, Alex identifies small ways to find meaning daily, such as doing artwork, being present with friends, and trying new activities. This step-by-step approach to finding immediate meaning becomes a foundation for Alex to build a deeper sense of purpose.
Outcome
Over time, Alex starts to feel more engaged with life. While existential questions still arise, they don’t cause as much distress. Alex realizes that while the big picture might still be unclear, small, meaningful actions can create a sense of purpose. Alex also feels more empowered to explore future possibilities without the burden of needing to have it all figured out.
Summary and Conclusions
The above are just fictitious logotherapy examples. This type of psychological treatment approach can be useful in many circumstances and with a wide variety of presenting concerns. I use logotherapy in my work with individuals, in couples therapy, and even in family treatment (especially when the children are now adults). It can be combined with other techniques, such as metacognitive therapy. I also use it in some of my specialty areas, including executive coaching and fear of flying.
If you have any questions about logotherapy or how choosing a logotherapist might benefit you, don’t hesitate to contact me or schedule a consultation.
