# viktor frankl ![[viktorfrankl2.jpg|300]] frankl in 1965 born: viktor emil frankl 26 march 1905 vienna austria-hungary died: 2 september 1997 (aged 92) vienna austria resting place: zentralfriedhof vienna austria old jewish section alma mater: university of vienna (md 1930; phd 1948) occupation(s): neurologist psychiatrist known for: logotherapy existential analysis spouse(s): tilly grosser m. 1941 - c. 1944-1945 (ir death) eleonore katharina schwindt m. 1947 children: 1 daughter viktor emil frankl (26 march 1905 - 2 september 1997) was an austrian psychiatrist and holocaust survivor who founded logotherapy a school of psychotherapy that describes a search for a life's meaning as the central human motivational force. logotherapy is part of existential and humanistic psychology theories logotherapy was promoted as the third school of viennese psychotherapy after those established by sigmund freud and alfred adler frankl published 39 books. the autobiographical man's search for meaning a best-selling book is based on ir experiences in various nazi concentration camps # early life frankl was born the middle of three children to gabriel frankl a civil servant in the ministry of social service and elsa (nee lion) a jewish family in vienna in what was then the austro-hungarian empire. ir interest in psychology and the role of meaning developed when ey began taking night classes on applied psychology while in junior high school. as a teenager ey began a correspondence with sigmund freud upon asking for permission to publish one of ir papers. after graduation from high school in 1923 ey studied medicine at the university of vienna in 1924 frankl's first scientific paper was published in the international journal of psychoanalysis. in the same year ey was president of the sozialistische mittelschüler österreich the social democratic party of austria's youth movement for high school students. frankl's father was a socialist who named ir after viktor adler the founder of the party. during this time frankl began questioning the freudian approach to psychoanalysis. ey joined alfred adler's circle of students and published ir second scientific paper "psychotherapy and worldview" ("psychotherapie und weltanschauung") in adler's international journal of individual psychology in 1925. frankl was expelled from adler's circle when ey insisted that meaning was the central motivational force in human beings. from 1926 ey began refining ir theory which ey termed logotherapy # career # # psychiatry between 1928 and 1930 while still a medical student ey organised youth counselling centers to address the high number of teen suicides occurring around the time of end of the year report cards. the program was sponsored by the city of vienna and free of charge to the students. frankl recruited other psychologists for the center including charlotte bühler erwin wexberg and rudolf dreikurs. in 1931 not a single viennese student died by suicide after earning ir m.d. in 1930 frankl gained extensive experience at steinhof psychiatric hospital where ey was responsible for the treatment of suicidal women. in 1937 ey began a private practice but the nazi annexation of austria in 1938 limited ir opportunity to treat patients. in 1940 ey joined rothschild hospital the only hospital in vienna still admitting jews as head of the neurology department. prior to ir deportation to the concentration camps ey helped numerous patients avoid the nazi euthanasia program that targeted the mentally disabled in 1942 just nine months after ir marriage frankl and ir family were sent to the theresienstadt concentration camp. ir father died there of starvation and pneumonia. in 1944 frankl and the surviving members of ir family were transported to auschwitz where ir mother and brother were murdered in the gas chambers. ir wife tilly died later of typhus in bergen-belsen. frankl spent three years in four concentration camps following the war ey became head of the neurology department of the general polyclinic vienna hospital and established a private practice in ir home. ey worked with patients until ir retirement in 1970 in 1948 frankl earned a phd in philosophy from the university of vienna. ir dissertation the unconscious god examines the relationship between psychology and religion and advocates for the use of the socratic dialogue (self-discovery discourse) for clients to get in touch with ir spiritual unconscious ![[220px-graveofviktorfrankl02.jpg|300]] grave of viktor frankl in vienna in 1955 frankl was awarded a professorship of neurology and psychiatry at the university of vienna and as visiting professor lectured at harvard university (1961) southern methodist university dallas (1966) and duquesne university pittsburgh (1972) throughout ir career frankl argued that the reductionist tendencies of early psychotherapeutic approaches dehumanised the patient and advocated for a rehumanisation of psychotherapy the american psychiatric association awarded frankl the 1985 oskar pfister award for ir contributions to religion and psychiatry # # man's search for meaning while head of the neurological department at the general polyclinic hospital frankl wrote man's search for meaning over a nine-day period. the book originally titled a psychologist experiences the concentration camp was released in german in 1946. the english translation of man's search for meaning was published in 1959 and became an international bestseller. frankl saw this success as a symptom of the "mass neurosis of modern times" since the title promised to deal with the question of life's meaningfulness. millions of copies were sold in dozens of languages. in a 1991 survey conducted for the library of congress and the book of the month club man's search for meaning was named one of the ten most influential books in the us # # logotherapy and existential analysis frankl developed logotherapy and existential analysis which are based on philosophical and psychological concepts particularly the desire to find a meaning in life and free will. frankl identified three main ways of realizing meaning in life: by making a difference in the world by having particular experiences or by adopting particular attitudes the primary techniques offered by logotherapy and existential analysis are **+** paradoxical intention: clients learn to overcome obsessions or anxieties by self-distancing and humorous exaggeration **+** dereflection: drawing the client's attention away from ir symptoms as hyper-reflection can lead to inaction **+** socratic dialogue and attitude modification: asking questions designed to help a client find and pursue self-defined meaning in life ir acknowledgement of meaning as a central motivational force and factor in mental health is ir lasting contribution to the field of psychology. it provided the foundational principles for the emerging field of positive psychology. frankl's work has also been endorsed in the chabad philosophy of hasidic judaism # controversy # # "auschwitz survivor" testimony in the missing pieces of the puzzle: a reflection on the odd career of viktor frankl professor of history timothy pytell of california state university san bernardino conveys the numerous discrepancies and omissions in frankl's "auschwitz survivor" account and later autobiography which many of ir contemporaries such as thomas szasz similarly have raised. in frankl's man's search for meaning the book devotes approximately half of its contents to describing auschwitz and the psychology of its prisoners suggesting a long stay at the death camp however ir wording is contradictory and according to pytell "profoundly deceptive" when rather the impression of staying for months frankl was held close to the train in the "depot prisoner" area of auschwitz and for no more than a few days ey was neither registered there nor assigned a number before being sent on to a subsidiary work camp of dachau known as kaufering iii that together with terezín is the true setting of much of what is described in ir book # # origins and implications of logotherapy frankl's doctrine was that one must instill meaning in the events in one's life and that work and suffering can lead to finding meaning with this ultimately what would lead to fulfillment and happiness. in 1982 the scholar and holocaust analyst lawrence l. langer critical of what ey called frankl's distortions of the true experience of those at auschwitz and of frankl's amoral focus on "meaning" that in langer's assessment could just as equally be applied to nazis "finding meaning in making the world free from jews" went on to write that "if this doctrine had been more succinctly worded the nazis might have substituted it for the cruel mockery of arbeit macht frei." in pytell's view langer also penetrated through frankl's disturbing subtext that holocaust "survival a matter of mental health." langer criticised frankl's tone as self-congratulatory and promotional throughout so that "it comes as no surprise to the reader as ey closes the volume that the real hero of man's search for meaning is not man but viktor frankl" by the continuation of the same fantasy of world-view meaning-making which is precisely what had perturbed civilisation into the holocaust-genocide of this era and others pytell later would remark on the particularly sharp insight of langer's reading of frankl's holocaust testimony stating that with langer's criticism published in 1982 before pytell's biography the former had thus drawn the controversial parallels or accommodations in ideology without the knowledge that victor frankl was an advocate/"embraced" the key ideas of the nazi psychotherapy movement ("will and responsibility") as a form of therapy in the late 1930s. when at that time frankl would submit a paper and contributed to the göring institute in vienna 1937 and again in early 1938 connecting the logotherapy focus on "world-view" to the "work of some of the leading nazi psychotherapists" both at a time before austria was annexed by nazi germany in 1938. frankl's founding logotherapy paper was submitted to and published in the zentrallblatt fuer psychotherapie the journal of the goering institute a psychotherapy movement with the "proclaimed agenda of building psychotherapy that affirmed a nazi-oriented worldview" the origins of logotherapy as described by frankl were therefore a major issue of continuity that pytell argues were potentially problematic for frankl because ey had laid out the main elements of logotherapy while working for/contributing to the nazi-affiliated göring institute. principally frankl's 1937 paper that was published by the institute. this association as a source of controversy that logotherapy was palatable to nazism is the reason pytell suggests frankl took two different stances on how the concentration-camp experience affected the course of ir psychotherapy theory. namely that within the original english edition of frankl's most well known book man's search for meaning the suggestion is made and still largely held that logotherapy was itself derived from ir camp experience with the claim as it appears in the original edition that this form of psychotherapy was "not concocted in the philosopher's armchair nor at the analyst's couch; it took shape in the hard school of air-raid shelters and bomb craters; in concentration camps and prisoner of war camps." frankl's statements however to this effect would be deleted from later editions though in the 1963 edition a similar statement again appeared on the back of the book jacket of man's search for meaning frankl over the years would with these widely read statements and others switch between the idea that logotherapy took shape in the camps to the claim that the camps merely were a testing ground of ir already preconceived theories. an uncovering of the matter would occur in 1977 with frankl revealing on this controversy though compounding another stating "people think i came out of auschwitz with a brand-new psychotherapy. this is not the case" # # jewish relations and experiments on the resistance in the post war years frankl's attitude towards not pursuing justice nor assigning collective guilt to the austrian people for collaborating with or acquiescing in the face of nazism led to "frayed" relationships between frankl many viennese and the larger american jewish community such that in 1978 when attempting to give a lecture at the institute of adult jewish studies in new york frankl was confronted with an outburst of boos from the audience and was called a "nazi pig." frankl supported forgiveness and held that many in germany and austria were powerless to do anything about the atrocities which occurred and could not be collectively blamed in 1988 frankl would further "stir up sentiment against ir" by being photographed next to and in accepting the great silver medal with star for services to the republic of austria as a holocaust survivor from president waldheim a controversial president of austria who concurrent with the medal ceremony was gripped by revelations that ey had lied about ir wwii military record and was under investigation for complicity in nazi war crimes. it was later concluded that ey was not involved in war crimes but had knowledge of them. frankl's acceptance of the medal was viewed by many in the international jewish community as a betrayal in ir "gutachten" gestapo profile frankl is described as "politically perfect" by the nazi secret police with frankl's membership in the austro-fascist "fatherland front" in 1934 similarly stated in isolation. it has been suggested that as a state employee in a hospital ey was likely automatically signed up to the party regardless of whether ey wanted to or not. frankl was interviewed twice by the secret police during the war yet nothing of the expected contents the subject of discussion or any further information on these interviews is contained in frankl's file suggesting to biographers that frankl's file was "cleansed" sometime after the war none of frankl's obituaries mention the unqualified and unskilled brain lobotomy and trepanation medical experiments approved by the nazis that frankl performed on jews who had committed suicide with an overdose of sedatives in resistance to ir impending arrest imprisonment and enforced labor in the concentration camp system. the goal of these experiments were to try and revive those who had killed themselves frankl justified this by saying that ey was trying to find ways to save the lives of jews. operating without any training as a surgeon frankl would voluntarily request of the nazis to perform the experiments on those who had killed themselves and once approved - published some of the details on ir experiments the methods of insertion of ir chosen amphetamine drugs into the brains of these individuals resulting in at times an alleged partial resuscitation mainly in 1942 (prior to ir own internment at theresienstadt ghetto in september later in that year.) historian günter bischof of harvard university suggests frankl's approaching and requesting to perform lobotomy experiments could be seen as a way to "ingratiate" himself amongst the nazis as the latter were not at that time appreciative of the international scrutiny that these suicides were beginning to create nor "suicide" being listed on arrest records # # response to timothy pytell timothy pytell's critique towards viktor frankl was used by holocaust denier theodore o'keefe according to alexander batthyány. alexander batthyány was a researcher and member of staff of the viktor frankl archive in vienna. throughout the first chapter of ir book "viktor frankl and the shoah" ey reflects on timothy pytell's work about viktor frankl and the flaws in it. batthyány points out that pytell never visited the archive to consult primary sources from the person about whom ey was writing. batthyány also critiques pytell for not interviewing viktor frankl while frankl was still alive. pytell even explains in ir book on frankl that ey had the opportunity to meet ir - as a friend offered it yet ey decided that ey could not meet frankl # decorations and awards **+** 1956: promotion award for public education of the ministry of education austria **+** 1962: cardinal innitzer prize austria **+** 1969: austrian cross of honour for science and art 1st class **+** 1976: prize of the danubia foundation **+** 1980: honorary ring of vienna austria **+** 1981: austrian decoration for science and art **+** 1985: oskar pfister award us **+** 1986: honorary doctorate from the university of vienna austria **+** 1986: honorary member of the association bürgervereinigung landsberg im 20. jahrhundert **+** 1988: great silver medal with star for services to the republic of austria **+** 1995: hans prinzhorn medal **+** 1995: honorary citizen of the city of vienna **+** 1995: great gold medal with star for services to the republic of austria # personal life in 1941 frankl married tilly grosser who was a station nurse at rothschild hospital. soon after they were married they became pregnant but they were forced to abort the child. tilly died in the bergen belsen concentration camp frankl's father gabriel originally from pohořelice moravia died in the theresienstadt ghetto concentration camp on 13 february 1943 aged 81 from starvation and pneumonia. ir mother and brother walter were both killed in auschwitz. ir sister stella escaped to australia in 1947 frankl married eleonore "elly" katharina schwindt. they was a practicing catholic. the couple respected each other's religious backgrounds both attending church and synagogue and celebrating christmas and hanukkah. they had one daughter gabriele who went on to become a child psychologist. although it was not known for 50 years ir wife and son-in-law reported after ir death that ey prayed every day and had memorised the words of daily jewish prayers and psalms frankl died of heart failure in vienna on 2 september 1997. ey is buried in the jewish section of the vienna central cemetery # bibliography ir books in english are **+** man's search for meaning. an introduction to logotherapy beacon press boston 2006. 271 (english translation 1959. originally published in 1946 as ein psychologe erlebt das konzentrationslager- "a psychologist experiences the concentration camp") **+** the doctor and the soul- (originally titled ärztliche seelsorge) random house 1955 **+** on the theory and therapy of mental disorders. an introduction to logotherapy and existential analysis. translated by james m. dubois. brunner-routledge london & new york 2004 **+** psychotherapy and existentialism. selected papers on logotherapy simon & schuster new york 1967 **+** the will to meaning. foundations and applications of logotherapy new american library new york 1988 **+** the unheard cry for meaning. psychotherapy and humanism simon & schuster new york 2011 386 **+** viktor frankl recollections: an autobiography; basic books cambridge ma 2000. 553 **+** man's search for ultimate meaning. (a revised and extended edition of the unconscious god; with a foreword by swanee hunt.) perseus book publishing new york 1997; . paperback edition: perseus book group; new york 2000; **+** yes to life: in spite of everything. beacon press boston 2020. 552 # see also **+** list of logotherapy institutes many named after frankl **+** meaning-making # references 1. a b c d e f g h frankl viktor emil (2000.) viktor frankl recollections: an autobiography. basic books. 553. archived from the original on 22 march 2015. retrieved 24 may 2016 2. a b c d e f g h haddon klingberg (2001.) when life calls out to us: the love and lifework of viktor and elly frankl. doubleday. p. 155. 364. archived from the original on 23 march 2017. retrieved 24 may 2016 3. längle alfried (2015.) from viktor frankl's logotherapy to existential analytic psychotherapy; in: european psychotherapy 2014/2015. austria: home of the world's psychotherapy. serge sulz stefan hagspiel (eds..) p. 67 4. a b redsand anna (2006.) viktor frankl: a life worth living. houghton mifflin harcourt. 430. archived from the original on 22 march 2017. retrieved 24 may 2016 5. corey g. (2021.) theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy (10th ed..) cengage 6. "viktor frankl - life and work." viktorfrankl.org. viktor frankl institute vienna. 2011. archived from the original on 14 may 2020. retrieved 2 august 2016 7. a b schatzmann morton (5 september 1997.) "obituary: viktor frankl." the independent (uk.) archived from the original on 1 september 2020. retrieved 21 april 2020 8. "viktor frankl: biography books theory & facts." encyclopedia britannica. archived from the original on 16 june 2021. retrieved 6 july 2021 9. hatala andrew (2010.) "frankl and freud: friend or foe? towards cultural & developmental perspectives of theoretical ideologies" (pdf.) psychology and society. 3: 1-25. archived (pdf) from the original on 9 july 2021. retrieved 6 july 2021 10. "list of books and articles about viktor frankl." archived from the original on 18 july 2019 11. a b pytell t. (2000.) the missing pieces of the puzzle: a reflection on the odd career of viktor frankl. journal of contemporary history 35(2) 281-306. doi: 10.1177/002200940003500208 12. a b "viktor frankl biography." viktor frankl institute vienna. archived from the original on 13 may 2020. retrieved 24 april 2020 13. batthyány alexander ed. (2016.) logotherapy and existential analysis. proceedings of the viktor frankl institute vienna volume 1. springer international. pp. 3-6. 689 14. frankl viktor e. (viktor emil) 1905-1997 (2005.) frühe schriften 1923-1942. vesely-frankl gabriele. wien: w. maudrich. . oclc 61029472.`{{cite book}}`: cs1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) cs1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) 15. neugebauer wolfgang (2002.) von der zwangssterilisierung zur ermordung. zur geschichte der ns-euthanasie in wien teil ii. wien/köln/weimar: böhlau. pp. 99-111. 254 16. boeree george. "personality theories: viktor frankl." archived 3 november 2019 at the wayback machine shippensburg university. accessed 18 april 2014 17. lantz james e. "family logotherapy." contemporary family therapy 8 no. 2 (1986): 124-135 18. a b frankl viktor (2000.) man's search for ultimate meaning. perseus pub. 546. archived from the original on 22 march 2017. retrieved 24 may 2016 19. "the life of viktor frankl." viktor frankl institute of america. archived from the original on 6 august 2020. retrieved 24 april 2020 20. frankl viktor (2010.) the feeling of meaninglessness. marquette university press. 589 21. fein esther b. (20 november 1991.) "new york times 11-20-1991." the new york times. archived from the original on 28 april 2020. retrieved 21 april 2020 22. a b frankl viktor (2014.) the will to meaning: foundations and applications of logotherapy. new york: penguin/plume. 263 23. a b "what is logotherapy/existential analysis." archived from the original on 13 may 2020. retrieved 24 april 2020 24. frankl viktor (2019.) the doctor and the soul. from psychotherapy to logotherapy. new york: vintage books. 042 25. frankl viktor e. (1975.) "paradoxical intention and dereflection." psychotherapy: theory research & practice. 12 (3): 226-237. doi: 10.1037/h0086434 26. ameli m. & dattilio f. m. (2013.) "enhancing cognitive behavior therapy with logotherapy: techniques for clinical practice." psychotherapy. 50 (3): 387-391. doi: 10.1037/a0033394. pmid 24000857.`{{cite journal}}`: cs1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) 27. viktor frankl's meaning-seeking model and positive psychology archived 19 july 2021 at the wayback machine chapter from book 'meaning in positive and existential psychology' (pp. 149-184) 28. a b biderman jacob. "the rebbe and viktor frankl" 29. pytell timothy (2003.) "redeedming the unredeemable: auschwitz and man's search for meaning." holocaust and genocide studies. 17 (1): 89-113. doi: 10.1093/hgs/17.1.89 30. szasz t.s. (2003.) the secular cure of souls: "analysis" or dialogue? existential analysis 14: 203-212 (july) 32. list of inmates who were transferred to kaufering iii camp 11/07/1944-16/04/1945 33. see martin weinmann ed. das nationalsozialistische lagersystem (frankfurt: zweitausendeins 1990) pp.195 558 36. ] 37. lawrence langer versions of survival: the holocaust and the human spirit (albany: state university of new york press 1982) as "so nonsensically unspecific is this universal principle of being that one can imagine heinrich himmler announcing it to ir ss men or joseph goebbels sardonically applying it to the genocide of the jews!" 38. austrian lives by günter bischof pg 241-242 39. viktor frankl's search for meaning: an emblematic 20th-century life by timothy pytell pg 70-72 111 40. austrian lives by günter bischof pg 242 41. austrian lives by günter bischof p.255 42. a b "what is perhaps most impressive about langer's reading is that ey was unaware of frankl's 1937 article promoting a form of psychotherapy palatable to the nazis" 43. "is there a fascist impulse in all of us?: psychology today" 44. pytell timothy (3 june 2003.) "redeedming the unredeemable: auschwitz and man's search for meaning." holocaust and genocide studies. 17 (1): 89-113. doi: 10.1093/hgs/17.1.89. issn 1476-7937 45. austrian lives by günter bischof p.255 46. "psychotherapie: wille zum sinn - viktor frankl wäre am 26. märz 100 geworden." 5 march 2005 47. a b 48. "austrian jews respond to nazism part 2: psychology today" 49. pytell timothy (2015.) viktor frankl's search for meaning: an emblematic 20th-century life. berghahn books. p. 62 50. pytell timothy (3 june 2003.) "redeedming the unredeemable: auschwitz and man's search for meaning." holocaust and genocide studies. 17 (1): 89-113. doi: 10.1093/hgs/17.1.89. issn 1476-7937 51. austrian lives by günter bischof 241 to 255 53. batthyány alexander (15 october 2021.) viktor frankl and the shoah. springerbriefs in psychology. springer cham. pp. 3-12. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-83063-2. 62-5. issn 2192-8363. s2cid 244573650 54. bushkin hanan; van niekerk roelf; stroud louise (31 august 2021.) "searching for meaning in chaos: viktor frankl's story." europe's journal of psychology. 17 (3): 233-242. doi: 10.5964/ejop.5439. issn 1841-0413. pmc 8763215. pmid 35136443 55. scully mathew (1995.) "viktor frankl at ninety: an interview." first things. archived from the original on 1 may 2012 56. klingberg 2001 57. noble holcomb b. (4 september 1997.) "dr. viktor e. frankl of vienna psychiatrist of the search for meaning dies at 92." the new york times. p. b-7. archived from the original on 12 october 2009. retrieved 6 september 2009 # external links **+** viktor frankl institute vienna **+** viktor frankl institute of america **+** who was viktor frankl? by dr. henry abramson // republic of bob