Healing through finding meaning?Viktor E. Frankl's Logotherapy and Existential Analysis and their contribution to Christian pastoral care
Holger Eschmann,
Professor of Practical Theology, Chair I
Theological University of Reutlingen, Germany
Translated from the German by Rev. Tom Edmondson for Meaning in Ministry.com.
Note: This is only a translation of the third and final section of Dr. Eschmann’s paper. View the original German in its entirety here.
§3. The contribution of Logotherapy and Existential Analysis to Christian pastoral care.
In this final part, an outlook is given on how Logotherapy and Existential Analysis can be made fruitful for Christian pastoral care.
a) Firstly, the religious openness of Frankl's approach and its proximity to biblical-Christian ideas should be mentioned. The practical theologian Wolfram Kurz describes Logotherapy as a "stroke of luck for practical theology in general and the theory and practice of pastoral care in particular" because "theology has a direct proximity to the category that is at the center of Logotherapy: namely the category of meaning.” Since Frankl does not define this meaning in ideological terms, pastoral care can bring the Christian faith into play here and also incorporate contemporary philosophical approaches into its actions.
b) Logotherapy makes use of the human capacity for self-distancing. Human beings are not so fixed by their genetic make-up or biography that changes and new beginnings are not possible. This psychotherapeutic credo of Frankl's can also give confidence in seemingly hopeless cases, which pastoral care must deal with time and again. The human capacity for repentance and a new beginning, a fundamental concern of Christian pastoral care, is methodically supported by Logotherapy. There are also parallels here with modern developmental psychology according to which people can change as adults and in old age to a far greater extent than previously assumed.
c) In addition to self-distancing, Frankl emphasizes the human capacity for self-transcendence. A meaningful life is a life towards something, a life in the service of humanity, in commitment to justice, peace and the integrity of creation. Logotherapy and pastoral care agree that a wholesome existence hardly arises from revolving around oneself (e.g., one's own problems, individual salvation), but rather primarily on the way to a goal. The aim of Logotherapy could be expressed in a rephrasing of Matthew 6:33: "Seek first the realization of meaning and then many other things will come to you, such as joy of life and psychological stability."
d) Now that the proximity of Logotherapy and Existential Analysis to Christian theology and pastoral care has been emphasized several times, it is necessary at this point to differentiate them once again. Frankl, who is aware of the affinity between his ideas and religious statements and has therefore sometimes been attacked, repeatedly emphasizes this in his books, that Logotherapy and Existential Analysis are about healing and not about salvation.
Because he wants to remain psychologically compatible with his approach, he justifies it in terms of existential philosophy and not biblical theology, and he tries to keep the medical and religious dimensions, or the competence of doctors and that of clergy apart. But as plausible as this peaceful coexistence at first glance, it cannot be consistently maintained in therapy and pastoral care. For neither can psychotherapy ignore the fact that the religious beliefs of clients are important dimensions of therapeutic work, nor will pastoral care, which has moved the dispute between kerygmatic and therapeutic approaches, healing and salvation from each other. Rather, it will try to place both in a helpful relationship with each other.
e) Frankl emphasizes that the person seeking help should not be defined primarily in terms of their illness, but that their resources should also be considered. Logotherapy and Existential Analysis can help pastoral care to focus on the areas of suffering that are not, or only slightly, affected by distress. Counsellors trained in Logotherapy can help the person seeking help to see a comprehensive world of values that can open meaningful life possibilities for them until the end of their life, depending on their ability and the limitations caused by illness and other suffering. From the perspective of systemic therapy and pastoral care, one could say that stories of illness can be transformed into life stories or stories about life.
f) However, this raises the question of whether people are not overburdened if they must realize creative values, experiential values, and attitudinal values until their last breath. Isn't a fourth category of values or convictions necessary in Christian pastoral care, which Wolfram Kurz has called "orientation values"? This is a dimension in which people are allowed to give up their lives and place them in stronger hands in order to be graciously gifted by God - beyond all their own achievements. Kurz writes about this:
From a theological perspective, it seems to me to make little sense to encourage people to perform heroic feats in the face of their suffering, but rather to introduce them to the power that transforms the cross into resurrection, that makes the sick person healthy and heals the human being in his pathetic fragmentation.
Frankl would probably reply with words from his autobiography: “One must be very cautious in pointing out the realization of values in the face of incurable illness and near death. One may demand the heroism of such self-realization in borderline situations only from one, and that is - oneself." Nevertheless, his statements at this point sometimes seem very moralistic, and the question of the orientation values and, thus, the limiting of the possibilities of self-realization, remains worth pondering.
Finally, I would like to refer once again to the title of this article: "Healing through finding meaning?" From my study of the life and work of Viktor Emil Frankl and from my own therapeutic and pastoral experience, I would like to present this: the answer to this question is yes, there is healing through finding meaning. What is important, however, especially in Frankl's therapeutic conception with its proximity to religious thought, is a sound theological-philosophical judgment that neither health or salvation, nor plays them off against each other, but rather pays careful attention to the differences and connections between the two dimensions.
Prof. Dr. Holger Eschmann
Practical Theology I
Reutlingen Theological University
holger.eschmann@th-reutlingen.de
1. Cf. U. Böschemeyer, Die Sinnfrage in Psychotherapie und Theologie. The Existential Analysis and Logotherapy of Viktor E. Frankl from a Theological Perspective, Berlin/New York 1977; H. Eschmann, Theologie der Seelsorge. Grundlagen, Konkretionen, Perspektiven, Neukirchen-Vluyn 22002, esp. 96-116; C. Kreitmeir, Meaningful Pastoral Care. Viktor E. Frankl's existential-analytical-logotherapeutic concept, its psychological and philosophical position and its significance for practical pastoral care in the church, St. Ottilien 1995; S. Peeck, Suizid und Seel- sorge. Die Bedeutung der anthropologischen Ansätze V. E. Frankls und P. Tillichs für die Theorie und Praxis der Seelsorge an suizidgefährdeten Menschen, Stuttgart 1991; K.-H. Röhlin, Sinnorientierte Seelsorge. Existenzanalyse und Logotherapie V. E. Frankls im Vergleich mit den neueren evangelischen Seelsorgekonzeptionen und als Impuls für die kirchliche Seelsorge, Munich 2005.
2. Kurz, Seel-Sorge als Sinn-Sorge. On the analogy between ecclesial pastoral care and Logotherapy, in: WzM 37 (1985), 225.
3. For philosophical concepts of meaning, Wilhelm Schmid, Dem Leben Sinn geben, Berlin 2013; Peter Bieri, Wie wollen wir leben, Munich 42014; Volker Gerhardt, Theodizee nach Auschwitz. Versuch über die Wahrung des menschlichen Lebensssinns, Hanover 2011. From a practical theological perspective, Kristin Merle, Alltagsrelevanz. Zur Frage nach dem Sinn in der Seelsorge, Göttingen 2011, recently the issue of meaning, although without making direct reference to Logotherapy.
4. Cf. e.g. T. Faltermaier/P. Mayring/W. Saup/P. Strehmel, Entwicklungspsychologie des Erwachsenenalters, Stuttgart 2200. that Logotherapy and Existential Analysis are about healing and not about salvation.
5. Cf. e.g. Frankl, Ärztliche Seelsorge, 271: "The goal of psychotherapy is mental healing - the goal of religion, however, is the salvation of the soul."
6. Cf. Eschmann, Wie hältst du's mit der Psychotherapie? On the relationship between pastoral care and psychotherapy, in: WzM 61/2009/4, 367-377.
7. Cf. Ferel, Die Verwandlung von Krankengeschichten in Lebensgeschichten und die Konstruktion von Biographien, in: A. Lanfermann/H. Pompey (eds.), Auf der Suche nach dem Leben begegnet dir Gott, Mainz 2003, 76-86.
8. Cf. Kurz, Der leidende Mensch im Lichte der Logotherapie, in: ZW 63 (1992), 78-94, 90f.
9. Frankl, Was nicht in meinen Büchern steht, 59.
10. Cf. Eschmann, Laughing in the face of fear. A comparison of Viktor E. Frankl's logotherapeutic crisis intervention and Martin Luther's pastoral care, in: ThFPr 37/2011, 79-85.