AUTOGENIC TRAINING AND LOGOTHERAPY Manfred Hillman  73-82  
MEANING, TECHNOLOGY, AND SMOKING CESSATION Jacquelyn Gyamerah & Jim Lantz  83-88  
CRACKING THE MEANING CODE THROUGH A VISIBLE METAPHOR Cora Moore  89-95  
THREE-DIMENSIONAL EDUCATION: RE-HUMANIZING AMERICA'S EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM Willis C. Finck  96-101  
LOGOTHERAPY'S CONSIDERATION OF MORALITY, VALUES, AND CONSCIENCE Dorothy C. Barnes  102-110  
VOLKSWAGENS AND A SEARCH FOR MEANING Daisy Lynn Hutzell-Rodman  111-114  
A BUSINESSMAN PRACTICING LOGOTHERAPY IN SOUTH AFRICA Raymond Ackerman  115-117  
DR. JERRY L. LONG IN MEMORIAM Jay I. Levinson  118-124  
AUDIOTAPES REVIEW  125  
RECENT PUBLICATIONS OF INTEREST TO LOGOTHERAPISTS D. J. Matchinsky  126-128  

Volume 25, Number 2 Autumn 2002 
The International Forum for Logotherapy, 2002, 25, 73-82. 
AUTOGENIC TRAINING AND LOGOTHERAPY 
Manfred Hillmann 
Among a multitude of relaxation methods, the one designed by the German neurologist Johannes Heinrich Schultz (1888-1970) has achieved a very high reputation. Schultz's relaxation method, called 'autogenic training', is particularly clear in design and successful in practice. It has become known worldwide and it is assessed to be the world's most widely used self-regulation therapy.7 It is a method especially suitable for the Western mind-set and has a deeply researched scientific basis. Between the years 1980 and 1995, alone, more than 1,000 articles were published on the subject.4 Autogenic training can be applied on various levels. For example, in Germany it is firmly established in the medical field, in psychotherapy, and in general health care. The method is generally accepted both by the German public and private health insurance systems; and the course-fees of autogenic training participants are partly or completed refunded. 
Viktor E. Frankl, who knew Schultz, held autogenic training in high regard. Indeed autogenic training is a very apt method within logotherapeutic therapy. It is just the kind of method which corresponds extremely well with the logotherapeutic concept of the human person. Frankl stresses that in autogenic training the person is engaged in an active and creative process of self-management, which produces therapeutic effects. 2 The human person, by virtue of its noetic dimension, learns to influence and shape its psychic and physical sub-dimensions. Thereby the scope of personal freedom is widened and the noetic dimension can act more freely. 
This paper gives a short description of autogenic training. Then it highlights the significance of autogenic training in the context of logotherapy. 
A Summarization of Autogenic Training 
Autogenic training is remarkably simple in its structure, although behind this simple structure lies depth and complexity. At the beginning of weekend courses, to the amazement of the participants, I introduce autogenic training like this: 
"Autogenic training is a method of inducing relaxation at your own will. You concentrate on calmness, heaviness, warmth, breathing, and are relaxed. This, in a nutshell, is the whole concept of autogenic training." 
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In principle, it is no more than this. However, the implications of this short description must be understood. Therefore, a theoretical background is given along with the practical exercises. In this way, participants understand, for example, the concept of passive concentration, which is a key concept in autogenic training. It is also important to explain the link between the mental focus on sensations (like heaviness, warmth, and breathing) and its physiological responses. The combination of personal experience through practice, and the theoretical understanding of the relaxation processes has been extremely helpful in accessing individual relaxation. Participants learn, each in their own way, how to handle blockages in relaxation and distractions in concentration. It is my experience that at the end of a 3-day seminar almost every participant has understanding of the basic exercises of autogenic training and thereby to relaxation. Not everyone to perfection of course, and indeed a few actually only to a moderate degree for a start. Nevertheless, they have found a key for opening the door to relaxation. It remains their personal task to make progress by regular training (e.g., twice a day for a few minutes each time). Whether participants remain motivated in practicing the autogenic training exercises in the long run depends on various factors, such as theoretical understanding of the relaxation method, individual discipline, and personal meaningful goals. The elaboration of the latter is a particular task of logotherapeutic support. 
The Origins of Autogenic Training 
Like other neurologists of his time at the beginning of the 20th century, Schultz made use of hypnosis in his psychotherapy. He noticed that his patients repeatedly used the following descriptions of the hypnotic state: the experience of heaviness and sensations of warmth in all the limbs, together with a calming, and slowing-down of breathing and of the heartbeat. These sensations occurred in parallel with other relaxation effects of hypnosis, such as a pleasant kind of tiredness, a suspension of anxiety, and an inner equilibrium. Whereas his colleagues overlooked these physical sensations (for example heaviness, warmth) or dismissed them as mere side effects, Schultz made them the center of his reflections. He came to the conclusion that by concentration on the side effects of hypnosis the patient could bring about a state of deep relaxation. Thus was born the basic concept of autogenic training (auto-genie = self-induced). And so it is that, by concentration with a passive attitude on sensations like heaviness and warmth -reflected in the formulas "Arm very heavy," "Hand very warm" one can induce a deeply relaxed state of body and mind. 
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The autogenic training method consists of six standard exercises, each represented by a particular verbal formula: 
Entrance formula => "I am completely calm and at peace" 
1. 
Heaviness exercise => "Arm very heavy" 

2. 
Warmth exercise => "Hand very warm" 

3. 
Breathing adjustment => "Breathing calm and regular. My body breathes me" 

4. 
Heartbeat exercise => "Heartbeat calm and strong" 

5. 
Solar plexus (abdomen) exercise=> "Solar plexus (abdomen) flowingly warm" 

6. 
Forehead cooling exercise => "Forehead cool and clear" 


Concluding formula => "The whole body is 
relaxed and pleasantly 
warm" 
Canceling => Arms firm, breathe deeply, open eyes. 
The first three exercises are of particular importance, because by learning them alone the desired relaxation can be induced. The aim of the exercises is to bring about what Schultz called the "autogenic switch." As the trainee concentrates on working through the formulas, each for 1 or 2 minutes, a switch of brain activity is brought about. The brain waves become slower and the whole body switches from a working state to a restful state; that is, from sympathetic nervous activity toward parasympathetic nervous activity. In order to bring about this "autogenic switch" at will and within a very short time (minutes or even seconds), the trainee has to practice regularly for a few minutes daily. 
The Autogenic Training Exercises 
Entrance Formula 
The entrance formula "I am completely calm and at peace" serves as a kind of signpost. The trainee starts with this and inserts it between the other exercises. The trainee begins to look more inwardly, and, thus, sensitivity to the responses of body and psyche increases. 
Heaviness Exercise 
The formula "Arm very heavy" refers to the sensation of heaviness resulting from a relaxed skeletal muscular system. This sensation of heaviness is not imagined but is a true feeling of muscular relaxation, which will be perceived if the trainee learns to pay attention to it. Starting with a mental representation of heaviness (concentration on the formula) impulses 
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go via the nervous system to the muscle fibers and trigger the relaxation response. The regular repetition of the exercise leads to a conditioning effect whereby the relaxation response works more readily over time. The focus starts with one arm because experience shows that the relaxation can be distinctly recognized there, especially for the beginner. The overall aim is that all the limbs, indeed the whole muscle system of the body, will relax. 
Warmth Exercise 
The formula "Hand very warm" refers to the sensation of warmth resulting also from a relaxed muscular system. In this case, it is the smooth muscle tissue in the organs and the blood vessels. Specifically, the improved circulation through dilated blood vessels and capillaries in the periphery of the skin leads to the sensation of warmth. This physical warmth experience then leads the trainee into an even more profound state of relaxation. Regular application of autogenic training improves the flexible functioning of the circulation system. Smooth muscles that have been chronically tensed regain their ability to relax. 
Breathing Adjustment 
The breathing exercise helps to restore and to maintain a harmonious autonomous breathing activity. The trainee gradually learns to abandonment to the automatic and spontaneous breathing process "like the swimmer floating on his back in slightly wavy water" (Schultz) and allows the breathing activity to "happen" without interference. The breathing becomes more passive. The ego retreats into the background and the breathing finds its own rhythm. Soon, with regular practice, a new breathing experience wells up from inside and the difference between the active process "I breathe" and the passive process "My body breathes" is grasped. A tense person with a controlling mind has learned to let go. 
Concluding Formula 
The beginner starts with a particular focus (on one arm, one hand) in order to become more sensitive to physical relaxation responses. The relaxation then generalizes through the whole body. The formula "The whole body is relaxed and pleasantly warm" supports this process intentionally. 
Canceling 
With the autogenic training exercises, one enters into a state of relaxation and passivity. The awareness is turned inwards and the body is turned toward the resting state. The whole organism is turned toward resting, repose, and recuperation (parasympathetic activity of the nervous system: maintains equilibrium). To switch back again to the working state (sympathetic activity of the nervous system: mobilizes the body for action), the trainee has to cancel the deep relaxation. This is done by simply activating the muscles again, by taking a deep breath, and by consciously directing the attention to the outside world. The following order must be kept: First "Arms firm," then "breathe deeply," only then "open eyes." No 
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cancellation is needed when the autogenic training exercises are done in bed just before going to sleep. 
Autogenic Training and Positive Affirmations 
Guiding principles are also called resolutions or positive affirmations. When applied in the state of relaxation, they can influence the subconscious deeply. As a result, one can succeed in keeping the focus steady on a goal and in strengthening one's motivation. Guiding principles serve as an important and helpful tool in our everyday conduct and in our selfadvancement. 
Viktor E. Frankl writes: "In order to be successfully effective, the human spirit makes use of certain techniques." The mind needs to work according to a method. Our mental or spiritual life needs a certain order, persistence, and focus. Without it our lifestyle will become rather provisional and arbitrary. 
Frankl writes also about strength of will. Will power is not something static, but it is a dynamic principle. Three points are important in establishing will power: 
• 
A clear perception of the goal, 

• 
A firm resolution, 

• 
A program of training. 1 


The exact definition of the goal is the first step, and it answers the question "What exactly do I want?". If the goal is not envisioned clearly enough, the will power will be weak. Sometimes we define goals very clearly, but then we are not really willing to achieve them because some effort and trouble is involved. The firm resolution wells up from deep down in the center of the person; it is an affirmation of the heart. In the beginning, as the mind is set on the goal, the firm resolution might not yet be there or has not yet come to the surface. However, when the mind is set continuously on the goal by a program of training, formulated in words, the firm resolution will often suddenly fall into place. 
The process of continuous focus on a particular goal is well expressed by the German poet Gottfried Keller: 
The idea sown today becomes tomorrow's deed, next day a habit, then the character, finally one's fate. Thus we must consider what we sow today, and we should know that our fate is in our hands once: today! 
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Ideas, positive and negative, can grow within us. We are responsible for what becomes part of our psychic and mental make-up. The human being is not only influenced by external sources, is not only a passive receiver, but has the freedom to influence oneself. In the state of relaxation and passivity the psyche is more suggestible, and guiding principles (positive affirmations) can work effectively. Gradually they can anchor deeply in the subconscious, and thus become part of one's motivation. Negative feelings can be transformed into positive feelings, more inner stability can be achieved; and a more creative and productive inner dialogue can be gently initiated. 
Applications of Autogenic Training 
Autogenic training finds its application in two main areas. First there is the clinical application in medicine, psychology, and psychotherapy. An imbalance of the nervous system produces a great variety of symptoms on the somatic and psychic level. The symptoms are such things as headache, vertigo, sweating, nausea, sleeping disorders, emotional unrest, anxiety, mood swings, feeling sick, lack of energy, etc. The relaxation effect restores the balanced functioning of the nervous system; and, with that, a great variety of disturbing symptoms disappear on the somatic and psychical level. The second area of application of autogenic training is in general health care to prevent oneself from getting caught in stress situations, and then to help those who do get caught to recuperate quickly from stress situations. The following list shows a few general areas where autogenic training has been reported to enhance functioning: 
Reducing Affective Resonance Disturbing feelings like anxiety, restlessness, or being depressive can be overcome, reduced, or neutralized by restoring a balanced nervous system. 
Improving the Ability to Recuperate 
The ability to recreate and build up new energy in a short time improves. The recuperative effect of practicing autogenic training is considerable. For example, by practicing during lunch-break, one's energy level for the second half of the day can be raised. 
Improving Sleep 
Autogenic training improves the ability to let go, and so lets one fall asleep very quickly. Insomnia and disrupted sleep pattern can be overcome. The quality of sleep improves, and one is much more rested and refreshed in the morning. 
Reducing Pain Perception 
Autogenic Training can be very effective in lowering or even switching off pain perception. This is helpful in many situations (for example, in dental procedures). Those who suffer from chronic pain also benefit from the training. 
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Improving Circulation 
Those who suffer from cold hands and feet can improve the circulation in these parts of the body. Autogenic training helps also with blood pressure problems as it brings about a more balanced circulation. Increasing Achievement in Sports 
The success of top athletes who have applied autogenic training has been demonstrated. Besides the improvement of the muscles, one can eliminate nervousness and anxiety before the start, and concentration can be improved. 
Improving Learning Abilities/Memory 
Students can appreciate the advantages of autogenic training in their studies. They succeed better in focussing their concentration on one subject only. Distracting thoughts can be eliminated. Such concentrated work leads to better results. 
Autogenic Training and Logotherapy 
"Logotherapy offers an ideal basis for combining with other methods, and, indeed, it must be combined because it is insufficient to offer help only on one level of human existential development."9 This quotation from Dr. Elisabeth Lukas supports Frankl's intention to do justice to all human dimensions within psychotherapy. The logotherapist, as a specialist in questions regarding meaning and existence, is well advised to acquire methods that help to ease and unblock the other dimensions. The relaxation method of autogenic training that I recommend has a variety of features that are coherent with and complementary to Frankl's logotherapeutic concepts. A person locked within a psychological state of unease or even agitation has immense difficulties with engagement in a genuine logotherapeutic process. The inner state of unrest deters the patient from focusing on spiritual matters. Therefore the patient should be helped to achieve a certain degree of inner calm and relaxation as a prerequisite for logotherapeutic interaction. Autogenic training is an excellent method because of its clarity, its convincing results, and the relatively short practice time needed. 
Viktor Frankl approved Schultz' method because -unlike much hypnosis, which requires a temporary state of passivity -in autogenic training the patient remains active and in control of the process of relaxation. The patient actively brings about the healing process, and all healing effects are the patient's "very own achievement". 2 At the same time, the sense of being more in control of psychological and physical processes increases, and, as a side-effect of this relaxation training, self-confidence begins to grow. 
Patients experience the fact that stress and agitation can be influenced positively. Moods can be altered and the conflicted mind eases. Even if this is successful only to a certain degree, it makes a big difference to the patient. The patient becomes aware of the ability to stand back from the self: "I as a person can influence my own psyche and body and can also distance myself 
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from phenomena of pain, emotional trauma, or ringing in the ear (Tinnitus)." In my experience with Tinnitus patients the ability to learn to distance oneself from an intrusive and annoying noise in the ears establishes a turning point in the patient afflicted with Tinnitus. Working on Franz Sedlak's insight that the autogenic trained person finds a new psychophysical balance, but that a further journey has to be undertaken, I instructed Tinnitus patients in logotherapeutic principles after they had first achieved some psychophysical balance through the mediation of autogenic training. This combination of autogenic training and logotherapy brought about significant results. The ability to cope with the affliction of Tinnitus increased, and with many there were clear signs of improvement, namely, a reduction of the noise. The learning process moved from the experience of self-distancing to the experience of self-transcendence by dereflecting from the Tinnitus towards a meaningful engagement in life. 
Frankl, likewise, reports good results achieved with the application of autogenic training to a patient with palpitations and to a patient who stuttered.2 He also points to the application of autogenic training within the field of addiction.2 Individuals addicted to nicotine find in autogenic training, combined with the use of affirmations, a way to strengthen their will power. 
Elisabeth Lukas also reports from drug-dependent patients where she used a multi-dimensional approach.9 She writes, "Therapy must begin by removing the physiological and psychological blocks that prevent patients from reaching the resources of their spirit. This is why treatment of drug addicts must first concentrate on pharmaceutical and psychological help. Once patients are detoxified, their will power and their freedom to make decisions are restored. They become open to exploring meaning possibilities and seeking new directions."8 
After the biological detoxification in a clinic as a first step in the logotherapeutic follow-up, she offered psychological relaxation exercises, for example autogenic training. In combination with affirmations then it could be used as a suggestive training of the will. By listening to tapes, the patients could stabilize themselves on the psychological level. Ideally, tapes are not used in autogenic training in order to leave the activity and responsibility, as Frankl stresses it, to the patient. In certain circumstances, as for example with drug dependent people, this ideal cannot be achieved in the beginning, because the patients are too unstable and cannot summon up the will power and strength of mind that is needed. Therefore, a tape has to be used. 
In a therapeutic process, meaningful decisions can be made if the patient is open in two directions. On the one hand, the patient must be able to discern the full range of meaning possibilities that are available within the situation. On the other hand, the patient must have access to his/her inner self, to the personal conscience that serves as the organ of meaning. If these directions are blocked or veiled, a proper logotherapeutic intervention becomes impossible. 
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I remember a 60-year-old man in the clinic where I work. He suffered a stroke and underwent a rehabilitation program for several weeks in order to restore his ability to move his limbs at will. At the end of this program he was advised by the medical doctors to take part in a second rehabilitation program in a different clinic in order to achieve even better results. The patient declined. Several talks with him by the medical stuff came to nothing. No reasonable and meaningful argument put to him could change his decision. He was then to be discharged home within a few days. The patient was also instructed by me in autogenic training. In the last session he reported that he felt relaxed but somehow his mind was not at ease. Here I asked him whether he could make out what the reason behind it could be. He concluded that maybe it had something to do with his decision not to avail himself of further treatment. During a 15-minute logotherapeutic Socratic dialogue, the patient (helped by his relaxed state) was able to realize that the value of taking advantage of further treatment was immensely higher than his personal anxieties about being faced with a new situation. He also came to the conclusion that for the sake of his beloved wife he should simply make use of all offers. The patient was told that he had two more days to make a final decision. But he refused this offer. It is decided, he said, I want to have further treatment. He stood by his decision. 
In this case, autogenic training and logotherapy worked hand in hand. Neither the autogenic training alone nor the logotherapy alone could have achieved the positive result. For if the patient had not entered into a dialogue with values and the meaning of the situation, he would always have seen his anxieties as the most important. On the other hand, without being in a relaxed state (which corresponds to a reduction in anxiety), any logotherapeutic intervention would have been (and indeed was) rather futile because the arguments would have not passed the psychological defense system of the patient. 
Conclusion 
Logotherapy is a system that is open for combination with other methods and approaches. Moreover, Lukas states, logotherapy must be combined with medical and psychological approaches. Nevertheless, the logotherapist should be discerning. The method incorporated must fit and foster essential logotherapeutic aspects. Autogenic training fully supports these aspects. It fosters the ability for self-distancing. The person begins to discover a noetic self capable of taking a stand toward and consciously influencing the psychical and physical dimensions. The sense of being an acting person is discovered, and the recognition of responsible and creative involvement is enhanced. Within the relaxation experience, the person learns to attend to the inner world, thereby increasing sensitivity to feelings and emotions as well as sensitivity to personally meaningful goals and values. The person is opened to the spiritual dimension -this then is a correct starting point for any logotherapeutic intervention and work. 
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Working with patients and their relatives in a medical rehabilitation clinic, where patients with strokes and brain damage are treated, I recognized that both could potentially draw encouragement and meaningful orientation from logotherapy. But, I discovered it was extremely difficult to get them into a logotherapeutic dialogue. The emphasis was solely on their trauma and the ensuing emotional pain. However, by involving them in autogenic training exercises I experienced extraordinary changes. For the first time, their emotions began to calm down and their thoughts became more centered. And, as a side effect of this relaxation practice, genuine logotherapeutic dialogues developed. 
Autogenic training is an excellent and practical preparatory process for logotherapeutic intervention or to accompany it. Its method is clear in design and has a substantial basis in scientific research. It is compatible with logotherapeutic principles -moreover, it fosters them. 
MANFRED HILLMANN, Dipl.Soz.Pad., BA, [Lingener Strasse 61, 49716 Meppen, Germany; Web: www.logo-24.com, Mail: Manfred.Hillmann@gmx.de] works in a medical clinic in Meppen. He is chairman of a hospice group and teaches /ogotherapy and autogenic training. He has become a Dip/ornate in logotherapy from the South German Institute of Logotherapy (Or. E. Lukas). 
References 
1. Frankl, V. (1987). Arztliche see/sarge (4th ed.), Frankfurt am Main. (p 129). 
(5th
2. 
Frankl, V. (1982). Die psychotherapie in der praxis ed.). M0nchen. (p 204-210) , 

3. 
Hillmann, M. (1996). Autogenic training course manual (3rd rev. ed.). ' Private print. 

4. 
Hoffmann, B. (1997). Handbuch des autogenen trainings (1ih ed.). M0nchen: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag. (p 17) 

5. 
Kurz ,W., & Sedlak, F. (1995). Kompendium der /ogotherapie und existenzanalyse. T0bingen: Verlag Lebenskunst. 

6. 
Langen, D. (1994). Autogenes training. M0nchen: Grafe und Unzer Verlag. 

7. 
Linden, W. (1990). Autogenic training -A clinical guide. NY: The Guilford Press.(Foreword by Paul M. Lehrer) 

8. 
Lukas, E. (1984). Meaningful living. NY. (p 115f.) 

9. 
Lukas, E. (1991 ). Auch dein /eben hat sinn (3rd ed.). Freiburg i.Br.: Herder Verlag. (Lukas 213ff.) 

10. 
Schultz, J. (1967). Das autogene training -Konzentrative Se/bstentspannung (18th ed.). Stuttgart, NY: Georg Thieme Verlag. 

11. 
Tortora, G., & Anagnostakos, N. (1990). Principles of anatomy and physiology. NY: Harper & Row Publishers. 


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The International Forum for Logotherapy, 2002, 25, 83-88. 
MEANING, TECHNOLOGY, AND SMOKING CESSATION 
Jacquelyn Gyamerah & Jim Lantz 
Over the past 40 years, it has become abundantly clear that smoking cessation provides massive benefits in terms of longer life, prevention of many chronic illnesses, and improved quality of life.7 In spite of these benefits, few logotherapists seem to make smoking cessation an important part of the treatment process. During a brief review of The International Forum for Logotherapy, the authors found only one reference to smoking cessation since 1982. 
The present article will outline the process and activities of smoking cessation as they can occur during logotherapy with individuals, couples, and families. The authors hope this article will stimulate additional awareness about the importance of smoking cessation and encourage the logotherapy community to promote smoking cessation as an important part of treatment. 
Cigarette Smoking 
A major danger of cigarette smoking is the intake of nicotine into the body. Nicotine is a quick-acting, addictive poison contained in tobacco. It is used to kill insects in farming and to kill parasites in veterinary medicine.2 Consumption of nicotine by humans can result in nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, dizziness, and paralysis of the breathing muscles.2 Consumption of nicotine in cigarette smoking is associated with increased rates of cancer, heart disease, and emphysema.7 Nicotine is one of the most addictive substances known to humankind, and when combined with the massive advertising budgets of cigarette companies, its negative health effects are almost beyond belief.7 
Although smoking cessation is an extremely difficult challenge, it is attainable. Classic smoking cessation methods include replacement therapy approaches such as nicotine nasal spray, nicotine inhalers, nicotine gum and nicotine transdermal patches. Other methods include pharmacological methods, acupuncture, behavioral contracting, hypnosis, and punishment methods of behavioral control.7 From a logotherapy point of view, it is important to help the client discover both 
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good reasons (meanings) to stop smoking and technologies to help the client actualize these meanings. The relationship between these two treatment components (meanings and technologies) will be examined in the following sections. 
Logotherapy 
The approach to logotherapy practiced by the authors is solidly based upon the "Existenzanalyse" concepts of Viktor Frankl.1 The approach has been adapted and refined by Lantz for use in family therapy, and the community mental health field over the past 30 years . .4,s,6 In this approach, it is understood that most (not all) symptoms develop in an existential-meaning vacuum that occurs when a person has difficulty discovering and experiencing a sense of meaning and purpose in life. In this approach to logotherapy, the therapist's task is to help the client shrink the existential-meaning vacuum. This shrinks the symptoms and problems that grow and flourish in the existential
16
meaning vacuum. ' More specifically, in this model the logotherapist helps the client to "notice" the meaning potentials in the future; "actualize" these meaning potentials in the present moment of time; and remember, honor, and celebrate meanings previously actualized and deposited into the past.6 
Use of Logotherapy in Smoking Cessation 
Smoking cessation occurs most frequently when the therapist and client are able to identify both a meaning (or purpose) for smoking cessation that is important and "real" to the client and a set of smoking cessation activities (technology) compatible with the client's strengths and capacities. Such technology will be much less effective if not paired with increased client awareness of a strong meaning for stopping smoking. In our experience, helping the client to find both meanings for smoking cessation and an integrated approach to smoking cessation technology occurs most effectively when the logotherapist follows a growth stage framework originally presented to the logotherapy community by Lantz.4 The six stages of this growth model are the ' awareness stage, the exploration stage, the commitment stage, the skilldevelopment stage, the skill-refinement stage, and the redirection stage. 
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Awareness Stage 
During the awareness stage of logotherapy smoking cessation, the therapist uses Socratic Reflection to help the client gain additional insight into the meanings and good reasons to seriously consider an attempt to stop smoking. Such Socratic Reflection may focus upon the dangers and difficulties that result from cigarette smoking, or it may focus upon the benefits of smoking cessation for persons the client loves, such as children or a spouse. Examples of provocative Socratic reflection comments the authors have used include: 
Therapist: "You know, I think I'm one of the few therapists in town who allow clients to smoke in their offices. The only reason I do it is that I then feel free to give you hell about what you're doing to yourself because I see you doing it in my office." 
Therapist: "That's one hell of a cough you got there. Does it hurt?" 
Therapist: (To eight-year-old daughter in family therapy) "You don't like your dad smoking, do you? I don't blame you." 
Therapist: (To a couple) "My wife stopped smoking when she became pregnant. I stopped the day my son was born. One of the hardest things I ever did." 
Therapist: (To a husband) "No way you can stop smoking without a damn good reason. You know, like your health, your kids' health, your wife's health. You know, stuff like that." 
Therapist: (To a mother) "I wish you could stop smoking. It's not good for moms to run out on their kids by dying young." 
Therapist: (To seven-year-old son) "Sure--you tell him. Tell him you love him and want him to stop smoking." Therapist: (To eight-year-old daughter) "You're right, it is yucky." Therapist: "Yep, I used to smoke and now I don't breathe so good. It's called emphysema." 
By the end of the awareness stage, the client develops a deeper understanding of both the dangers of smoking and some of the meaning potentials in his or her life that could be actualized more effectively through smoking cessation. At this point the client is often ready to move into the exploration stage. 
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Exploration Stage 
In the exploration stage of logotherapy smoking cessation, the therapist involves the client in a process of experimentation to discover "how hard it is to stop smoking" and also to discover and try out some of the smoking cessation technologies through which the client may actualize his or her reasons and meanings for smoking cessation. It is important to help the client refrain from making a commitment to stop smoking until experimentation clearly reveals the difficulty of the task. A commitment to stop smoking without adequate exploration is a hollow pledge made without real knowledge of what such a commitment entails. 
Commitment Stage 
During the commitment stage of logotherapy smoking cessation, the client -having identified good reasons and meanings for stopping smoking; and having realized the difficulties involved and having tried some of the technological aids to smoking cessation -decides either to terminate therapy or to continue to work on a lasting process of actualizing meanings in the goal of smoking cessation. In other words, the client makes a serious commitment either to continue smoking or to stop smoking. Such a decision cannot be made authentically until the client has gone through the awareness and exploration stages. Pressing a client for a commitment to smoking cessation before the completion of awareness and exploration is like asking a person to appreciate pizza without first experiencing the "pizza taste." 
Skill-Development Stage 
After making a commitment to stop smoking, the client and logotherapist move into the skill-development stage of treatment. In this stage the client and therapist identify workable methods and technologies the client can use in his or her ongoing attempts to stop smoking. The authors frequently find it helpful for the client to use nicotine transdermal patches in conjunction with logotherapy to withdraw from nicotine addiction. Visualization of meaning potentials such as a wife or child can be extremely helpful when the craving strikes. The authors also help their clients to identify smoking triggers in their lives and then to use the visualization of meanings to lower the intensity of such triggers. Other methods we have used to help clients during the skill-development stage include behavioral contracts, positive reinforcements, and, at times, a referral for acupuncture and 
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acupressure treatments. 
Skill-Refinement Stage 
In the skill-refinement stage of logotherapy smoking cessation, the therapist continues to help the client practice smoking cessation skills discovered during the skill-development stage. During this stage, the logotherapist takes a somewhat less active treatment role, giving the client a greater opportunity to be in charge of refining smoking cessation skills. 
Redirection Stage 
In the redirection stage of logotherapy smoking cessation, the client works toward getting ready for termination of therapy. During this stage the client demonstrates readiness to continue to use logotherapy concepts and activities in ongoing efforts toward smoking cessation. The redirection stage also includes celebration. In such celebration, both the logotherapist and the client's loved ones celebrate and honor the client's achievement of smoking cessation. Termination of service should be done with an "open door," allowing the client to return for additional services if smoking resumes or if additional services are needed to prevent a recurrence. 
Case Illustration 
John was referred by his family medical doctor reactive to John's poor health habits, his unhealthy diet, and because he smoked two packs of cigarettes a day. John reported that he was addicted to tobacco and enjoyed "bad food." John agreed to "try out" logotherapy to see whether it might be useful to him. 
In the awareness stage of logotherapy, John and the therapist explored why it "might be meaningful" if he stopped smoking and changed his other poor health habits. One of John's more helpful treatment experiences came during the awareness stage of treatment when the logotherapist helped John to go into a light hypnotic trance and then to imagine himself paddling a boat across a lake filled with burning, smoking cigarettes to an island in the middle that was "smoke free." John was asked to imagine what he might find on the island. In his imagination John found a "longer life," a son "who doesn't have to cough :1.II the time when he visits me," and "more air in my lungs." John reported that this experience helped him become more aware of some good -easons (i.e., meanings) to stop smoking. 
In the exploration stage of smoking cessation, John utilized 
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behavioral contracting, nicotine transdermal patches, and hypnotic imagery experiences to explore the process of smoking cessation to see whether "it's for me." John made a "commitment" to stop smoking at the end of his seventh logotherapy treatment session. 
During the skill-development and skill-refinement stages of treatment, John developed some additional cessation skills and practiced them on a regular basis. John took up the martial art of Tae Kwon Do to help him consistently remember how hard it is to "get my breath" reactive to past cigarette smoking and to help him "get back into shape." John became especially good at the use of visualization when he had the urge to smoke a cigarette -he visualized his son coughing in his apartment. 
John entered the redirection stage when he decided to stop regularly scheduled therapy at the end of his sixth month of treatment. John is now seeing the logotherapist once a month. John reports only two incidents where he "slipped" and smoked a cigarette. 
JACQUELYN GYAMERAH, Ph.D. [1947 College Road, Columbus, Ohio 43210] is an Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University College of Social Work. 
JIM LANTZ, Ph.D. is a Dip/ornate in /ogotherapy and a Professor at The Ohio State University College of Social Work. 
References 
1. 
Frankl, V. (1969). The will to meaning. NY: New American Library. 

2. 
Glanze, W., Anderson, K., & Anderson, L. (1996). Mosby medical encyclopedia. NY: Signet. 

3. 
Lantz, J. (1978). Family and marital therapy. NY: AppletonCentu ry-Crofts. 

4. 
Lantz, J. (1984). Growth stages in logotherapy. The International Forum Logotherapy, 7, 118-120. 


5. 
Lantz, J. (1993). Existential family therapy: Using the concepts of Viktor Frankl. Northvale: Jason Aronson, Inc. 

6. 
Lantz, J. (2000). Meaning centered marital and family therapy: Leaming to bear the beams of love. Springfield: Charles C. Thomas. 


7. McDaniel, S., Hepworth, J., & Doherty, W. (1992). Medical family therapy. NY: Basic Books. 
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The International Forum tor Logotherapy, 2002, 25, 89-95. 
CRACKING THE MEANING CODE THROUGH A VISIBLE METAPHOR 
Cora Moore 
The new millennium has been hailed by many as the age of spirituality. Because technological advancement has been governing much of human functioning, many human beings are feeling the need to find personal meaning in the big scheme of things.3 Logotherapy provides the necessary spiritual focus in the mental health field; and logotherapeutic principles provide a formula to uncover personal meaning. 
The ideas of the present paper show some parallels with those presented by Michael Drosnin in his book The Bible Code, 1 according to which the life stories of people are encoded in the original Hebrew script of the Bible. According to Drosnin the hidden meaning can be decoded if you have the right computer programme. In similar vein, Viktor Frankl's logotherapy deals with the discovery of personal meaning.2 
Spirituality in Logotherapy 
It is important to note that logotherapy reveres the uniqueness of each person's search for Meaning in Life. Logotherapy is not a religious system. It does not preach or prescribe morals or even call the client into a relationship with a God. It believes that every person is essentially in relationship with the Ultimate Meaning, whether he or she acknowledges it or not. The unfolding of destiny is like an ongoing, most private and most personal, profoundly intimate conversation between the created and Creator. The logotherapist, even though perceiving, believing, and allowing this all-encompassing Whole, does not couch it in a specific label unless the label is brought there by the client. The logotherapist's openness to Ultimate Meaning should, so to speak, permeate the air that the client breathes and allow the person to freely explore his or her destiny. 
The Destiner has His own way of wooing and individuals are entitled to a unique, personal discovery and answer to the Lover of their souls.5 
Frankl's views show the way towards the decoding of the interwoven personal meaning. Not only does he specify Meaning in Life as the system overarching all other systems, but also he suggests that the 
89 
meaning hints revealed to the person and communicated to the therapist, can lead to logo moments in which personal meaning/purpose breaks through and is discovered as part of Meaning in Life. 
Babushkas as Visible Metaphor: A Case Study 
The following case study demonstrates the processes of purpose seeking in a logotherapeutic context and captures the ideas presented in this paper. Extracts from a conversation between the therapist (T) and the client (C) are provided, and the role of the logotherapist is highlighted. 
Background 
The client is a middle-aged woman who herself is a practising therapist, but who, in this particular instance, is sharing her discovery of her personal purpose with a colleague who is an experienced logotherapist. Two weeks before the reported session, the client participated in a group session in which Babushkas (Russian Stacking Dolls) were used for the purpose of spiritual meditation. One week before the reported session, she shared with the therapist the experiences she had during the meditation session; during this time of sharing, the client experienced a break-through in her search for personal purpose. 
The session quotations that are reported below are from the follow-up session in which the client and therapist reflect on the break-through session. The visible metaphor (in the form of the Babushkas) is used to reflect on the in-visible and thus to aid in the deciphering of the client's inner meaning code. 
The Babushkas are pictured below in order for readers to have a picture of the visible metaphor and thus to be able to share more meaningfully in the conversation between the participants. 
90 
Figure 1: Russian dolls: A 'visible metaphor' 

Doll 1 Doll 2 Doll 3 Doll 4 
Extracts from the Session 
T: ... maybe we could reflect and just see what you learnt from our last session. 
C: 
OK. Yes, I remember at that point in time, battling with being quite an emotional person ... and on the other hand in my professional world being expected to be strong and effective and assertive and it was kind of -as if that softer side in me -was hampering me in being this important person who could be in control ... 

C: 
In the exercise [during the meditation] I was given this little doll [Doll #3] whereas I was aspiring to be this doll [Doll #1] ... But this doll [Doll #3] touched me very deeply because it brought me in touch with my emotional side -the little girl in me. And I knew that I didn't want to get rid of this little doll -that this was a part of me that was very precious -as precious as that big doll. I didn't know how to make this little doll fit with the big doll ... and can you remember that in your conversation with me, at that time, what you said about those dolls? 


T: Well I said to you, what about the middle doll, maybe we should concentrate on the middle doll. And can you remember when we concentrated on the middle doll what feelings were provoked in you? 
C: I believe that was really a moment of truth for me when I realised that there is a middle doll and this middle doll is so important because this middle doll can allow this part [Doll #3] in, without it rattling around, and it fits comfortably. Whereas that important person [Doll #1] made the little doll, as you pointed out, look so insignificant and unwanted, this doll [Doll #2] could accommodate the little doll and so this middle doll took on such significance for me .. I realised: lsn 't "being in the middle" what I am supposed to be? And that took on such meaning for me. I started thinking of my 
91 
purpose as being a go-between. And isn't that what a therapist is -always the go-between, and, specifically as a logotherapist, one is so aware of being part of a bigger meaning -of bigger plans in people's lives and if you are tuned-in to the bigger, to the spiritual, then you can become and be that go-between -it is only a word but is loaded with unique personal meaning for me. It is something that confronts me in every moment and in every situation. I feel like being on holy ground now -because it means to be the mediator with a small "m" whereas God is the big Mediator with the capital "M." In that I find a destiny and a blueprint which is in line with what is meant to be -with the will of God. 
This dialogue illustrates how logo hints can be turned into logo moments. It also shows that logotherapy requires deep reflection and that metaphors can aid the process of getting in touch with the meaningdimension. The therapist allows the client to speak -to tell her own story in her own words. The role of the therapist might even appear passive, yet she creates an atmosphere which conveys respect and her responses attest to an in-tuneness which is reflected in deep understanding. 
It is importantto note that the therapist uses the language of the client, affirms the voice of the client, and elaborates on the story by adding her own insights. Also note that the client validates the ideas -it is of course possible that the therapist's ideas might not fit for the client. Therefore it is important to note how the therapist conveys the alternative elaboration -she presents these as her inspirations and not those of the client and thus leaves it to the client to accept or reject the ideas. Changes in perceptions can only happen within the client, they cannot be forced by the therapist. 
In the following part of the conversation the therapist highlights the meaning of suffering in the client's life and the role it plays in finding personal meaning. The uniqueness of personal meaning also is stressed. Discovering one's unique space is something uniquely meaningful to the individual -it need not be something big or perhaps even relevant in someone else's eyes. 
T: ... in that suffering that this little doll had -when it stood all alone against the big overpowering and perhaps dogmatic and prescriptive authority figure ... (it) learnt what it felt like to be hurt -to be not seen -to be not acknowledged .... the big doll in your life ... actually served your peculiar and unique destiny, because it developed those sensitive therapeutic skills which only came to full fruition when this middle doll stepped fully into her own space. The middle doll is who you really are now -somebody who now employs her unique talents in a specific way and becomes to others what you yourself missed -the one who brings the little dolls of your patients -who are at odds with their own callings and destinies -in touch with themselves. 
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The beauty and legitimacy of sensitive feelings are hidden in the little doll, and originally are intimidated by the superiority of the large doll figure. According to Frankl's views, one would say that the Will to Power is represented by the large doll, while the Will to Meaning, which eventually triumphs, is represented by the discovery of the middle doll. By accepting the middle doll -the go-between -the control is no longer centred in the expectations of authority figures, but in a personal purpose which emerges as part of a larger Ultimate Meaning. In the triumph of the Will to Meaning, the beauty and legitimacy of sensitive feelings represented in the small doll need no longer be hidden. The whole person finds a legitimate space -the creature finds her space in Meaning in Life. 
The discovery of the fit with the bigger, Ultimate Meaning brings the Meaning of the Moment. However, the following extract stresses the importance of the ever changing scenario. Meaning is never found permanently and the therapist needs to bear in mind that the process of meaning seeking is never finalised. The therapist needs to be there for the client along the way, but only if the client so prefers; the therapist should be able to trust the client to pursue the search on their own, if the client so wishes. 
T: I just want to ask you a last question .... if you look at the big doll now, what do you feel? 
C: Yes I am going to answer your question now, but I just want to point out something first. Did you notice that when you put that little doll behind the big one just now, I couldn't bear it. 
T: Yes. Right! It shouldn't be hidden anymore! 
C: 
Yes, so I just had to put it there for everyone to see -I am no longer ashamed of this little doll in me. 

C: 
And so when I now look at that big doll, I don't want to be the big doll. Not that there is anything wrong with the big doll. I respect the big doll. What is important is that I can serve the big doll as a mediator or a go-between whether this is a superior in this life or whether it is God. This has meaning for me because I am providing a go-between for this figure. But I can also reach out to these little dolls [Dolls #3, #4, and #5] and I can be a mediator for them. Now whether this picture is going to change in the future I don't know. I think that if I look back on my life I might have started off being this mediator [Doll #4 -between Doll #3 and Doll #5], and later on perhaps that mediator [Doll #3 -between Doll #2 and Doll #4], but right now I am here [Doll #2 -between Doll #1 and Doll #3]. 


It is in the looking back on life that we can see more clearly the golden hread that is woven through our lives and discern our personal purpose Nith greater clarity. These meanings are, however, never ~omplete/closed, but can vary in different contexts and can be expressed n different ways. In the terms of Hillman,4 both the paradigm of Senex the wisdom of the old man -the need for order steeped in the past radition) and Puer (the youth that focuses on the present and 
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emphasises spontaneity and the transcendence of tradition) are present in the therapeutic interview. Past experiences form the golden thread that distinguish the meanings that are revealed spontaneously in the moment. 
The sharing of ideas and experiences can result in meaning moments for the therapist also. The following excerpt demonstrates: 
T: Wow! You know the thoughts you provoke in me when you speak like that -first of all, that each space is a worthwhile space ... That the smallest space being filled could have the equal power and effect that the big space has if the big space is filled. Also your space is unique and you don't need to compare it with any other space ... 
The sharing of inspired ideas can lead to growth in all who are involved. The prerequisite is, however, that the therapist uses the therapeutic context responsibly, has the client's interests at heart, and is open to be touched by the moment. 
Logotherapeutic Principles Illustrated 
The case study illustrates the following principles: 
. 
Logotherapy taps people's spiritual resources; their ability to selftranscend, to seek, find, and realise meaning. There is a distinct move away from the trappings of obsessive self-preoccupation to an experience of self-worth in being called to responsibility. 

. 
The logotherapist believes in the assumption that Good ( that which is meaningful and life-enhancing) has the power to overcome Evil (that which is meaningless and life-destructive). 

. 
Instead of an exclusive focus on the self, the person is made aware of the responsibilities waiting to be fulfilled by him or her, the opportunities his or her life offers in rendering a service, in making a difference. 

. 
The dream, the future goals to strive toward, all have their starting point right there where the person has been placed--in the experiences he or she has had, the lessons he or she has learned, the kind of person he or she is, the unique gifts he or she has to give to the world. 

. 
The person who concentrates on meaning-seeking is no longer caught in the entanglements of a sub-human level of existence (a life devoid of spirituality) but gains true human stature and finds his or her fit with Ultimate Meaning. There is an awareness of an added dimension to life an added dimension of Strength, Care, Protection, Shelter, and Wisdom. 

. 
In choosing to seek out what is worthwhile in every situation, the negative, the destructive is overcome. The person has to launch forth into life in an entirely new way despite his or her circumstances. 

. 
Right attitudes do not only elevate the person's spirit but also bring rewards in the form of love, admiration, and respect from others. Doors of greater opportunity open, sensitivitiesdeepen, and understandinggrows. 

. 
There is only one space to fill--your own space; only one life to live-your own. 


94 
CORA MOORE [Department of Psychology, PO Box 392, UNISA, 0003, South Africa; e-mail moorec@unisa.ac.za] is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of South Africa in Pretoria, South Africa. She is registered as a Counselling Psychologist with the South African Health Professions Council. The article is based on a paper delivered at the Meaning Conference 2000: Searching for Meaning in the New Millennium, Vancouver, BC. 
This work was financially supported by The Social Science Division of the National Research Foundation of South Africa. 
References 
1. 
Drosnin, M. (1997). The Bible code. London: Orion. 

2. 
Frankl, V.E. (1969). The will to meaning. Foundations and applications of logotherapy. NY: New American Library. 

3. 
Hillman, J. (1997). The soul's code. NY: Bantam. 

4. 
Meyer, W.F., Moore, C. & Viljoe11 H.G. (1997). Personology:From individual to ecosystem. Johannesburg: Heinemann. 

5. 
Shantall, H. M. (1999). Logotherapy: Its principles and applications in life, psychotherapy and counselling. Workshop hand-out. 


95 

The International Forum For Logotherapy, 2002, 25, 96-101. 
THREE-DIMENSIONAL EDUCATION: REHUMANIZING AMERICA'S EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 
Willis C. Finck 
American public education is doomed to failure as long as its foundations are based on a psychosomatic system in a fashion similar to the way Freud developed psychoanalysis. In Man's Search for Ultimate Meaning, Frankl comments, "Psychoanalysis not only adopted objectivity -it succumbed to it. Objectivity eventually led to objectification, or reification. That is, psycoanalysis made the human person into an object, the human being into a thing. Psychoanalysis regards the patient as ruled by 'mechanisms,' and it conceives of the therapist as the one who knows the technique by which disturbed mechanisms may be repaired. ,,s In the above quote, if we substitute teacher for therapist and student for patient we arrive at exactly the same place as where our education system is today. Education not only adapted objectivity, it succumbed to it. Objectivity eventually leads to objectification or reification. That is, education makes the human being into a thing. Education regards the student as ruled by mechanisms, and it conceives of the teacher as the one who knows the technique by which disturbed mechanisms may be taught. We have moved into the 21st Century with objectification and reductionism as the driving forces in education. The computer is too often used as a substitute for the teacher. 
Political gurus believe that if we simply hard wire every school for easy internet access and provide a computer for every student, then we are well on the way to curing the ills of American education. In fact, the opposite is true. We are going to intensify the objectivity and further reduce our young people to mere objects to be more easily manipulated through the educational maze. 
We keep getting closer to Brave New World Over the past 30 years we have developed a soma-taking youth society which functions at academic levels. The step that Huxley failed to envision was the role of the yet-unborn computer chip. Had he foreseen this development he probably would have determined social status by the quality of computer chip implanted in his beings (androids) during the first year of their existence. The Alphas would be implanted with the most expensive, top quality, latest innovation: the fastest speed and the largest hard drive. This scenario is probably a more realistic picture of where we are headed 
96 
at warp speed into the 21st Century. The most affluent parents will order high quality, inplantable computer hardware for their children. Huxley had five classes because not everyone can be an Alpha. So, if we put a price tag on various components we will be able to develop several social classes, including a class to serve the rest of us. Once again, materialistic values come to the fore. And, no nation on Earth does a better job of teaching materialistic morality than we do in the United States. Those parents with less wealth, the poor and disenfranchised, will get last year's models, the crumbs of computer antiquity. The Betas, Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons will struggle with the flaws, glitches, and unresolved computer viruses, but after all that's all the parasites of the wealthy deserve. 
Huxley's future is fast approaching full implementation. It began with the widespread use and acceptance of the objective test as the standardized measurement of academic success. And now the solution proposed for measuring the quality of our schools is a battery of objective tests; and not only at three or four points in the academic life of our students, but in every year of their K-12 public education. These tests tell us which students are best able to memorize a battery of facts in this objective nirvana. 
Placing the emphasis on objective measurement reduces the humanity in our classrooms. Further, standardized objective tests may be invalid instruments for measuring the effectiveness of the school staff. Dr. Popham, Professor Emeritus of the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information studies, lists three reasons why standardized tests should not be used to measure school effectiveness. The first reason is: "standardized achievement tests, although quite suitable for a number of educational purposes, do not yield a proper picture of a school staff's instructional quality. Far too many items on standardized achievement tests fail to measure what students are supposed to learn. Rather those items measure things chiefly influenced by the nature of a school's student body." His second reason is: "Testing-teaching mismatches.... There are typical substantial mismatches between what's assessed by one of these tests and what's supposed to be taught in a particular school. As a practical matter, given the large bodies of knowledge and the substantial array of cognitive skills that must be taught to students, the builders of standardized achievement tests must sample such content." He goes on to say, "The effect of such content-sampling is that what's actually measured on the standardized test used in a specific school may be assessing things that weren't even taught in that school." His third reason is: "confounded causality .... Students' answers to far too many items on a standardized achievement test depend on a students' socioeconomic status (SES) or the student's inherited academic aptitudes. '6 
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Unless we stand our current educational philosophy and practice on its head, revolutionize our thinking regarding outcome expectation, and rehumanize our youth, we will help create a totalitarian society the likes of which will outstrip anything that has occurred in the history of this planet. As it is, we may be one of the last generations to witness the few small remnants of an education for humans. We are producing a primitive precomputer generated android awaiting its final mechanization. 
Frankl writes about the task of education in an age of existential vacuum. He writes: "To be sure, if man is to find meanings even in an era without values, he has to be equipped with the full capacity of conscience. It therefore stands to reason that in an age such as ours, that is to say, in an age of the existential vacuum, the foremost task of education, instead of being satisfied with transmitting traditions and knowledge, is to refine that capacity which allows man to find unique meanings. Today education cannot afford to proceed along the lines of tradition, but must elicit the ability to make independent and authentic decisions. In an age in which the Ten Commandments seem to lose their unconditional validity, man must learn more than ever to listen to the ten thousand commandments arising from the ten thousand unique situations of which his life consists. And as to these commandments, he is referred to, and must rely on, his conscience. A lively and vivid conscience is also the only thing that enables man to resist the effects of the existential vacuum, namely, conformism and totalitarianism. ,e 
How do we avoid continuing down this path of destruction? First, we change the basic philosophy related to education. We revisit our philosophy and goals and ask ourselves questions -What is an educated American? What qualities should graduates have when they leave high school? For what purpose do we teach? What is the fundamental purpose of a formal education? If we answer these questions from a three-dimensional perspective we will be guided toward a curriculum that is not mechanistic, object oriented, or materialistic. We will construct an educational system that is not pushed by drives, but pulled by the human spirit. This will not come about until we redefine a student as more than a two-dimensional human being consisting of body and psyche. We must recognize the three-dimensional quality of the theory of humanity espoused by Frankl and numerous others: mind, body, and spirit. In today's education we fail to recognize the students as three-dimensional beings. In so doing we deny that quality which makes us uniquely human: the spirit. It is as though we are teaching with one eye closed. When we teach with one eye, we observe only the two dimensions of the physical being even though we know the third dimension is there. The human spirit is a unique quality of our species. It is an essential part of our identity of what makes us human. 
In our attempt to separate church and state, we have confused the third dimension, the human spirit, for some kind of religious idea, and we 
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have denied its existence. The human spirit is not a religious creed. We have stripped our students of their humanity by denying the principle of a three-dimensional being. By so doing we have objectified our young people -turned them into things -and made it difficult for each of them to find their own purpose and uniqueness in life. 
Nearly 30 years ago the American Council on Education conducted a survey on life goals. Of the 171,509 students screened, the highest goal among 68. 1 percent was "developing a meaningful philosophy of life. ,>1 In the more than a quarter of a century since that survey, and with the aid of our present educational system, we have managed to swing the pendulum away from a search for a meaningful philosophy of life toward a materialistic, self-serving drive whose goal is to get the highest paying job available. 
Recently, I was out to dinner with my wife and our waiter was a young college student working part-time while in school. We engaged him in conversation, and I asked him if he had any ideas regarding his future. When I specifically asked him about careers, his response was "whatever pays the most." He failed my test, and for the balance of the day I kept asking myself: "how did he qualify to graduate from high school?" 
We use materialistic arguments as the basis for nearly all of our remediations for what's wrong with our schools. Teachers and others argue that the low pay of teachers is the primary cause of education's problems. Granted, teachers everywhere receive low pay; but salary increases alone will not improve the quality of education. Others object that the school buildings are old and inadequate. Again, it's nice to have a beautiful modern campus; but a new campus alone will not change what's wrong with our schools. As long as we focus on things, we will never be able to sense the unseen: the unique human quality which inhabits our beings, our places of work and play, and which will never be a quality measured by some form of objectification. 
I have worked at some schools whose state-measured test scores were quite low. Yet, I wouldn't have hesitated to send one of my children there because of the valuable unmeasured qualities that I knew existed within the school, the staff, and the students. The qualities these schools had were far more important for what is significant to healthy -:levelopment than high objective test scores. 
There are thousands of teachers still working at their jobs in Silicon 
Valley in spite of the fact they are on the lowest end of the professional 
Jay scale. Money should not be what attracts people to education. Money 
,hould always be a means toward an end and never should be 
--:onsidered an end in itself. Money as an end goal blocks our individual 
Jaths toward purpose. 
"The 'noological' dimension may rightly be defined as the dimension 
Jf uniquely human phenomena," and this is precisely the place where we 
1eed to begin our educational reform -recognition and inclusion of the 
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noological dimension in all educational philosophy, planning, and implementation of goals for our students. Frankl was very blunt about the impact of non-noological thinking on education in Europe preceding the Nazi regime: ''The gas chambers of Auschwitz were the ultimate consequence of the theory that man is nothing but the product of heredity and environment -or, as the Nazi liked to say, of 'blood and soil.' I am absolutely convinced that the gas chambers of Auschwitz, Treblinka and Maidanek were ultimately prepared not in some ministry or other in Berlin, but rather at the desks and in the lecture halls of nihilistic scientists and philosophers. "1 
Dr Edith Weisskopf-Joelson was educated in Vienna. In her autobiography she describes why she wanted to become a teacher. Her comments reflect the lack of a three dimensional and meaningful education. 
My daydream of becoming a teacher started at the age of seven and became even stronger in high school . .... It always seemed to me that my teachers were unable to connect the subject matter taught with the personal lives of the students. I still remember one example at the age of eleven; in foreign history we studied the American Civil War and learned that Abraham Lincoln freed the 'Negroes' from slavery. The teacher lectured, and we took detailed notes. The next class in foreign history started, as usual with a brief summary of the previous lecture to be given by a randomly selected student. It happened that I was selected for this role on that day. I had studied my notes and thus could regurgitate the lecture faultlessly. My grade for this performance was very good, or one, which was the best possible grade in Austrian schools. And yet, I did not understand in the least what I was saying. The Negroes in America were liberated? There were no Negroes in Austria, and I did not know that there were Negroes in America. If so, how could they live in a country that seemed even more civilized than Austria? Did they run around among the skyscrapers wearing nothing but loincloths? I had never seen a black person in real life, but I had seen many anthropological films at the Community University in Vienna. Thus, for me, Negroes were people who lived in Africa in small primitive tribes of fishermen or hunters. Oh, but how meaningful could all this knowledge have become if the teacher would have connected our lives with the material she taught. For example she might have said that at present (about 1921) the social position of the black minority in the United States had much in common 
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with the social position of the Jewish minority in Vienna. 
And since our class consisted of about one-third Jews, 
one-third anti-Semitic gentiles, and one-third Neutral or 
friendly gentiles, the American scene might have become 
a mighty interesting subject for little Austrian girls. 6 
Education means helping students discover a way to unite with the gravitational pull of their conscience and the uniqueness of their human spirits. Trying to push our students exhausts some of us in education. It is a burden to bear, and when we finish the task, we are then held accountable for what we didn't do. Wouldn't it be joyful to have a system where we can watch our students on a purposeful mission to a place they want to go -a place not dictated by the outside but from within the bowels of their unique human consciences. 
It's hard to know where to begin, but begin we must if we hope to salvage our public education and the future of our young people and of our society, and possibly the world. If we don't take action, who will? If we do, when are we going to do it? 
WILLIS C. FINCK [P. 0. Box 3076 Saratoga, California 95070-1076 U.S.A.] is a Founding Member, President Ementus, and Diplomate ofthe Viktor Frankl Institute of Logotherapy. He has 40 years of teaching, counseling, andconsulting in high schools. 
References 
1. 
Frankl, V. E. (1986). The doctorandthe soul. NY: Vantage. 

2. 
Frankl, V. E. (1988). The will to meaning NY: Penguin Books. 

3. 
Frankl, V. E. {2000). Man's search for ultimate meaning. Cambridge, MA: Perseus. 

4. 
Jacobson, R. L. (1972, January 10). The chronicle of higher education. Washington, D. C.: American Council on Education. 

5. 
Popham, J. W. {2001). The score boosting game: Everybody loses. California Educator, 5(3), 20-24. 

6. 
Weiskopf-Joelson, E. (1988). Father, have I kept my promise. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press. 


l O 1 
The International Forum forLogotherapy, 2002, 25, 102-110. 
LOGOTHERAPY'S CONSIDERATION OF MORALITY, VALUES, AND CONSCIENCE 
Dorothy C. Barnes 
For many years I have been teaching about moral development in my graduate classes in child and adolescent development at HardinSimmons University. In these classes we look primarily at the theories of Jean Piaget and Lawrence Koh/berg and touch lightly on the work of Carol Gilligan who has described moral development from the female perspective. 
The present paper delves more deeply into what Viktor Frankl said about the source of morality, and it reviews what Logotherapy teaches about this important topic. The purpose for attempting this task is to come to a greater understanding of the source of morality according to Logotherapy. This includes comparing Logotherapy with other philosophies and theories. 
Some of my motivation to pursue this task comes from looking at the moral climate of our world today. The growing violence, the terrorist acts, failure of adults to exercise moral leadership, and the continuation of racism and bigotry in our world all make me wonder about the state of morality in our society and the personal conscience ofpersons growing up in today's world. 
In this paper, I define and discuss morality, values, and conscience. These three terms are interrelated but also distinct. Therefore, they warrant discussion and clarification separately. 
Morality 
Morality has to do with a doctrine or system of morals, or principles of right and wrong behavior. When looking at the term from a philosophical or sociological perspective, Robert Carter (philosopher and author of Dimensions ofMoral Education) stated that "morality is concerned with the well being of another person and with actions which treat and recognize the other person as being as worthy of respect and justice as oneself, or anyone else. "1• p.s 
If that is the essence of morality, then according to Carter "what ought to occupy our attention is how to foster in others the capacity to empathize by placing themselves in another's place, and to 
102 
apply generally such principles as justice, fairness, and equality of treatment. "1• P 5 Therefore, to be moral we must develop role-taking ability and understand more fully the inner states that underlie the behavior of others. One way educators can promote moral growth, therefore, is by enhancing the role-taking perspectives of young children. 
Frankl spoke about values and conscience rather than about morality. As Gould stated, "Frankl does not moralize, but his philosophy embraces a moral sense of being that is energized by an intuitive conscience. '6 • P-13 It is important to note that Frankl stressed that we are free to obey or disobey our conscience. It was very important to Frankl that we understand that we have the freedom to choose right from wrong. 
For morality to be meaningful, according to Frankl, it must be something we freely choose over other alternatives. Moral choices are different from instinctual behavior in that they arise out of our free will. Frankl agreed with Adler that the biological, sociological, and psychological factors are important. We are driven or at least affected by instinctual forces; we are influenced by the social milieu in which we live; and we are affected by the training, cognitions, and emotions that are a part of our psyche. However, it is our noetic dimension that allows the personal freedom and responsibleness that is necessary in the moral realm. 
Frankl's perspective on morality would be placed in the higher stages of Koh/berg's description of moral reasoning. According to Koh/berg, young children make moral choices based on selfinterest. The moral choices they make are based on avoiding punishment or giving deference to an authority figure. Or they make decisions on the basis of "what's in it for me?" This is called the pre-conventional level of moral reasoning where self is the primary concern. As we develop cognitively we become less egocentric and more socialized in our perspective. Therefore, we become more concerned about how others see us and wonder about what they think of us. Moral reasoning at the conventional level is based on meeting the expectations of others and a sense of duty to obey the law for the good of all. At Koh/berg's highest level, the post-conventionallevel, we do what is right on the basis of higher principles, not because we want others to think we are a good person or because we have a duty to obey the law, but because we are guided by a higher principle of what is just and right-to bring honor and dignity to all humankind. 
It appears that many in our society are at Koh/berg's preconventional level of moral reasoning asking "What's in it for me?" Frankl would change that question to ask, "What does fife demand or expect from me?" "What is expected of me in terms of 
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responsibleness?" Frankl went on to say, "We are not fully human until we reach out to another person with empathy in a common search for meaning. , P· 21
"4 Immanuel Kant has been referred to as the father of modern philosophy. "For Kant, the origin and decisions of conscience come from what he called 'a priori reason,' not from external circumstances or from internal psychological conditions. '6 • p.4o Kant defined a priori reason as "the source of the maxims and Jaws that guide conscience. '6 • p.4o Kant spoke of moral law within or a moral imperative often referred to as the moral categorical imperative. Kant, who is known as the ph!losopher of duty, felt that we have a moral core within us and with it go certain moral obligations. Frankl shared this point of view, although he saw it somewhat differently. Instead of referring to a moral imperative, he often spoke of a moral compass within us. One of the differences between Frankl and Kant is that "Kant uses the term dur as the operative word while Frankl chooses the term meaning. · p.s
'6 
Kant's view is similar to Koh/berg's fourth stage of moral reasoning where duty to obey the Jaw is of primary concern as one reasons about moral issues. Frankl's reasoning is similar to Koh/berg's fifth or sixth stages, which consider higher moral principles that may sometimes require the individual to go beyond the letter of the law in making moral choices. 
As Gould stated, "Frankl recognizes the necessity of the concept of duty as a response to what he calls the demand quality of fife, but he sees Kant's view of duty for the sake of duty as reductionistic, centering on the law rather than on meaning which allows freedom and responsibleness. '6 · P· 52 Frankl saw duty when pursued as a primary goal a very limiting factor that can result in disappointment and failure. ff however, meaning is pursued as a primary goal, duty can ensue. 
By putting duty into the framework of meaning, Frankl transformed the Kantian categorical command to obey duty into a direction that instead activates the spiritual dimension of the will. ft is the noetic dimension that allows for human possibilities to transcend beyond duty to the expression of meaning. In other words, our search for meaning and value in life does not come from a priori reason described by Kant, but from the noetic dimension which is the source and power of one's morality. 
Values 
While referring to morality, it is impossible not to simultaneously refer to values and conscience as well. These three concepts definitely overlap and it is difficult to completely separate one from another. 
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Frankl seemed to see morality and meaning as the same. When we determine what we ought fa do or what is the right thing to do, we find what is meaningful for that particular moment or time or place. 
Frankl defined meaning as "what is meant," e.g., what is meant for you in your present situation. This, then, refers to the specific, unique, and personal situations in which each of us finds ourselves. Of the many choices and alternatives that we have, we will only be able to choose one. This choice places a value on what is chosen. How we value is how we choose. 
Value has to do with the relative worth, or utility, importance, or significance of something. Carter, the philosopher quoted earlier, defined value as "something you use to subordinate one end-in
"1
view to another in determining what is prized and what is done. · P-137 Carter went on to say that a great deal of what you are as a person depends upon what you select as valuable and disvaluable. (Frankl would say... on what you select as meaningful). 
Logotherapy teaches us that our search for meaning (or personal values) in our life is highly personal and distinct. Frankl also stressed, that even though we are unique, we also share many common qualities as human beings. Mil lions of people have gone through situations that were similar enough that they reacted in a similar way. They began to find what was meaningful in certain standard situations. In other words, universal meanings were found. This is how Frankl defined values-as universal meanings. He used the term meaning to refer to the unique and specific values in a person's life. 
According to Fabry, "Universal values may even spare us decision making a/together: We simply follow generally accepted values. '12· P 56 But if we follow general values without searching for the unique meaning of a situation, we may find it simplifies life, however it may also prove costly. 
When I present Koh/berg's moral dilemma to my graduate classes, I ask my students to take a stand on what Heinz should do. Should he steal the drug that may save the life of his dying wife? Some of my students will quickly decide it is wrong to steal the drug under any circumstances because it is breaking the law. Some cannot make up their mind, and they experience a good bit of conflict over the choice. Others feel certain that they would steal it if there were the possibility that the life of a loved one could be saved. They place the value of life over law. I then complicate the issue even more by asking, "Should he steal the drug if he doesn't love his wife, or if the dying person is a stranger?" All this is to ooint out that many times there are value conflicts in the situations we face. 
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Not everything about personal values is black or white, or clearly right or wrong, and we sometimes have to choose between the lesser of the two wrongs. Conflicts between two sets of values do occur and we sometimes find our values overlapping or contradicting each other. 
Frankl felt that we should visualize values as spheres in threedimensional space where values have a higher or lower position. In other words, values have a hierarchy. This would imply that even in following values, we are not spared making decisions. In the process of deciding on the meaning of the moment we must decide which personal value we consider higher in our hierarchy of values. 
We are reminded how Frankl and his wife Tillie were faced with value conflicts when they arrived at Auschwitz concentration camp. "When the time came to say goodbye Frankl told his wife with great emphasis, 'Stay alive at all costs.' He had become aware that in this unique situation it was his responsibility to give her his absolution in advance for whatever she might find necessary to preserve her life. • P-61 Frankl knew his wife was
"2 beautiful and it was possible that an SS officer might become interested in her. This could be a chance to save her life. However, he also knew that the value of marital fidelity was rooted in her. He felt by not releasing her from her moral obligation toward him he might have become co-responsible for her death. In the same way, in the hypothetical situation of Heinz stealing the drug to save his wife, Heinz was putting life as a higher priority than law. Even though general values can be helpful in making decisions, when we determine what is meaningful for a particular moment or time or place we still must decide about seemingly conflicting, or hierarchical values that we face. It is very important to realize that a value hierarchy cannot be arbitrarily fabricated. It must be formed by each one personally. One cannot impose his or her order of values on another. As Fabry stated, "We must find the reality of our lives. Whether reality is placed there by God or by life is a question we must decide. The important thing is that a value hierarchy exists and that it is up to us to find our own. ,e, P-63 
Conscience 
Frankl said that conscience has the task of disclosing to a person the one thing that is required. It is to direct us to that unique possibility that is to be actualized in a specific situation (the meaning of the moment). This is why Kant's general law, the categorical imperative, does not work in these unique situations and why conscience cannot be described in rational terms but only intuitively. 
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Frankl spoke of the transcendent quality of conscience. In other words, conscience comes from something beyond ourselves. 
In his book, The Unconscious God, Frankl quoted Maria Von Ebner Eschenback who said, "Be the master of your will and the servant of your conscience. , P· 52 Frankl, in speaking about
"4 conscience asked, " ... might it not be something higher than he who merely perceives its 'voice'?',.,,, P· 53 According to Frankl, we cannot be servant of conscience if it is simply a part of ourselves. Therefore, conscience transcends who we are. It comes from something beyond our self. It is important to realize that conscience, which originates in transcendence, must necessarily be of a personal nature. Frankl stated that "more correctly, however, we would have to speak of a transpersonal agent of which the human person is just the 'image'.,,.,,, P· 54 Frankl gave an example that illustrated this idea. He spoke of the human navel as appearing meaningless when seen as an isolated phenomenon. It can only be understood in the context of its prenatal history and even more points beyond the individual to his origin in his mother. Frankl went on to say, "It is the same with conscience; it can only be fully understood as a phenomenon pointing to its own transcendent origin.,,.,,, P· 54 According to Fabry, "True conscience is not just what parents, religion, or society tell us. These influences are real, but at our core we still have this strange little voice. It plays a central part in our life. How we listen and how we act upon what we hear can make our life meaningful or empty, can cause happiness or fulfi!lment, or tension, conflicts, frustration, and mental disease. '12, P· 67 Our task then is to listen to our conscience. Fabry went on to say that this may well be the most important task we have that will bring meaning into our lives. Frankl reminds us that we not only are guided by conscience in our search for meaning, but also we are sometimes misled by it as well. Even more, we may never know for sure whether it has been the true meaning to which we have committed ourselves. This occurs because many times we must make our choices in the face of uncertainty. Often we are called on to act or make decisions based on incomplete evidence. Fabry made the point that "Columbus never would have discovered America had he waited for all the information on which to base his decision to start out on his journey." Fabry continued, "Few people would decide on a career, marriage, or parenthood if they waited till all the information was in.'12· P77 However, the possibility that our conscience may err does not release us from the necessity of trying. Gordon Allport, formerly a Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, has been quoted as 
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saying, "We can be at one and the same time half sure and whole hearted.,{), P-69 Even greater than the risk that we may be misled by our conscience is the risk of a suppressed conscience. In extreme cases the suppression of conscience may make someone an Adolf Eichman or an Adolf Hitler or a Timothy McVey. Frankl often was asked about the conscience of the Germans under National Socialism. Did their conscience tell them to betray their mothers and fathers for the sake of the state? Did it tell them to commit mass murder? Frankl's answer was that he does not believe Hitler ever obeyed his conscience. "Never can one's true conscience," Frankl said, "command one to do what Hitler did." Frankl also 
stated, "I am convinced that Hitler would never have become what he did unless he suppressed within himself the voice of conscience. ,(I, P-66 
According to Fabry, Hitler's Germany also illustrates what can happen if conscience is not heard over indoctrination by a dictator. "The German tragedy lay in the fact that the German people confused the state ideology with their personal conscience.,{), P-69 Some did follow the voice of their conscience as dangerous as it was. Many Germans risked their lives to help hide Jews and other victims during the Nazi regime. Some lost their lives and others were imprisoned in the concentration camps. Many died there because they chose to listen to the voice of their conscience. 
Tools to Live in an Imperfect World 
As an educator, I find myself looking to the schools to see what role they might play to promote the development of morals and values in our world. What should be our aim? 
Frankl was aware that education can play a major role in helping the young find meaning and therefore morality and values in their life. He also was aware that we are living in a time when the existential vacuum is very prevalent among the young. He saw the foremost task of education, not just to transmit knowledge and traditions, but instead to refine one's capacity to find the unique meanings in one's life. ''Today's education," he stated, "cannot afford to proceed along the lines of tradition, but must elicit the ability to make independent and authentic decisions. ,(I, P-64 
In a television interview by Dr. Huston Smith, Frankl was asked how Professors in Universities can teach values to students. He answered, "Values cannot be taught; they must be lived. What we can give our students is not a meaning but an example, that is to say, the examole of commitment to a cause worthy of such a commitment ... ,e, P-105 
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Another task of schools is to do all we can to help students become aware of what it means to be fully human and to recognize and use all of the creative forces of life. This means going beyond the intellectual to the noetic dimension. Frankl asserted, 'The potentialities of life are not indifferent possibilities but must be seen in the light of meaning and values.' · P· 143 Young people have so many possibilities available to them today. They need to be helped to realize that the choices they make in each situation not only have implications tor the present moment, but tor their future as well. How can we help them to reach into the healthy core of their existence when faced with the multitude of choices and potentialities before them? It involves self-transcendence, which is the essence of our human existence. 
Frankl hypothesized, and statistical evidence supports the fact that people are likely to become aggressive and to perform violent acts when they are caught in a feeling of emptiness and meaninglessness.4• P-102 Research has also found that "Criminality and purpose in life are inversely related. ,,1, P-103 In light of such facts, it appears that the message of Logotherapy can be particularly applicable to the treatment of delinquents and the rehabilitation of those who are in our prison systems. Even more, perhaps it can be applied to deter the development of such behaviors. 
Frankl stated, "If one is to overcome the ills and ailments of this age, he must properly understand them -that is to say, understand them as the effects of frustration." He went on to say, "and if one is to understand the frustrations of man, he has to understand his motivations, to begin with, and especially the most human of human motivations, which is man's search for 
meaning. ,,1, P-104 Imagine a world where people are encouraged to search for meaning and are able to grow into individuals who recognize the full potential of their humanness while simultaneously recognizing their connectedness to something beyond themselves. This would be a world in which its inhabitants are in touch with their noetic or spiritual dimension; a world where people listen to the voice of their conscience; where they prize and value the things that will lead to a life of service and self-transcendence. We have to admit, however, we live in an imperfect world. Because of the freedom we have been given to choose the course of our existence, we will never have a perfect world. But Logotherapy gives us tools to live in an imperfect world. Logotherapy gives us tools to respond to the challenges and demands of our lives. It gives us tools to endure all circumstances, even when things are not as we would choose. It gives us tools to 
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make this a better world, a more moral and meaningful place in which to live and grow. 
Let us use Logotherapy's principles to find the strength to recognize our values and listen to our conscience -thus to live morally and serve as examples. And, let us use Logotherapy's principles to do all we can to spread the message and encourage those who need it most to listen to their conscience and find their own unique meanings. 
DOROTHY C. BARNES, EdD, LPG, LMFT [Professor of Counseling and Human Development, Hardin-Simmons University, Abilene, Texas 79698] is Secretary of the International Board of Directors ofthe Viktor FranklInstitute ofLogotherapy 
References 
1. 
Carter, R. (1984). Dimensions of moral education. University of Toronto Press. 

2. 
Fabry, J. (1994). The pursuit of meaning. San Francisco: Harper & Row. 

3. 
Frankl, V. (1969). The will to meaning. NY: Penguin Books. 

4. 
Frankl, V. (1975). The unconscious god. NY: Simon & Schuster. 

5. 
Gould, W. (1993). V!ktor E Frankl: Life with meaning. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Inc. 


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The lntemationa/ Forum forLogotherapy, 2002, 25, 111-114. 
VOLKSWAGENS AND A SEARCH FOR MEANING 
Daisy Lynn Hutzell-Rodman 
Arriving at our new home in Omaha, Nebraska on August 30, 1998, the day after my wedding, I felt ready to change the world with my fresh BA in journalism. I found a job working evenings at a library within two months; a job I originally thought would pay bills until I found a position in my desired field ofpublic relations. 
I worked evenings, and I searched for public relations positions during the day. The few public relations positions I found, however, wanted "1 O+ yoars experience"; consequently, I stayed at the library. I slowly learned to enjoy my nontraditional lifestyle, waking between 9 and 1O a.m. and enjoying a full day of cleaning, shopping, and listening to our extensive music collection before working B hours. 
Working the evening shift; however, interfered with fulfillment of some of my personally-meaningful values. My husband, Wade, had friends in nearby Glenwood who embraced me as one of their own, which I enjoyed. I missed something, however, because the Glenwood friends were more uniquely Wade's friends, as evidenced when they spent much time sharing stories of "living it up" in the early 1990s, when I did not even know Wade and did not share in their activities. 
Having grown up with the extended logotherapy family playing a significant role in my family, and having attended several World Congresses, I knew the importance of actualizing all of my personallymeaningful values, 1 including unique friendships with persons additional to my husband's long-time friends. What should I do? 
I began searching for meaningful friendships of my own. It wasn't easy. Omaha seems a conservative town, and I am not a conservative woman. Many people in Omaha care more about their stockbrokers and donating money to churches than about saving the animals and listening to jam bands. Many people walking down the street thought me a bit weird with my tie-dyes and lack of makeup. 
I tried a couple of volunteer positions, hoping to make friends and gain public relations experience at the same time. These did not work out because most of the people I saw were employees of the organizations wanting more publicity, not people desiring closer relationships. With my heart not into these organizations per se, and no friendships secured, the volunteering began to feel like a second job. 
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I realized from these experiences that I desired not just acquaintances but deeper relationships with persons who shared time and other life-activities. I reviewed my personal values/interests and how I could employ these in my search for additional meaningful friendships. 
I looked into environmental causes. But many of their policies went further than my personal policies. 
I recognized that I valued literature, so I joined a book club. I felt excited at the prospect of gaining friendships with people sharing my love of literature. We could discuss the books once a month, and maybe I could meet these people at other times for coffee and discussion of other books and interests. 
The book club, however, was just that -a club. The people were friendly and very well read, but they all had day jobs or kids and really weren't interested in pursuing the deeper relationships that I sought. In fairness, I also must state I did not give myself much of a chance to pursue other activities with them. I simply took a couple of hours off work once a month, went to the meeting, and then dashed back to work. I enjoyed book club, and even today I look forward to the third Wednesday of each month when I discuss best selling fiction with this group. I wanted something more, however; people I could call on the phone to discuss my daily life, share varied experiences, and share jokes. 
Then I found an answer to my meaning-search wrapped in unusual paper -a 1979 Volkswagen Microbus. Previously, Wade owned a 1971 Microbus in college, and together we loved not only the vehicle, but also the spirit of community the Volkswagens embraced. This bus burned in 1996, and I longed for another Microbus since then, but understandably, Wade did not want to perform the maintenance required on such an old vehicle. 
In late March 2001, while I enjoyed a rare weekday off from work, Wade called around 4 p.m. and asked if I could come in to his workplace by 5 p.m. I stepped into my clogs and hopped into my car. Wade finished work, and we drove off. He did not tell me where we were headed, but we eventually wound up at a small used auto lot in an area of Omaha we rarely visited. There sat a beautiful pea-green 1979 Volkswagen Microbus. She looked beautiful on first appearance, and Wade checked her out as best he could, since we arrived after the shop was closed. We realized the bus was in immaculate shape, outside of needing a new paint job, so we returned the next day during business hours. We learned that the bus had been restored by two of the top Volkswagen shops in the country. We purchased the bus after a couple of days of discussion. 
With the Microbus, we began searching for a VW group to join, a community of neo-beatniks like us and with whom we could share and laugh. We searched the Internet and hooked up with the Omaha Volkswagen Club (OVWC). 
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We officially joined the OVWC on April 23, Earth Day. Our first event involved cleaning up trash from the club's adopted stretch of Interstate 80. The third OVWC member to arrive for the clean-up, a man named Terry, hopped inside our bus and began touting the Buskatiers, a free online club devoted solely to VW busses. 
The Microbus, which we painted in every color of the rainbow and named JME the Psychedelic Sweet Pea, gave me opportunities to experience meaningful relationships I had searched tor. This became evident through both the OVWC and the Buskatiers. Our first real example of this came at the first campout of the summer over Memorial Day weekend. People from the Buskatiers camped together in either tents or VWs and shared not only VW talk and stories, but also the simple things in life I longed tor. We shared food, beverages, and laughter. We hiked, biked, and washed dishes together. We sat around a campfire and listened to the sounds of nature along with guitar and drum music. One man nicknamed Pigpen, who had only written a couple of times on e-mail, drove up from Kansas for the campout to meet Wade and me. On Friday we warmly hugged people we barely had known three days earlier, and we began making plans tor the next event. 
Beyond adding unique friendships of my own with persons additional to my husband's long-time friends, I recognized another value meaningful to both of us. We had the opportunity to have friendships that were equal to both of us as a couple. 
Since then, Wade and I have spent at least twice a month at official Volkswagen club events, but, more than that, much of our free time has been with people both of us truly call friends. This past September I hosted a birthday party for Wade, joining together the VW friends and our other friends. The next afternoon, I read the Buskatiers e-mails from Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri. We both felt happy to read the many well wishes tor Wade's birthday. 
I truly found an answer to my original search tor opportunities to actualize personally-meaningful values that were being fulfilled insufficiently. I found a community of people to share deep relationships and varied interests uniquely with me and also uniquely with Wade and me as a couple. These were people interested not only in the same vehicles, but also frequently the same tie-dyes, vegetarian food, and music. A community for both Wade and me to share with and laugh with. An additional opportunity tor values actualization was found through Volkswagens when I found the chance to provide some much-needed publicity tor the OVWC. Publicizing an event for friends was much more meaningful than publicizing for companies I barely knew. Through my efforts there, I was elected both 2002 OVWC secretary and publicist. 
I 13 
DAISY LYNN HUTZELL-ROOMAN [Council Bluffs, Iowa 51503 USA] earned her BA in Journalism from the University of Iowa in 1998. Starting in the early 1980s, she has attended many Logotherapy 
World Congresses as well as Kansas City lnst!lute of Logotherapy meetings wdh her family. She is Editor of the Vintage Volkswagen Club ofAmerica's newsletter Vintage Voice. 
References 
1. Hutzel/, R. R. (1986). Logotheory: Implications for personal goals. International Forum for Logotherapy, 9, 125-129. 
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The International Forum for Logotherapy, 2002, 25, 115-117 
A BUSINESSMAN PRACTICING LOGOTHERAPY IN SOUTH AFRICA 
Raymond Ackerman 
am humbled by Viktor Frankl and the many other writers and other people who have influenced me in my life. I am humbled by the fact that Viktor Frankl went through circumstances that I, gratefully and thankfully, have never had to face. But, there is no question that his teachings are timeless, and that it can help all of us to understand our lives better, and it can certainly help businessmen to run their businesses better. 
Nothing could be of more importance in South Africa today. We are indeed very lucky that this country has survived without a bloody revolution. Yet, we have so much to do, and we have to go forward with hope, with Viktor Frankl's teachings firmly in mind. 
Napoleon said: "Leaders deal in hope." I think this epitomizes the importance of understanding Viktor Frank/'s philosophy, and using it in managing people, and in organizing a business, too. 
In the BO's, when things were very bad in South Africa and a lot of young people were leaving, and older people were searching for hope and meaning in their lives, we devised together with our advertising agency, a series of advertisements which really brought a message of hope. We were showing how ordinary South Africans -such as the postman, the builder, or the policeman -were trying to run the society, and yet, the future looked very bleak. But, we showed how life was about carrying on: people were getting married, having children, and living with hope for the future and awareness that they had to carry on, pursuing their private lives and their business lives, because South Africa would find a solution to the problems. When you think of the people during the terrible Nazi years, and the despair and degradation that people encountered in the concentration camps -and yet, they had hope; they had a meaning in their lives. This hope and having a meaning to live for kept many people alive. 
In 1994, Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as President of South Africa. There was a lot of hope in the country, particularly after President De Klerk and Nelson Mandela had got together in the 1990's to find a solution in earnest, without a bloodbath, to our country's problems. The first voting in 1994 was quite a spectacular affair which seemed to have touched the hearts of all the people of all races in South Africa. Although 
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we had been through a lot of crises, it looked as if a ray of light, of hope, had come through over our wonderful, but strange, land. 
All of a sudden, virtually in a week or so, after President Mandela's inauguration, we in our company with about 30,000 employees, were faced with a strike of major proportions. The Unions decided to show Mr. Mandela that they were still a strong force despite the change in the country's new government, and in their view they wanted to make their point by tackling a company that they know had done a lot on the social side, on housing, on job advancement, because we really had been a pioneer in trying to establish equal opportunities for all races during the 70's and B0's. We had fought the government in this regard, and won through. We had set aside an enormous amount for our staff in housing, education, and health care. Pick 'n Pay tried to be a good business citizen. Obviously we had made some mistakes -but no company and no person is perfect. Yet, the Unions decided to go for us, and Pick 'n Pay had the most crippling strike, a strike that went on for weeks. 
At the end of that strike, we were faced with a shattered company. And, I personally was deeply depressed and very worried about the future. Then I picked up again Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning. I saw a linkage between the work of Frankl and the message Mr. Mandela was sending through the way he was speaking and living. I felt that if this man, Nelson Mandela, who had been in jail for 25 years, could forgive his captors and forgive what had happened, if President Mandela could try and reconcile white and black, surely I, in a smaller way, running a business of 30,000 souls, could forgive the strike, try and understand the problems. And if a man like Viktor Frankl who had to suffer immensely not only in the worst concentration camps of this century, but also through losing all his loved ones, could forgive his captors and send out a message of forgiveness, then I also could forgive the unfairness of what I had experienced, and I could try to reconcile and rebuild the company. 
There is no question that the example of Viktor Frankl and Nelson Mandela helped us immensely in coming out of the darkness and leading the company once again into a strong force. In fact, up to that time, the company had not dropped one year in profit in our entire period of operation, nearly 30 years at that time. But that year was a staggeringly bad year, and the effect of the strike was experienced in every aspect of the company. Yet, we changed our attitude, which my people did too, and rolled up our sleeves, took off our gloves, and went in for the most aggressive training methods that we had ever put in. We also started training programs to teach people how to read and write, because about 40% of our staff, we found, were not even literate, nor could they do even simple arithmetic. We went for graduation programs where people would graduate in reading and writing, and actually had the dignity of "getting a degree" in these disciplines. Then we furthered the training into higher 
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disciplines. We now have graduation programs in every part of the country to such an extent that tens of thousands of our staff are going through graduation programs. 
We also decided to regain the high ground on courtesy and caring for the consumer by having a program where the winners of a courtesy program would go to Disneyland, in Florida. We introduced a fair system of selecting people, and 85 people in 1996 went to Disneyland on a reward/award program; and we have done that every year since then with a great degree of success. We initiated in the company a "vuselela program" which is a "rebirth program". Vuselela is an African word which means: rebuilding, rebirth, renewal. On Fridays we all wear vuselela shirts, have vuselela parties, and we have a company song. 
There is no question that this forgiving of the past was the reason why we were able to go forward. If one studies Viktor Frankl, this principle is fundamental to his philosophy oflife. 
With a new South Africa, despite having been socially very responsible in the previous years, we decided to increase our involvement in social responsibility to a much higher degree. This has contributed also, in my opinion, to the success we have had. Again, it epitomizes the philosophy of Viktor Frankl. 
RAYMOND ACKERMAN is Chairman, Pick 'n Pay Stores, Ltd in South Africa. The Pick 'n Pay Group is South Africa's major retailer, employing some 30,000 people. The Company comprises 242 supermarkets and hypermarkets, 21 Home-Styled stores and 142 Franchised outlets. It also has a wholly-owned venture in Australia -70 Franklin's supermarkets; investments in a chain ofsupermarkets in Zimbabwe, and interests in Namibia, Botswana, Tanzania, and Swaziland This paper is adapted from a presentation Mr. Ackerman made before the South African Viktor Frankl Foundation and Vista University at Pretoria, February 18, 2000. The original speech was publishedby Patti Havenga Coetzer (Editor) in the Joernaal/Journal: V!ktor Frankl Foundation of South Africa. 
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The International Forum for Logotherapy, 2002, 25, 118-124 
DR. JERRY L. LONG -IN MEMORIAM 
Jay I. Levinson 
The following is the text of the eulogy that I was honored to deliver at the memorial service for Dr. Jerry L. Long on June 16, 2002 in Dallas, Texas. am certain all those who read this journal are familiar with the work of Dr. Long as a well as his close relationship to Professor Frankl It is wtlh great sadness that we mourn his death and express our best wishes to his family At the suggestion of some of Jerry's colleagues I submitted the text of the eulogy to this journal for the reVtew ofthose who lovedhim. 
As I sat at my desk for the fourth time last week attempting to find a way to eulogize a man like Jerry Long, I found my self doing anything to avoid the task at hand -I went to get a bagel, returned a few phone calls, straighten my desk, even went to the men's room unnecessarily, and then just starred into space. Then it dawned on me, I just didn't want to do this. You see, it wasn't supposed to be this way. Jerry, you were supposed to do my eulogy, after we both had long and distinguished careers. That was your promise to me and I had planned to hold you to it. It couldn't be this way. This just isn't fair! 
And then I remembered, life is what happens afteryou make your plans. So, as I sat there teary and frozen in my own anger and distress, I recalled, like I often do in difficult times, the words of the mentor that Jerry and I shared, Dr. Viktor Frankl. 
"We must accept our destiny as we accept the ground on which we stand, the ground which is the springboard for our freedom!" Frankl continued, "we in the concentration camps proved that everything can be taken from a man but one thing, the last of the human freedoms, the freedom to choose one's own way. .. and, by the very attitude we take toward our unavoidable suffering, (we can) turn tragedy into triumph and heroism!" 
And then it came to me. These were more than just comforting thoughts from a great philosopher and teacher, these words described the very essence of Jerry Long. It was not a "tragic" accident that broke Jerry's neck that fateful day in 1977. It was Jerry's time to come face to face with his own destiny, which he would, indeed, turn into personal triumph. 
But Jerry, like his mentor Professor Frankl, never thought of himself as extraordinary, and certainly not a hero. He was just a guy who wanted to help other people. I honestly believe that he never saw himself as the incredible individual that he was. He never saw himself as a role model, and never expected others to do what he did. He just wanted to help people. He never wanted fame or fortune. He just wanted to help people. 
But, oh, the incredible gifts this man possessed!. One need only watch him lecture as he spellbound audiences all over the world with his message of love, compassion, and, most of all, hope. He believed like Frankl, with 
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every fiber of his being, that life holds unconditional meaning for each and every human being, under any and all circumstances. And he spent his life teaching that gospel! And who could disagree with the man that Frankl often called "the living embodiment of Logotherapy." 
Jerry not only captivated audiences with his words, but absolutely astonished them with his deeds. How could one argue with a man who led by example. Frankl, himself, felt humbled by Jerry's indomitable spirit and tireless dedication to his calling. As Elly Frankl said to me a few days ago, while we cried together on the phone talking about Jerry, "In every lecture, all over the world, Viktor quoted and spoke of Jerry as the living example of what people can achieve when they see the meanings in their lives". 
Jerry had the soul of a philosopher, the heart of a tiger, a brain like a computer, and the tenacity of a pit bull. He combined a zest for life with a gentle, quiet demeanor that commanded the respect and awe of everyone he met. He was a true humanist who believed in people's innate goodness and in their personal potential. He never ran from a challenge or turned his back on a person in need. One only had to watch him patiently answer question after question, on the podium or off, questions of even the most personal nature, and often to the point of total exhaustion, to see his dedication to his fellow humans. And like his personal hero, Abraham Lincoln, Jerry always did the honorable thing. 
I remember a time, three years ago at the World Congress of Logotherapy when he was so exhausted by all he had done that he came up to my hotel room after a presentation to get a few minutes of rest because he was so exhausted he was even too tired to make it home. Later, during that same conference he was hospitalized for two days, but returned to do his final presentation. His only concern at that time was not for his own health, but that he let others down because he was dissatisfied with his performance. Yet, I can tell you from personal experience, he was the only one there who was in any way disappointed. That was Jerry Long, the consummate perfectionist! That was Jerry Long, always worrying about others! 
The first time I met Dr. Jerry Long, Jr. was at the World Congress of Logotherapy in Regensburg, Germany. I really didn't know much about him except that Dr. Frankl, with whom I studied and worked for many years, was enamored with him. To be honest I was a little jealous of Frank/'s fondness for Jerry. I had never seen Dr. and Mrs. Frankl jump up to welcome anyone like they did when Jerry came into the room. Viktor's eyes lit up whenever Jerry was around and Elly often told people that Jerry "was like a son" to them. It didn't make me feel any better about him when I arrived at the university the next day to give my presentation and found only about a dozen people, out of the hundreds registered at the Congress, there to hear me. After all, I had traveled 5000 miles to present my research, was a favorite of Dr. Frankl's, and, until then, thought I was a pretty good speaker with some valuable information to impart. I couldn't understand why the classroom was almost empty. So I delivered my paper and, just after I finished my presentation, I found out where everyone was.. Somehow I had received the 
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dubious honor of being scheduled to present at the same time as Jerry. As I walked down the hallway after my lecture was over, I passed by an auditorium in which hundreds of people sat spellbound as Jerry worked his magic. I soon joined them and was also caught under his spell as the brilliance and inspiration of his message overwhelmed my being. And I understood perfectly well why my classroom was empty. 
Of course, the first thing I did after he finished was make a beeline to the Congress administrators and beg them never to schedule me opposite Jerry Long again. My ego couldn't take it! Several years later, I got smart and persuaded Jerry to do a presentation with me so I could ride his coattails and share in his popularity. In fact, our plenary session went so well that we were asked to repeat it. My next trip to Dallas was supposed to be that repeat collaboration with Jerry that's already arranged for next year's Congress. I don't know how I'm going to do that one without you, Jerry. 
As friends of Jerry's, I'm sure that most of you know the early story of Jerry Long, so I'll be brief. He was an 18 year old, major league pitching prospect with a 94 mph fastball who was drafted by the Houston Astros into professional baseball. But his baseball career never got off the ground due to his accident. Several months later, while rehabilitating himself, he read Man's Search for Meaning and it touched the very core of his existence. 
So Jerry wrote a letter to Dr. Frankl thanking him for his wisdom and telling him how reading Man's Search for Meaning had given him the courage and inspiration to rebuild his life. After reading the letter at his home in Austria, Dr. Frankl immediately picked up the phone to meet the incredible man who so embodied his philosophy, and a lifelong friendship began. 
If you've ever received a letter from Jerry you can easily understand Dr. Frankl's reaction. Nobody wrote letters like Jerry -elegant, passionate, and lengthy, very lengthy -that expressed his thoughts in absolute clarity. 
Jerry continued in school after that, earning his Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctoral degrees in Psychology; and became, arguably, the world's foremost authority on Frank/'s work. He became a teacher and clinician himself, sharing what he learned and lived with others. He wrote prolifically on Frankl's theories, de-guruizing them as Frankl insisted, by adding his own original and brilliant thinking. In fact, Or. Frankl thought so much of Jerry's intellect that he often sent him manuscripts to critique. They talked for hours about each other's work, dissecting every word as only the two of them could. Jerry even studied German so that he could read Frankl in the original, since he'd been told that something was occasionally lost in the English translations. I truly believe that Jerry's relationship with Professor Frankl, and he always called him Professor Frankl to show his deep respect for him, meant more to him than any other, outside of his family. They shared a common vision of the world, a common experience of unavoidable suffering, and an ability to use their experience and wisdom to help others. Neither did it tor the status or the fame, only to pursue their own meaningful journeys. I'm certain that Dr. Frankl is welcoming Jerry with open arms as we speak. 
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Jerry loved nothing better than to roll up in front of a group of people with that mug of iced tea the size of Mt. Rushmore on his tray, and share himself, his wisdom, and his knowledge with them. He could talk to anyone, and boy, could he talk. Though he would never impose himself on you, if you wanted to hear what he had to say, he'd share what he knew. He loved being the center of attention in those settings, sharing his personal experiences while unashamedly and honestly answering everything that was asked. If you wanted his opinion or speculation, he'd proffer that too. And he had an opinion on everything. In tact, he was one of the most well read people I've ever met. He remembered everything he read or heard and could instantaneously recall an astounding amount of information with that magnificent brain of his. 
I often watched with envied fascination when Jerry made presentations. As he got more and more into it you could see his energy rev up as that Texas drawl began to get thicker and he rocked back and forth. I swear there were a few times I thought he might rock himself right out of his chair. But his intense concentration never wavered as he hypnotized audiences with the very essence of his being. 
His physical pain meant nothing to Jerry. He took his physical suffering into stride as just another hurdle to climb, but this one on a daily basis, as he never let it deter him. When he visited my home a few years ago, I got a firsthand look at the challenges he faced in his daily routine. The things most of us take for granted were a two hour morning ordeal for Jerry. Getting out of bed, personal grooming and hygiene, getting mobile, and nourishing ourselves takes most of us only a few minutes. When we ride in our cars few of us grimace with pain, straining every muscle in our bodies just to remain upright. But he almost never complained and, on those rare occasions when he did, he so minimized it that few of us even heard it. And that's the way he wanted it. 
I once commented to Jerry that not everyone had his extraordinary ability to face life's traumas and turn them into triumphs. I had been thinking about how I might cope with life if I were in Jerry's shoes. I intimated that perhaps others who saw him as a role model could not overcome their burdens so magnificently and might become frustrated with his message. He looked at me like I was from Mars. I knew what he was thinking. How could a dedicated student of Dr. Frankl, like me, doubt life's potential for anyone. He immediately said, "Jay, everyone is capable of finding life's unconditional meaning and of acting on it. And it is our life's work to challenge them to find their meanings, in their own way. My way is only my way." And I thought how much he sounded like Viktor Frankl. 
Jerry had a profound sense of family. He was probably closest to his mother, Linda Long, from whom he received unconditional love and emotional support. They were totally dedicated to each other, and she reluctantly accepted his dogged need tor independence, despite her need to nurture and protect him. After Jerry's accident, Linda returned to school to become a nurse in order to care tor Jerry properly. She is a loving and 
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gracious woman whose courage and tenacity clearly served as a role model for Jerry. 
The relationship between Jerry and his father, Jerry Long, Sr. was more volatile perhaps because they were so much alike. When Jerry first got home from the hospital after his accident, his father showed his love as he got on the floor with Jerry in a nightly ritual of massaging and exercising his limbs. Though their relationship was more distant later in life, much to Jerry's chagrin, they reconciled their love for each other shortly before his father's death last year. 
Jerry was also very close to his brothers, David and Andy Long, and his sister, Jennifer Sjoblom, as well as his sister-in-law, Christi Long, and brother-in-law, Jeff Sjoblum. And he was completely enamored with his nieces and nephews, Zoey, Hailey, Justin, and Timothy. He always looked forward to his visits with his family and truly enjoyed their company. 
Though Jerry loved his family, he was most in love with Renee. You know, this guy was a chick magnet! Have you ever seen how people, especially women, flocked to talk with him wherever he went. He was married three times and had at least one other long term relationship that I knew about. When I was single I used to hang out with him after he lectured just to catch his leftovers. He could have had a relationship with virtually any woman he wanted. And he did! He chose Renee. They were truly a perfect fit. Her life literally bonded with his these past almost 4 years. Jerry was the teacher, philosopher, writer, and healer. Renee the perfect support system; smart enough to keep up with him intellectually and capable enough to manage the complex logistics of their lives. And how she loved him! You could see the synergy of their interactions as she often anticipated his needs in that loving, giving spirit that so defines her. Her first thoughts are always of others, and, like Jerry, she thrives in the role of he/per/nurturer/lover. Her love and respect for Jerry were enormous and never were they more pronounced than as she fought her way through the hospital bureaucracies during Jerry's last few weeks, like a mother grizzly protecting her young. 
Though Jerry never had children of his own, he was very close to his step-children, Ashley and Sean. He loved them as if they were his own and they loved him in return. In fact, he was crazy about children in general. How many times did I see him meet the curious stares of young children with a smile as he'd reach out to them in conversation or offer them a fun ride on his wheelchair. As well meaning but unenlightened parents would dissuade their children from "bothering" Jerry, he'd be eyeball to eyeball with them charming them as he did everyone he met. And who could forget his work with the Dallas Police Department when he negotiated the release of an entire class of kindergarten students who had been taken hostage by a crazed gunman a few years back. 
I'd like to share a brief story with you about Jerry that happened when Jerry visited Baltimore. During the week of his visit, my daughter, Gabi, who was just enamored with Jerry, invited him to join us at her end of first grade picnic. When he accepted Gabi's invitation, I took it upon myself to volunteer Jerry to speak to her class. I talked with Gabi's teacher and 
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unknowingly started three days of chaos at the school during which the school administrators tortured themselves with the usual neurotic concerns about traumatizing young girls by having a quadriplegic talk with them. Fortunately, the teacher, Mrs. Harper, was a marvelous woman who immediately saw only the potential rewards of this idea. She not only overcame the administration's concerns but arranged for Jerry to speak to the entire first grade, not just Gabi's class. Meanwhile I hadn't yet asked Jerry if he'd address the class because I was embarrassed by the school's initial reluctance and didn't want to hurt his feelings. Of course, when I did extend the last minute invitation, he immediately agreed and with no time to prepare did his usual riveting presentation at a level that these little girls completely understood. After he patiently answered all their questions (and there were some real doosies) we went out to the picnic. At the picnic some of the administrators showed up, I suspect to make sure the girls were "all right" and not too traumatized. It was fun to watch their embarrassment at their own anxieties as they stared dumbfounded at the first graders lined up seven and eight deep just for the privilege of feeding Jerry a piece of cake and getting his autograph, which of course he signed with his mouthstick. 
When I saw the teacher and the Head of the lower school last Friday at Gabi's graduation from lower school, I shared the news of Jerry's death. A tear came to Mrs. Harper's eye as she said what a profound experience it had been for her and the first graders and how she wished she had asked Jerry to address the entire school. 
Jerry approached his friendships with the same dedication and intensity he approached everything else. If you were Jerry's friend, he was there for you! He listened when you kvetched and complained, consoled your suffering, and picked up your spirits with his marvelously dry and sometimes dark sense of humor. As always, he gave unconditionally but always felt guilty when it was his turn to ask a favor. 
I don't know all of Jerry's friends, he touched so many fives. I do know how close he was to Bob Ekstrom, who provided so much kindness and logistical support for Jerry and his family. ft was Bob who composed today's program and helped Renee so much in arranging this service. No task is too great or too small for Bob. He drove Ashley back and forth to school daily and regularly checked in on Jerry to see if he needed anything. He even helped Jerry feed his pet fish, named, what else, Viktor. And /'II never forget the phone call from Bob after Jerry visited Baltimore telling me how much Jerry enjoyed the visit and thanking me for my hospitality and kindness toward his friend. Thank you Bob. 
I recently met his friend, Brad Newton, with whom Jerry shared a passion for baseball, and with whom Jerry felt "like a regular guy". We'll hear from Brad a little later. Jerry and Renee were also especially close to Mimi, and Bob Balkey who were so supportive and made them feel so loved. 
For myself, I remember the long telephone conversations about so many things. We talked about our work, critiqued each other's manuscripts, and shared our love of baseball (even though he was a Ranger's fan). When Dr. Frankl died we talked for hours as we commiserated and he consoled me in 
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my grief, despite his own emotional pain. And, of course, there are so few of us who can share our experiences about our intimate relationship with the Frankls. 
I can only say that Jerry was a great friend. I'll miss his wry smile, stimulating intellect, support in times of need, dry sense of humor, and enormous positive energy. He was my friend and truly one of my heroes. 
Dr. Frankl once said that it is the very transitoriness of human existence that makes life worthwhile. Without the finiteness of life he believed that people might never feel the urgency to fulfill the meanings of their lives. He said, 'To be bestowed with meaning, life must transcend itself, but it must not do so in (the) length (of one's life) but in 'height' in the sense of spiritually growing beyond oneself -or in 'breadth' in the sense of social engagement." Clearly, though the life of Dr. Jerry Long, Jr. was all too brief, he superbly achieved the height and breadth of Frank/'s ideal. Jerry was a teacher, writer, healer, and philosopher. His pioneering work in crisis intervention and so many other aspects of psychology will inspire us forever. He was an amazing man who really never understood how incredible he was. Don't feel sorry for Jerry, his suffering is over and his legacy burns as an everlasting light in the hearts of all those whose lives he touched. Rather, we should feel sorry for ourselves because the death of this great man leaves an irreplaceable void in our lives. 
In closing, I would once again like to quote Dr. Frankl who said that when people die, "Instead of possibilities in the future, they have their realities in the past -the deeds done, the loved ones loved, and last, but not least, the suffering they have gone through with courage and dignity. In a word, they have already brought in the harvest of their lives and now, as it has been said in the book of Job, come to their graves, like a shock of corn cometh into its season". 
I'll miss you Jerry. You were a great friend and I loved you. Be at peace my friend. Amen. 
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The International Forum for Logotherapy, 2003, 26, 1-6. 
UNDERSTANDING BENEFITS OF THE MARTIAL ARTS FROM THE STANDPOINT OF LOGOTHERAPY 
Jim Lantz 
Viktor Frankl's "Existenzanalyse" is not only a philosophy of treatment but also a philosophy of human life.2 As a philosophy of human life, it can be used to increase understanding in a variety of fields including literature, drama, poetry, art, architecture, and sports. 1 ·2 The purpose of the present article is to use Frankl's philosophy of Existenzanalyse to better understand why the martial arts are often so effective in facilitating human growth and development on physical, moral, and spiritual levels of existence. In addition, the article describes and illustrates the use of the martial arts as an adjunctive treatment activity during the practice of Logotherapy and Existenzanalyse. 
Brief History and Overview of the Martial Arts 
The martial arts field developed in the ancient world out of a human interest in finding more effective combat methods of defeating an enemy. In their original form, the martial arts were studied by soldiers and were considered a military art.7 With the development of more lethal military arts, such as guns and bombs, the martial arts decreased in popularity as a combat art and evolved into a set of activities and methods for individual self-development and personal self-defense.7 Over the past hundred years, the martial arts have been described as good exercise for the promotion of human physical vitality, as a method of character development, and as a method of "moving meditation" used to enhance spiritual development.7·8 What has yet to be reported in either the martial arts literature or the logotherapy literature is the potential of the martial arts to help human beings in their search for a personal sense of meaning and purpose in life. 
Although there are literally hundreds of different forms of martial arts practiced around the world, the five most popular forms are Judo, Karate, Kung Fu, Aikido, and Tae Kwon Do.7 Aikido and Judo focus primarily upon using your opponent's energy and desire to defeat you in a way that paradoxically causes your opponent to lose. Both Aikido and Judo are primarily defensive in nature. Karate, Kung Fu, and Tae Kwon Do rely primarily upon kicking and punching and, again, are performed most 

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effectively from a defensive stance and attitude.a All five of these martial arts systems are extremely effective for self-defense but are not quickly learned; skill development in the martial arts requires commitment and lengthy practice. Such commitment often results in improved physical vitality, increased acceptance of a moral attitude in life, and spiritual growth that includes an awareness of meaning, beauty, and the specialness of life.a From an Existenzanalyse point of view, practicing the martial arts can assist the person in the development of human awareness about the meanings and meaning potentials in life, can help the person practice and develop their awareness of freedom, can help the person develop increased selftranscendence in the face of the reality of suffering and death, and can help the person decrease isolation and discover the experiential values and meanings to be found in human relationships. 
Meaning and the Martial Arts 
Over the past 30 years, the author has used dream reflection, poetry, art, story telling, and a number of other expressive art methods to help clients become more aware of and able to notice the meanings and meanini potentials in life and become more practiced and effective in those skills.3.4, · 6 During these years, the author also has found the learning and practice of the martial arts to be helpful for developing skill in noticing and awareness. The study and practice of the martial arts is a great perceptual awakening experience that magnificently hones the awareness skills of its students. a Mat work, forms, free-fighting, correct breathing, repetitive practice of the basic movements, and watching others demonstrate and practice, all provide the student and practitioner with intensively developed perceptual awareness skills. 
It is well documented that long-term martial arts practitioners can develop perceptual awareness skills that border on the mystical and miraculous.7·a It is less well known among martial arts instructors how effective the martial arts can be as an adjunct to logotherapy to facilitate a client's awareness skills and help the client notice the meaning and meaning potentials in life. The following case example illustrates this point. 
Case Example: Randy 
Randy was born in 1986. His early development was extremely slow. His language and motor skills were significantly delayed, and when he started school he had serious problems learning. Randy was eventually diagnosed as having both Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Asperger's syndrome. It was hypothesized that Randy's problems might be genetic, might be reactive to oxygen deprivation during birth, or might even be reactive to his father's exposure to agent orange during service in 
2 
Vietnam. The basic difficulties that showed up in school included concentration difficulties, impulsive and inappropriate behavior during periods of too much stimulation, and hyperactivity. Randy's treatment plan included medications, weekly psychotherapy, enrollment in a special school designed for kids with learning disabilities, speech therapy for his language delays, and occupational therapy for his motor skill difficulties. 
Randy is now 14 years old. He still takes some medications, no longer attends a special school, and sees his therapist every three or four weeks. He is on the Honor Roll at school. He has friends and has developed into a respectful, creative, intelligent, hard working, caring, and decent young teenager. About five years ago (at age 9), Randy started taking Tae Kwon Do lessons. These lessons appear to have improved Randy's self-esteem, his coordination, his concentration, his control of his impulsivity, his respect for others and himself, and they have helped him to significantly decrease his anxiety. Randy still has problems, but he refuses to let them control him. He has learned many skills to use in overcoming his problems. 
Randy reports that the "best thing" he has gotten from Tae Kwon Do is that he has learned to focus and "pay attention" to important and interesting "things." In Frankl's words,1 Tae Kwon Do has helped Randy develop awareness skills that he can use to notice the meaning potentials and opportunities in his life. Randy received his first degree Black Belt on January 15, 1999. Randy and his parents have granted the author permission to use his story in this article. 
Self-transcendence and the Martial Arts 
At its root, martial arts training is about teaching the student powerful methods of ending the life of another when this is necessary for the personal safety of the self and/or one's family.7·8 It is understood by martial arts instructors that to teach such skills also involves a responsibility to teach the student honor, dignity, good character, responsibility, and, most importantly, respect for life.7·8 In martial arts training, the student is carefully, slowly, and surely introduced to the real possibility of suffering and death. This is done by helping the student learn the functions of the basic martial arts movements (blocks and strikes), the fighting relevance of the katas and forms, and the process of mat work and free-fighting.8 
As a student begins to gain awareness of the real possibility of death, the student also is introduced to death imagery's positive side-effect. Many martial arts instructors and practitioners describe this side-effect as the 
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"Great Paradox."7· It is what Heidegger described as "mindfulness of Being," and logotherapy describes as "self-transcendence."6 The Great Paradox refers to the fact that for most persons, their ability to walk away from physical confrontation and to avoid fights increases with the development of increased skills in the martial arts. The Great Paradox can 
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be understood in logotherapy as an increased awareness of the specialness of life when death imagery is presented to the client in a controlled and supportive fashion. 
During the logotherapy treatment process, it is difficult to provide the client with "action experiences" that result in awareness of death and suffering. It can be useful to promote such awareness (and its side-effect of self-transcendence) by referring clients to kind, sensitive, and strong martial arts instructors who understand the Great Paradox and view spirituality and self-transcendence as the primary tasks of the modern martial arts instructor. 
Freedom and the Martial Arts 
In order to discover a sense of meaning and purpose in life and to utilize awareness of suffering and death for the development of selftranscendence, the client must also discover freedom. Frankl has long believed that human beings deeply desire freedom on a conscious level of awareness but fear freedom (and its companion, responsibility) on an unconscious level of awareness. 1 •2 Frankl has emphasized that a central factor in logotherapy is to help the client become more aware of their fear of freedom and the many ways they attempt to give freedom away in daily life. 
Lantz has reported that there are three basic patterns that people use to avoid both freedom and its "terrible side-effect," responsibility.4 People can escape from freedom by using "aggression" to deny the freedom of others, by acting "dependent" and prostrating the freedom of the self before the strengths of others, and by using detachment and "avoidance" to ignore the importance of freedom in the life of the self and others. 
Martial arts practice provides the student an excellent opportunity to practice the opposite of the three basic patterns that people use to avoid freedom and responsibility. Martial arts practice provides practice in healthy physical and social movement patterns of assertiveness, independence, and intimacy during the practice forms, katas, basic blocks, punches, and kicks. For example, in Tae Kwon Do Form Number One (Palgwe II Chang) the student is required to move against (assertiveness), move away from (independence), and move toward (intimacy) during the over 30 punches, blocks, and turns in its basic "I" pattern. 
The continuous practice of blocks, punches, turns, forms, katas, and kicks in the martial arts is surprisingly effective in helping the logotherapy client to expand problem solving skills, communication patterns, and social movement patterns described by Lantz as patterns of responsibility and freedom.4 
4 
Experiential Meanings and the Martial Arts 
An important issue in the practice of logotherapy is to help the client discover the experiential meanings and values in human 
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relationships. 1 • • • • •6 For many logotherapists, 1 • • · an important component of treatment is to help the client decrease their sense of isolation by experiencing human relationship, connection, and intimacy with others as they learn to tolerate intimacy's anxiety provoking aspect most frequently described as human vulnerability. Logotherapists frequently attempt to help their clients confront isolation through the encounter of the treatment relationship and sometimes by using group therapy and/or family therapy as experiential opportunities to confront isolation. 
Another experiential opportunity to learn to develop human relationships can occur during the study of the martial arts. The study and practice of the martial arts is a structured group situation that can provide the socially isolated individual an excellent opportunity to make friends, find acceptance, develop concern for others, and discover the universalities of being human. In the martial arts studio, the student is expected to learn and follow a structured code of conduct. This structured set of expectations may be especially helpful to individuals who feel socially isolated and have difficulty making connections to other people in their daily lives. The structured martial arts learning situation provides the isolated individual clear and precise social interaction rules and a code of conduct that usually protects the person from teasing, ridicule, and social rejection. The martial arts studio's atmosphere of respect can be extremely helpful to a logotherapy client who experiences problems with loneliness and isolation, as the following clinical illustration demonstrates. 
Case Example: Joy 
Joy was a ?-year-old, socially isolated, anxious child who mumbled when speaking, could not look people in the eye, and was extremely fearful and anxious in social situations. Joy got bad grades at school, was picked on by the other children, and often experienced crying spells at both school and home. Joy was referred to the author for a logotherapy approach to play therapy by her Child Psychiatrist who was treating Joy's anxiety and depression with medications. Joy was able to use play therapy, especially artwork, to work on her fears. She used play and art initially to express her feelings non-verbally and then to begin to express herself more effectively verbally. 
After two years of play therapy, Joy agreed to join a Tae Kwon Do class. Joy was surprised to discover that the other children in her class accepted her immediately, and she enjoyed the class's atmosphere of respect. Joy's young female instructor gave her much individual attention and paired her 
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with a 13-year-old Black Belt girl for more special attention and to help with learning the movements and forms. Joy was especially proud to break a board on her Yellow-Belt test and deeply enjoyed the encouragement and applause she received from her fellow students during and after the test. 
Joy dropped out of logotherapy at age 10. She has continued in Tae Kwon Do (she is now a Red Belt) and enjoys the class and "my friends." Joy was able to use her Tae Kwon Do class to challenge her pattern of social isolation, her anxiety, and her depression. Joy now helps a younger Tae Kwon Do student who also is shy and scared to learn the ropes. Joy no longer is taking psychotropic medications. Her parents believe that the combination of logotherapy and the martial arts changed Joy's life. Joy has been able to use her treatment experience and her martial arts experience to discover the experiential meanings to be found in human relationships. 
JIM LANTZ, Ph.D. [1947 College Road, Columbus, Ohio 43210 USA] is a Professor at The Ohio State University College ofSocial Work, a Dip/ornate in Logotherapy, and an Assistant Instructor at Central Ohio Tae Kwon Do in Columbus under Master Laura Clements and Grandmaster Mark Geygion. 
References 
1. 
Frankl, V. (1955). The doctor and the soul. NY: Vintage Press. 

2. 
Frankl, V. (1978). The unheard cry tor meaning. NY: Simon and Schuster. 

3. 
Lantz, J. (1989). Meaning in profanity and pain. Voices, 25, 3437. 

4. 
Lantz, J. (1993). Existential reflection and the unconscious ought. Voices, 29, 50-55. 

5. 
Lantz, J. (2000). Phenomenological reflection and time in Viktor Frankl's existential psychotherapy. Journal Phenomenological Psychology, 31, 104-115. 

6. 
Lantz, J. (2000). Heidegger's brightness and Frankl's selftranscendence. The International Forum tor Logotherapy, 23, 8188. 

7. 
Lewis, P. (1996). The martial arts. London: Prion. 

8. 
Payne, P. (1997). Martial arts: The spiritual dimension. London: Thames & Hudson. 


The International Forum for Logotherapy, 2003, 26, 7-10. 

MEANING AND PURPOSE IN TEACHING: A CHALLENGE FOR THE 21 5T CENTURY 
Eileen E. Morrison 
Why do teachers teach? Certainly, it is not about making a fortune. It is also not about having a simple life with no challenges. So, why do they do it? This article is about finding meaning and purpose in teaching through the principles of logotherapy. It also presents strategies for keeping the spirit of teaching alive. Finally, it offers a challenge to anyone who serves in the teaching role. 
Parker Palmer in his enlightening book, The Courage to Teach, shares the inner world of the teacher. He says "I am a teacher at heart, and there are moments in the classroom when I can hardly hold the joy." 5' P-1 But, there are also times when "the classroom is so lifeless or painful or confused-and I am so powerless to do anything about it-that my claim to be a teacher seems a transparent sham." 5' P-1 These statements provide some inkling of the challenges faced by teachers. Learners do not always seem to care about the content. Sometimes, they seem to be more "grade collectors" than learners. Teachers find themselves searching for some "scholarly hearts" among those that they are trying to reach. Certainly, the challenge of reaching both the hearts and the minds of learners can seem a daunting one. 
Imagine how much more difficult this would be if the teacher finds no personal meaning in what he or she is doing! Imagine if the teacher is caught in the existential vacuum of just doing the job without feeling its worth. Certainly, the quality of teaching would be diminished and the "inner fire" for the job would die. A tired, unhappy, communicator of information might replace the inspired scholar that the teacher would like to be. 
How do the principles of logotherapy assist teachers in finding meaning in teaching and the inner courage to do continue their work? First, Frankl's statement that "each man's life is unique in that no one can repeat it-by virtue of the uniqueness of his existence"4· P55 provides hope for the educator. He or she is truly unique, and the teacher's impact on students is also unique. Happiness lies not in the money or accolades that one can obtain as a teacher, but in knowing that one's teaching 
7 
makes a difference. There may be differences in degree but nothing that is done goes totally unnoticed when one is a teacher. 
Fabry discusses the freedom to change as an important part of logotherapy.3 The idea that teachers have choice about what they do and, more importantly, how they feel about their work is a powerful one. In other words, teachers can choose to make the classes meaningful experiences for themselves and their students or not. Understanding the concepts of freedom, choice, and responsibility can change the whole approach to teaching. Each teacher can be responsible for keeping the passion for teaching high. 
Teachers, like logotherapists, are challenged to assist others in finding their own meaning. This can occur by creating opportunities for learners to find meanin in the con n ein resente . More imp.or:t_an ¼.. teac ers also can challenge students to seek the meao.jng of ttieir own lives through dialogue and directed st~dy. What a powerful opportunity this presents! 
Maintaining Awareness of Meaning in Teaching 
While Frankl's principles assist in identifying the meaning in teaching, there needs to be some practical ways to maintain awareness of the meaning when the dark days are present. First, symbols can be used to remind the teacher why he or she made the choice to teach. Pictures, calendars, and sayings can bring a smile or refresh the spirit. Second, colleagues assist with examining the choice to teach. They can share practical advice on how to create meaningful learning experiences for students. They also can be a personal support by providing spirit-building wisdom. Third, an "I am a Teacher'' file of students' letters and cards can be reviewed on the dark days. This file can reinforce successes and help to restore the inner courage to teach. 
Becoming a learner is another way to maintain a sense of meaning in teaching. Seeking new learning can refresh ones' enthusiasm for content which can lead to more meaningful classroom presentations. Assuming the learner role also produces greater empathy for students. When the teacher struggles with new learning or sits for hours in a lecture, a deeper understanding of the students' world can occur. Finally, keeping a teaching/learning journal provides a vehicle to record teaching choices and attitudes toward those choices. 
In logotherapy, people are not reduced to just physical bodies. Rather, they are a "three-dimensional reality of body, psyche, and spirit."3• P-20 To maintain this unity, teachers make choices with these dimensions in mind. Certainly, in the physical area, teachers need to avoid what the Japanese call karoshi or death from overwork. Ways to achieve greater balance in the physical areas include: 
8 
• 
Time-outs. This means doing nothing. Even short breaks during the day can enhance energy and productivity. 

• 
Sleep. The normal amount for adults is 7-8 hours of restful sleep. Sleep hygiene includes watching the intake of alcohol and caffeine before bedtime and having a sleep-inducing routine. 

• 
Nutrition. Balance and moderation seem to be the key concepts here rather than calorie obsession. Consumption of sufficient liquids is also important for body hydration. 

• 
Exercise. This key component needs to be adapted to personal lifestyles so that it is not boring. Seeking assistance from a personal trainer may help to make exercise a daily activity. 


Even though teachers live in the world of ideas, they still need attend to their overall mental health. Some ideas for practicing mental hygiene include: 
• 
Watch self-messaging. Evaluate beliefs about students, work environment, etc. to see if negativity is perceived when none exists. 

• 
Be aware of self-fulfilling prophecy. Expecting the best from students and watching stereotypes helps to set up a positive environment for learning and for teaching. 

• 
Insist on some alone time. It is vital to be able to have a time to think. Some writers even suggest finding a safe haven where one is not disturbed and creativity can occur. 

• 
Employ humor. This can be a form of dereflection when the teacher finds humor in the situation. The physical and mental health benefits of humor and laughter have been demonstrated through research studies. Being able to laugh at oneself and with students can certainly increase overall mental health. 


Frankl includes the spiritual dimension as an integral part of all human beings.4 Meaningful teaching engages both the intellect and the spirit of the teacher. It also requires renewal of that spirit to engage in meaning-filled teaching. Some ideas for addressing the spiritual part of teaching include: 
• 
Do a values inventory. Crumbaugh includes many tools for this assessment in his book, Everything to Gain. Having identified values provides a foundation for making choices in this area. 1 

• 
Practice meditation. This may mean getting out of the office to a quiet place or just taking the time to close the door for solitude. A focal word or thought can be used to concentrate the mind, such as "how can I find meaning in this?" Often answers occur when the spirit is free to do its work. 

• 
Create a personal prayer life. Dossey in Healing Words: The Power of Prayer and the Practice of Medicine, presents the 


9 
benefit of a prayer life through scientific studies and anecdotal 
information.2 Prayer can be practiced at any time or place and the 
format will be unique to each teacher. 
These ideas for addressing unity appear to be simple. In truth, they are difficult to practice in today's world of multi-tasking, multi-time demands, and learning curves for new technology. The challenge is to not become overwhelmed by all of these things and to keep the meaning of teaching in the forefront of daily practice. ,:_eaching is a choice. This .£!:loice presents unique opportunities to make a difference one person at a time; every e~ounter with a studenf makes an impact. Perhaps each teacher shouid start the day by asking: "why did I make the choice to teach and how can I do it better?" 
EILEEN E. MORRISON, MPH, Ed.D., LPC [University of Southern Indiana, Evansville, Indiana 47712, USA] is an Associate in Logotherapy and is an Associate Professor in Health Services Administration at the University of Southern Indiana . 
References 
1. 
Crumbaugh, J. C. (1988). Everything to gain: A guide to selffulfillment through logoanalysis. Berkeley, CA: Institute of Logotherapy Press. 

2. 
Dossey, L. (1993). Healing words: The power of prayer and the practice of medicine. NY: HarperCollins. 

3. 
Fabry, J. B. (1994). The pursuit of meaning. Abilene, TX: Institute of Logotherapy Press. 

4. 
Frankl, V. E. (1988). The will to meaning: Foundations and applications of logotherapy. NY: Penguin Books. 

5. 
Palmer, P. J. (1998). The courage to teach: Exploring the inner landscape of a teacher's life. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. 


10 
The International Forum for Logotherapy, 2003, 26, 11-14. 
A QUEST FOR MEANING WORKSHOP 
E. Ann Berens 
It seems to me that our own personal quest for meaning (i.e., the re-examining of the foundation from which we live) is a place to start in exploring "Spirituality in the Meaning Crisis of the Twentyfirst Century." After all, isn't our greatest responsibility to be true to ourselves and to seek to fulfill our unique potential? Without that, how else can we deal positively with the frustrations and challenges caused by the imperfect world we live in today? 
To quote from Waking up in Time: Finding Inner Peace in Times of Accelerating Change, by Peter Russell (a Fellow of the Institute of Noetic Sciences): 
If we are to navigate safely through this critical moment in history, we must make a break with the past, and look at ourselves and our world with fresh eyes. This will entail a fundamental shift in thinking and perception -a shift in consciousness more profound and far reaching than any in our history. It will mean awakening to the wisdom that lies within us all, of which the great sages have always spoken. This is our next step in evolution -not an outer step, but an inner one.1· p.xu 
With this kind of thinking, I developed a workshop titled A QUEST FOR MEANING. The workshop is a 6-week course that evolved through 20 years of volunteer work in a Red Cross socialization program for emotionally disturbed adults at the Creative Living Center in Berkeley, California. It was inspired by Viktor Frankl's work as portrayed in Man's Search for Meaning, and it was greatly encouraged by Joe Fabry. 
The main purpose of A QUEST FOR MEANING is to help individuals to take a fresh look at the direction in which they are going, and what they want as unique individuals. I talked with a retiree who was inquiring about A QUEST FOR MEANING course being offered at the local community center. He sounded upbeat and generally happy with his life. He was giving music appreciation classes in two different locations, which gave him great satisfaction; but, he said 

11 
there was something missing and he was interested in looking deeper into himself for the answer. 
Content of the Workshop 
A QUEST FOR MEANING gives the opportunity for people to look for the something that is missing in their lives. After a brief introductory summary of Viktor Frankl's life and work with Logotherapy, I explain the purpose of the workshop as being to get in touch with, and become more aware of, our deepest core or essence. The first session focuses also on creating a sense of community, one of trust and authenticity. When achieved, the sense of community greatly enhances the success of the workshop in terms of personal revelation. I make a point of giving time for each participant to introduce him or her self, giving a brief summary of their background and what they are dealing with, and also giving time for each participant to state what they hope to gain from the workshop. They quickly learn that they are respected and accepted non-judgmentally. Confidentiality is stressed, as is self-honesty -the workshop is to meet personal needs, rather than the expectations of others. 
Each of the five remaining 2-hour sessions uses Socratic dialogue to focus on five topics, one per session: values, identity, beliefs, reality, and self-affirmation. Each session begins with a brief overview of the topic for that session, some ideas of the facilitator, and quotes from a wide range of authors. Then a question on the session topic is posed, and the participants write their responses for 5 minutes. The question is then opened for discussion, and anyone may share from what they have written. It is not unusual for someone to have an "aha" as personal experiences are shared. "Light bulbs" are turned on and "doors are opened" to self-understanding. 
Here are examples of questions used: 
Values: What do you value most in your life right now? Are 
your values helpful or hampering? 
Identity: What excites you? What do you feel passionate 
about? Does this give you a clue to the essence of 
who you are? 
Beliefs: What do you not do because you are afraid of how 
people will react? What belief is behind this fear? 
Reality: What excess baggage are you carrying around, 
such as fears, habits, hang-ups? What would you 
like to let go of? 
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Self-affirmation: Where are you now and where are you 
going? Do you have a clear sense of direction? 
The topics used in A QUEST FOR MEANING -values, identity, beliefs, reality, and self-affirmation -and the questions that are posed evidence much overlap. There is no clear right vs. wrong, black vs. white; there are many shades of color and many ways to reach the ultimate target of finding inner peace, joy, and compassion with the aid of logotherapeutic wisdom to live in the present. 
Right from the start it is made clear that the workshop is not a professional counseling group. Advice is not given. We are there to find our own solutions to our own personal problems and to hear how others deal with similar struggles. 
By the end of the six sessions the group becomes close and often wishes the workshop were not ending. At this point the participants are encouraged to continue on their own if they wish, or start another continuing group. For this purpose, I developed a Facilitator's Manual to record the structure and to guide anyone who may wish to start such a group. The Facilitator's Manual includes lists of questions for each of the five topics, which can be used to guide the continued search. Copies of the Facilitator's Manual can be ordered by e-mail from annberens@sbcglobal.net or by telephone (707) 836-9822. 
Some Results 
The availability of A QUEST FOR MEANING workshops has grown, and they are now offered at various venues. These include the Mercy Center in Burlingame, California, U.C. Berkeley YWCA, and Orinda Community Center. 
Representative comments from evaluation forms used at the end of each workshop give testimonial to some of its benefit: 
"It was one of the best things I ever did. I loved everything 
about it. [I learned] I have a lot in common with others." 
"It gave me a base to explore from -to continue to delve into 
my purpose and aims in life." 
"[The most important thing I learned was] to look objectively at 
my life and not be so judgmental. The feedback from the group 
was invaluable." 
"It opened my thinking to take care of my needs... the 
questions were illuminating." 
"It touches on all the important topics of meaningful living." 
"[I learned to] believe in my own feelings, trust them, and go 
with them freely." 
13 
"Thanks to the group discussions, I understood something very important to me ... a new way of approaching and enjoying everyday life and pursuing my quest for meaning and spiritual path. I am far more relaxed now. Thank you." 
Some Future Hopes 
Becoming a whole, integrated person is a lifetime struggle. Living from our inner core, and trusting it, is probably one of our major personal goals. It is my hope that A QUEST FOR MEANING workshops will be one means to meet the need for deeper selfawareness and inner growth. Now, after the devastating terrorist attacks in New York, Washington, and elsewhere, there is an even greater need for all of us to re-examine our values and beliefs and to act with responsibility within our neighborhoods, our schools and work places, and our cities. Terrorism is not only a global issue, it is also a personal issue. We can all play our part in bringing peace, understanding, and meaning among all people. There is indeed a need for spirituality in this time of meaning crisis in the twenty-first century. 
E. ANN BERENS [1495 Mt. Weske Dr., Windsor, California 95492 USA] has received training in logotherapy from Joe Fabry and Elisabeth Lukas. With the encouragement of Joe Fabry, she developed a Search for Meaning program at the Berkeley Creative Living Center where she has been a volunteer from 1975-1997. The Search for Meaning program evolved into the workshop A QUEST FOR MEANING. 
Reference 
1. Russell, P. (1998). Waking up in time: Finding inner peace in times of accelerating change. Novato, CA: Origin Press. 
14 

The International Forum for Logotherapy, 2003, 26, 15-20. 
FUNNY IS SERIOUS; SERIOUS IS FUNNY -HUMOR AND LOGOTHERAPY 
Deborah Paden-Levy 
Humor has been called "the art form of every man." 9• P-5 Humor and mirth not only make life livable and desirable, but also add delight, fascination, and richness. It is within the essential nature of humans to create and enjoy humor. Humor is one of the qualities which makes us human, which separates us from animals. And as an intrinsic human quality, humor is considered to be in the spiritual dimension. ··· . In fact, laughter is a phenomenon that has been called a "sudden glory."3· P·9 As a noetic resource, humor can create "the line in the heart where tears of laughter and sorrow merge." 7 • P·89 
Throughout history, humor has represented a paradox, oscillating from negative to positive poles. It has only been within the last 120 years that laughter in public has been socially acceptable.6 More recently, the spotlight of American culture focused on humor after the 1979 publication of Norman Cousin's The anatomy of an il/ness.2 An editor and journalist, Cousins outlined his recovery from an "incurable" collagen disease which he attributed to large doses of vitamin C and large doses of laughter (Marx Brothers' movies). Widely read, this book provided impetus for the expansion of the holistic health movement. After Cousins, humor found a place in stress-management programs, in self-help books, and as a prophylactic strategy in preventative health magazines. 
Humor and Dimensional Ontology 
The benefits of humor encompass Frankl's three-dimensional view of humans. In the physical dimension, humor contributes to tensionreduction, reduces stress, decreases autonomic arousal, and lowers heart and respiration rates. It is speculated that laughter causes the release of endorphins into the bloodstream reducing pain, producing euphoria, enhancing physical health, and preventing illness.6 The doctor, Patch Adams, incorporated humor into his practice of medicine and believed that "life itself is bigger than any diagnosis, treatment, or disease mechanism. A moment of laughter ... can reorganize biology in a way that drugs cannot."4 • P-51 
15 
Considering the psychological dimension, humor can facilitate the acquisition of new information. Opposites can be reconciled, new insights can be acquired, and fresh solutions can be inspired by humor. Adaptive traits such as flexibility, spontaneity, unconventionality, shrewdness, and humility can be improved. Humor can expand freedom to play with ideas, to redesign concepts, and to reconsider rules and categories so we are not the slaves of life's rules.3 Liberated for an instant from our controls, laughter can provide an escape from our self-imposed prisons. 
Humor is also considered to be a life-long coping strategy. In fact after a 40 year Harvard Grant study, Vaillant listed humor as one of the five mature human coping mechanisms.6 Allport, Maslow, and Rogers endorsed a sense of humor as a cardinal trait of the fully-functioning person. This coping mechanism of humor can de-escalate the severity of life crises. And to Mindess, the ability to utilize humor is as critical as our ability to love. 11 
In relation to the spiritual dimension of humans, Mindess conceives the power of humor as hope-promoting and hope-expanding. He also views expansion of one's sense of humor as an index of expanded freedom. Humor can become a respite from pain and suffering -a refreshment, a rejuvenation in the noetic dimension. Cartoonists and satirists have used humor for centuries in persuasion and attitude change. If we reflect on how silly our ambitions, qualms, successes, and failures are, we move to selflessness -that is humor's splendor. 11 To Frankl, attitude change toward suffering is considered living at the highest ethical level, and humor can serve as a potent force in this change process. 1 "Perhaps humor restores us to the more versatile versions of ourselves, so that in joking we may be undertaking the most serious thing we do in our lives."3· P-16 
However, humor is not a panacea. Humor can be destructive when used for aggressive purposes. Humor and malevolent laughter can indicate underlying hostility and conflict. Laughter can arise from embarrassment, fear, anxiety, and anger. Psychologically, laughter may indicate self-deprecation, defensiveness, close-mindedness, misanthropy, or a preoccupation with sex. Humor can be offensive and can drive a wedge between individuals. It may be used defensively as a barrier to communication (i.e., the constant jokester). In addition, humor may be used as a method of ingratiation, manipulation, or a means of social control.6 
Humor and the Three Value Realms 
According to Frankl, an area in which to find meaning is through creative activity. To invert authority, mock human nature, illuminate life's absurdities, point out the incongruous, to bring up the unexpected is a 
16 
creative act. Research by Rouff, Verma, and Ziv have even suprorted an association between humor and measures of creative behavior. Notably, Koestler listed the three domains of creativity: humor, discovery, and art with the boundaries blurring between them.a The humorist produces a temporary collision between two incompatible vectors; scientific discovery can be outlined in similar but more permanent terms. During his concentration camp experiences, Frankl reported training a friend to develop a sense of humor. This became a meaningful daily task for them -to create humor amidst tragedy. As Frankl wrote, "Humor was another of the soul's weapons in the fight for self-preservation .... The attempt to develop a sense of humor and to see things in a humorous light is some kind of trick learned while mastering the art of living. Yet it is possible to practice the art of livina even in a concentration camp, although suffering is omnipresent."5· P54-5S' 
Not only do comedians view their work as an artistic, creative pursuit, but in a Fisher and Fisher study of comedians, the majoritr imbued their comic roles with priest-like or physician-type functions. Humor is a creative source to be tapped. Creating joy for others and for ourselves through humor can provide meaning and depth in life. "I believe in humor as a creative catalyst allowing humans to expand into the farthest reaches of their potentialities more frequently than with most other elements of life."6· P-1 
In Frankl's experiential area of meaning, humor can add to the enjoyment of life. With laughter there is freedom for joy. Humor can help us accept that life is more unpredictable and even more absurd than any of us can imagine. From comic movies, to comedians, to comic theatre, to humorous books and satire, to political cartoons, to the daily comic strips, to the newest one-liner, humor can be experienced, appreciated, responded to, and lived. Laughing at a shared joke or a comedian can cause a rush of emotions similar to viewing a majestic landscape. The "I" seems to evaporate and vanish into the experience similar to aesthetic 
events.a 
Frankl's experiential area also encompasses relationships. Humor shared can bring dynamic bonding to our relationships. The social contagiousness of laughter is well known. As Coleman wrote, "Banter is 
94
the most significant form of affectionate interchange in groups."9• P-As another means of communication, humor, joking, and mirth can bind humans together readily and expeditiously. Certainly, meaning can be gained in humor by providing peak experiences -little hallelujahs. 
That's what fun is -relief from the pain or boredom of 
everyday life. If you can have just a little fun today, it's a 
sign that maybe the future will hold even more fun for you. 
Fun isn't just fun -it's hope.12• P-16a 
17 
Frankl's third area to find meaning is in the attitudinal sphere. Selfdistancing is imperative for separating our problems from our core, unique humanness. Humor, smiling, and laughing can form space for our spirit to rejuvenate, to refresh. One of the gifts that children bring to the world is the potential to smile through any kind of hardship. And as adults, we still have the freedom to glimmer with all the pain in our lives. With lightheartedness in face of our anguish, we can attain the "god's-eye view" of our situation -a widened and objective outlook on our distress. 
11, p.29-30 
Humor and the Tragic Triad 
Behind illness, suffering, and hopelessness is the logotherapy belief of a healthy core. To reclaim that healthy core, humor provides a brief sabbatical from our problems to celebrate joy again and the wonders of life again. Our over-seriousness is placed off-duty so that our wounds can be soothed, our hope can be restored, and pleasure can be revisited. When asked how she dealt with a daughter born deaf, Beverly Sills replied, "I smile on the outside, hoping the inside gets the message."12· 
p.186 
Existentialists have noted the role of humor in distancing oneself from painful experience and liberating oneself from the domination of emotions. Being adept at detaching from harsh realities, comedians were found in a Fisher and Fisher study to be resilient and psychologically tough.9 Humor can provide perspective, a meditative span, and coping through distance. Humor can unleash our defiant power to triumph over despair. "That's exactly what life is all about -misery and fun. You're going to get the first part whether you want it or not. So you had better make sure you get the second part too."12· P-164 If the pain becomes part of our identity, we remain victims. But if we take a leap away from ourselves through humor, we find freedom -freedom of how we face suffering. Will it be with bitterness and anger or will it be with detached levity and wit? "Humor is a specifically human ~ualitl and, in the 
10 101
dimension of the spirit, remains free even in a crisis."1 · P-
Humor and Psychotherapy 
What is the role of humor in therapy? There is scant literature in this area. This might reflect a taboo in the behavioral sciences that has overlooked pleasure phenomena such as love, success, and joy. However, humor can be found in the humanistic movement: one goal of humanistic therapy is to cultivate a generalized sense of humor toward life. This includes fostering the ability to see the tragic and comic views of life as a pendulum that is perpetually swinging.9 Gordon Allport wrote in 1950, "the neurotic who learns to laugh at himself may be on the way to 
18 
self-management, perhaps to cure."9· P-53 In logotherapy, certainly clients can be guided to see humor as an area to find meaning experientially, creatively, or attitudinally. Logotherapists can cultivate humor in the client as a resource in self-distancing. By turning the attention away from the client's problems and by minimizing self-absorption, humor can be utilized as part of the dereflection technique. However, caution is urged so that the client or the problem is not ridiculed by the logotherapist's use of humor. Caring, concern, and respect must underlie the logotherapist's handling of humor. "[If] we view ourselves and our roles as healers with passionate--but not ponderous--significance, we can have more fun.... A gifted healer, like the best clown, combines humor, celebration, 
61
gratitude, pathos and invention."4· P-Frankl exhorted logotherapists to "live" logotherapy themselves. Certainly as part of our humanity, as part of the act of living, the logotherapist's sense of humor need not be left outside the office door. 
Conclusion 
Humor is not only enjoyable but vital to humans. "Like love, courage, and understanding, [humor] is one of the attributes that can sustain us through the worst."11 ' P-15 Infants are born with the capacity to be amused. And in adults, Keith-Spiegel estimated that humor-related behavior surpasses all other types of emotional behaviors by tenfold or more.9 Surely humor is a gold mine for its adaptive and coping functions. And with humorous transcendence, the freedom to rise above the hindrances and tragedies of life is always available. Humor can form the "joints" of life by increasing flexibility and endurance when facing pain and adversity. It is a sublime mission to live a meaningful, full life, and humor needs to be abundantly packed as a crucial tool to treat the dislocations, curvatures, and strains of life's journey. 
DEBORAH PADEN-LEVY, M.A., LPC [5939 Harry Hines, Suite 823, Dallas, Texas 75225 USA DebPLevy@aol.com] is a Licensed Professional Counselor working for the past ten years in the psychiatric practice of Manoochehr Khatami, M.D., in Dallas, Texas. 
References 
1. 
Barnes, R. (1995). Logotherapy's consideration of the dignity and uniqueness of the human being. (Available from Robert C. Barnes, Ph.D., P.O. Box 15211, Abilene, TX 79698). 

2. 
Cousins, N. (1979). The Anatomy of an illness. NY: W.W. Norton. 

3. 
Durant, J., & Miller, J. (1988). A serious look at humor. Essex, England: Longman Scientific & Technical. 

4. 
Elias, M. (2000, March/April). The therapeutic power of humor. The Saturday Evening Post, 272, 60-62. 

5. 
Frankl, V. (1992). Man's search for meaning. Boston, MA: Beacon Press. 

6. 
Fry, Jr., W., & Salameh, W. (1987). Handbook of humor and psychotherapy. Sarasota, FL: Professional Resource Exchange. 

7. 
Johnson, B. (1998, November 9). Gallows humor [Review of Life is beautifu~. Nation, 267, 35. 

8. 
Koestler, A. (1964). The act of creation. NY: Macmillan. 

9. 
Kuhlman, T. (1984). Humor and psychotherapy. Homewood, Illinois: Dow Jones-Irwin. 

10. 
Lukas, E. (1986). Meaning in suffering. Berkeley, CA: Institute of Logotherapy Press. 

11. 
Mindess, H. (1971 ). Laughter and liberation. Los Angeles: Nash Publishing. 


12. Richman, L. (2001 ). I'd rather laugh: How to be happy even when life has other plans for you. NY: Warner Books. 
20 
The International Forum for Logotherapy, 2003, 26, 21-26. 
DISABILITY ACCEPTANCE THEORIES AND LOGOTHERAPY 
Joseph N. Ososkie & Jared C. Schultz 
Understanding disability acceptance as an existential process allows us to consider what meaning is attached to the experience of life with a disability. In the literature on existential perspectives in the field of disability acceptance, specific concepts under consideration include self-awareness, responsi

bility, meaning, existential anxiety, isolation, and awareness of death. 1 
Logotherapy, as an existential psychiatry, can be utilized in helping individuals with disabilities deal with these same specific concepts.3 For example, logotherapy has been discussed elsewhere as a way to explore values in terms of living life with a chronic illness.9 The purpose of the present paper is to consider theories of acceptance of disability in terms of how they are similar to key concepts of logotherapy. Personal processes such as transcendence and one's attitude toward life with a disability or chronic illness are discussed. Of particular importance is the meaning attached to living life with a disability. 
Disability Acceptance 
Whether the disability is of a chronic or progressive nature, or whether it has early or later onset in the person's life, life with a disability presents issues of freedom, isolation, anxiety, meaning, and death for the individual. Facing death or escaping an early death, for example, places this specific existential conflict at the forefront of the person's life. Facing stigma, due to the populace's own existential or aesthetic anxiety regarding their concerns about disability, demands that isolation and aloneness be confronted in the life of the person who has the disability.4•5 A sense of a loss of freedom due to dependence because of a physical disability may be experienced. "What will be done to us, when we are in a state of mental, emotional, social, or physical helplessness?"6· P-35 The 
21 
experience of disability certainly demands that we examine our being in the world. 
Theories of acceptance of disability typically explain the process and offer the opportunity for movement beyond the apparent limits of the disability. Opportunities for psychological and even spiritual growth open up for individuals as a result of being presented with a disability. The experience of life with a disability affords individuals opportunities to consider their attitudes toward their life and to find meaning in the experience. 
Personal values have a significant role in both Somatopsychology and Stigma Incorporation theories. The fact of the disease, illness, or injury precipitates contemplation of its place within the existence of the individual who has the disability. Tragedy, adversity, or even inconvenience that results from the experience of disability cannot be denied. The individual with a disability is in essence forced to face the life changing and challenging aspects of illness and disease. 
Somatopsychology, described by Wright, recognizes that the individual with a disability must interact with persons who may be distracted by their misunderstanding of the disability and guided by stereotyping to never see beyond the disability and directly to the 
12 13
person. · The person with the disability is thus impacted; changes in physique effect the person psychologically. Characteristics that define the process of disability adjustment include: containing disability effects, subordinating the emphasis on physique, enlarging the scope of awareness of values, and moving emphasis from comparative to personal asset values. In fact, Livneh and Sherwood, in describin~ Somatopsychology, speak of the "personal meaning of the disability." · 
p.536 
Additionally, self-concept changes are theorized as critical for individual movement from stigma isolation through stigma incorporation for Deloach and Greer in Stigma Incorporation Theory. Isolating, recognizing, and then incorporating the stigmatizing aspects of the disability allows an individual to move beyond disability-related stigma.2 
The theory of Disability Transcendence acknowledges the stigmatizing aspects of disability as well as the opportunities to rise above them. 10 In essence, disability provides the opportunity for a growth experience. Vash defines three levels of acknowledgement on the part of the person who has a disability: (a) recognition of the facts of the disability where the disability is viewed as a tragedy that holds negative valence, (b) acceptance of the implications of the disability where the disability is viewed as an inconvenience that holds neutral valence, and 
(c) embracing of the experience where the disability is viewed as an opportunity that holds positive valence. Transcendence of disability is 
22 
described in a manner that places the disability in the background in terms of the person's attitude toward having a disability. 
Logotherapy recognizes the individual's ability to see beyond tragedy and find opportunity, where self-transcendence and self-distancing are paramount considerations. This movement on the part of the person who has a disability is characterized in logotherapy as reaching into the noetic dimension in order to transcend the stigmatizing and handicapping aspects of life with a disability. Disabling facts must not be denied, and the person must be free to choose how to live life with a disability. In fact, the individual is responsible to decide what life will be like, and what attitude to take in reference to life with a disability. 
In Vash's theory of Disability Transcendence, psychospiritual wowth ensues after experiencing adversity and then transcending it. 1 The possibilities are far reaching for persons who are able to turn adversity into opportunity. What is first viewed as tragedy is later viewed as that which truly and meaningfully changed one's life. What first seemed to take everything from life gives back more than was thought possible prior to it. A higher level of understanding is reached and a spiritual recognition is gained. Moving forward is accomplished by examining attitudes toward adversity and by expanding life perspective. In fact, looking outside of self is recommended as an effective beginning prescription. Vash clearly admonishes that, in regards to understanding adversity, Frankl is the theorist to study. 
Levers and Maki consider transcendence upon confronting adversity in their investigation of African healing practices and their philosophy of Ethnorehabilitation. "The person transcends the adversity by undergoing the process of becoming a healer and healing others -a process that has a spiritual link to its larger cultural context."7' P-138 Again, the value and importance of self-transcendence is evident. Adversity presents both conflict and a chance for movement beyond the conflict. It presents a chance for reaching out to others, and this has healing properties. Transcendence can ensue only after facing pain and then following one's life path. 
Acceptance of disability requires living in the present, self-awareness, self-transcendence, and finding meaning in life. Finding meaning in the experience of life with a disability, disease, or chronic illness is crucial in furthering our understanding of the impact of such experiences on a person's life. Vash states "The major activity of all human beings is to extract meaning from their encounters with the world."11 · P-209 
23 
Finding Meaning 
One's existence in the world, or being present in the world, is what is of importance. Interaction with those in one's world matters in terms of search for purpose and meaning. Withdrawal and isolation will not further this exploration of the individual with a disability. The answer to, "What do I do with my life with a disability?" becomes clearer through a thorough consideration of the question. This question must be asked; it cannot be avoided. The phenomenological characteristic of finding meaning is paramount in disability. The meaning that the individual who has the disability attaches is critical. Imposing meaning by others or introjections of imposed meaning does not equal responsible living. 
Finding meaning is a dynamic process. This is especially obvious for a person who has a progressive disability. An individual's life circumstances change in relation to interactions with those in the person's world. This is the reason why the perspective of present awareness is important. As the present is attended to, the past loses its previously held significance. What matters is the present and a sense of the possibilities for what lies ahead. Meaning is attached to one's life with a disability and not to the disability per se. Attaching meaning to the disability without consideration of the person who has the disability would suggest that the person is controlled by the disability. The person in this instance becomes the disability.12•13 Choice and freedom are lost in this case. 
Counseling Considerations 
Finding meaning in life with a disability influences the direction of counseling. Facilitating the exploration of meaning in respect to acceptance of disability is an appropriate function for counselors. Counselors help clients approach existential questions that arise regarding the impact the disability has had in their lives. 
Counselors must also understand their own existential boundary experiences when assisting clients in their search for meaning in life with a disability. In fact, Ososkie previously defined logotherapeutic rehabilitation counseling to draw attention to this particular facet of understanding life with a disability for those involved in clinical rehabilitation services.9 He noted that in rehabilitation counselor supervision, supervisor and supervisee must pay attention to their own issues related to disability in order that effective counseling is provided. Otherwise, the counselor may hinder growth and meaning exploration on the part of the client. The client may be prepared to look at life beyond the disability but the counselor may not have transcended the disability in order to be able to see who the person is who has the disability. 
24 
Attention to suffering related to the disability is an important clinical consideration. Frankl's Dereflection becomes available with the realization of the experiential nature of the disability. Avoidance is not recommended, nor is pity. The limiting features and characteristics of the disability must be dealt with, but counselors help clients tap into their selftranscendent capacities so that they can move beyond their disabilities. Personal development results by facilitating attention to the noetic dimension. 
Counselors facilitate personal interaction and help their clients combat personal isolation. Helping clients make decisions to return to families and careers, and helping them see alternatives, are regular functions of counselors. Concentrating some of their efforts on their client's awareness of the meaning that can be found in their everyday lives with a disability is a significant role for counselors. 
Conclusion 
Counselors of persons with disabilities must attend to existential concepts that include freedom, choice, and meaning. Ignoring these human qualities is contrary to effective clinical practice. The phenomenological aspect of the client must be respected at all times. 
The counselor too must gain more personal and professional awareness in order to foster clinical exploration on the part of the client. Awareness of the difficult aspects of life as well as of the satisfying aspects of life is necessary within the framework of the counseling relationship. The counselor must not make all of the decisions for the client because of an attitude that indicates that those who have severe disabilities are helpless. The counselor must not have a caretaker personality that removes the discussion of loss from the client-counselor relationship in an attempt to make the client comfortable. 
Logotherapy has an overriding existential philosophy that is consistent with theories of disability acceptance. Concepts such as selfdistancing and self-transcendence allow the client who has a disability access to the noetic dimension. Logotherapy can be helpful to counselors of persons with disabilities through its insistence that life has meaning under all circumstances, including facing life with suffering and disability. 
25 
JOSEPH N. OSOSKIE, Ph.D. [University of Northern Colorado, Department of Human Services, Greeley, Colorado 80639 USA joe.ososkie@unco.edu] is a Professor at UNG and a Viktor Frankl Institute of Logotherapy Associate in Logotherapy. 
JARED C. SCHULTZ, Ph.D. [Texas Tech University, Department of Rehabilitation, Texas Tech Medical Center, Lubbock, Texas 79430 USA jared.Schultz@ttmc.ttuhsc.edu] is an Assistant Professor at Texas Tech. 
References 
1. Corey, G. (2001 ). The theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy (6h ed.). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing. 
2. 
Deloach, C., & Greer, B. G. (1981 ). Adjustment to severe physical disability: A metamorphosis. NY: McGraw-Hill. 

3. 
Frankl, V. E. (1986). The doctor and the soul: From psychotherapy to logotherapy (3rd expanded ed.). NY: Vintage Books. 

4. 
Goffman. E. (1963). Stigma: Notes on the management of spoiled identity. NY: Simon & Schuster. 


5. 
Hahn, H. (1988). The politics of physical differences: Disability and discrimination. Journal of Social Issues, 44(1 ), 39-47. 

6. 
Laing, R.D. (1982). The voice of experience. NY: Pantheon Books. 

7. 
Levers, H., & Maki, D. R. (1995). African indigenous healing and cosmology: Toward a philosophy of ethnorehabilitation. Rehabilitation Education, 9, 127-145. 

8. 
Livneh, H., & Sherwood, A. (1991 ). Application of personality theories and counseling strategies to clients with physical disabilities. Journal of Counseling & Development, 69, 525-538. 

9. 
Ososkie, J. N. (1998). Existential perspectives in rehabilitation counseling. Rehabilitation Education, 12(3), 217-222. 

10. 
Vash, C. L. (1981 ). The psychology of disability. NY: Springer Publishing. 


11. 
Vash, C. L. (1994). Personality and adversity: Psychospiritual aspects of rehabilitation. NY: Springer Publishing. 

12. 
Wright, B. A. (1960). Physical disability--A psychological approach. NY: Harper & Row. 

13. 
Wright, B. A. (1983). Physical disability--A psychological approach (2nd ed.). NY: Harper & Row. 


The International Forum for Logotherapy, 2003, 26, 27-29. 
MANIFESTING THE NOETIC DIMENSION ON THE HORIZONS OF THE 21 ST CENTURY 
Carol Miller & George Schultze 
Astronomer Carl Sagen defines Homo Sapiens as "belonging to the genus Homo and the s2ecies Sapien. Wise one it means."7· P-3 Yet, how wise are we, as a family of humanity, after a most violent century on earth? Is there not more to human ontology than production, consumption, expansion, and destruction? 
The question of meaning leads us to Dr. Viktor Frankl and the philosophy of existentialism and logotherapy known as the third school of Viennese Psychology. Logotherapy is based on the assumptions that one can will, search, and discover meaning in human existence, even in the most miserable circumstances. Logotherapy aspires to height psychology which is the noetic dimension of human ontology. This means that humans can exercise conscience, choices, goodness, freedom and responsibility, and self-transcendence in l:Thou existential encounters that serve society. 
This noetic dimension is the best of the human spirit. It was manifested by people in death camps even in the deprivation of physical dimension (soma) and psychological dimension (psyche). These manifestations included the defiant power of the human spirit rising above nihilism and reductionism by sharing food in famine, serving others while suffering and behavina like decent people surrounded by hatred 
108 157
and horrors of nazism. 5· P-[ 
These were some historical triumphs of the noetic dimension of human ontology. These triumphs were based on sequential processes of distancing self, modifying attitude, reducing problems and discovering new meanings in life. Now, how might triumphs of the noetic dimension of human ontology be manifested on the horizons of the 21 st century by Homo Sapiens and Robo Sapiens6· P-12 entering the genetic age on the Pale Blue Dot7· P 14 in the heavens? 
Today, more than ever before, the noetic dimension of human ontology is challenged by the genetic age. Medical frontiers are confronting the ethical meanings and the critical conditions of the human genome initiative. Given new sciences, what are the relationships 

27 
between genetic humanity and moral humanity from cloning to 
2 311
cryopreservation? • P-Moreover, neuroscientists are confronting the nature and meanings of the frontal lobe and its function as a moral compass.8• P-54 Some scientists suggest that the frontal lobe is the physical location that deduces and reduces human ontology to electrical currents and chemical compounds in brain activities? P-59 As logotherapists, we must denounce this form of reductionism and nihilism because the primary assumption of logotherapy is that one can seek, will, and discover meanings and morals in life because of the noetic dimension of human ontology in values, conscience, choices, and selftranscendence. 
Today, we enter the 21 st century challenged as a family of humanity to a communal understanding of the noetic dimension of human ontology. Global interdependence, bioterrorism, biodiversities, ecosystems, and imbalances (food, energy, wealth, resources, deforestation) To what extent and to what degree "Am I My Brother's Keeper"4· p.ix in this genetic age of finite resources on our Pale Blue Dot in the heavens? In this context, Viktor Frankl summons us to connect meanings in the Statue of Liberty on the East Coast with a Statute of Responsibility on the West Coast. 
In this genetic age of finite resources, we hear wailing walls of grief in Jerusalem and inner cities. We see rivers of blood from civil and world wars. These contexts challenge us to discern relationships among information, knowledge, and wisdom as Homo Sapiens and Robo Sapiens. Ubercomputers, known as Deep Blue (RS/6000SP), is a computer that thinks. Viktor Frankl is a thinker.6 • P-12 What are we thinking about in conscience and compassion for a more just world order? 
In this context of thinking with wisdom -i.e., our Noetic dimension we begin to understand why there are less butterflies in gardens and more children in streets and prisons.1· P-135 In this context of thinking with wisdom, we begin to connect and care for people in ports at Goree in Senegal with people in ports at Robbens in South Africa. In this context of thinking with wisdom, we begin to crisscross patterns of interconnectedness in the evolution of DNA as humanity at Olduval Gorge, Galapagos, Bikini Atoll, Auschwitz, and Hiroshima/Nagasaki. 
This thinking with wisdom calls us to holarchy (wholeness). It relates space, time, energy, light, and love that advances a more just world order. Holarchy was reflected in Viktor Frankl by his words, witness, and works as a humanitarian. He suffered yet sought no harm to others. He was a victim of violence while committed passionately to nonviolence. He could have become bitter but he chose to become better as a just man (zaddik) serving humanity. He connected the physical universe of geography with the moral universe of humanity. 
28 
Let us be alert. Since Auschwitz we know what humanity is capable of. Since Hiroshima/Nagasaki, 
179 
we know what is at stake".5• P-
May this reflection advance the noetic dimension of human ontology from sunrises to sunsets, from seasons to seasons, and from generations to generations by us doing deeds, experiencing values, and sacrificing for a more just world order. As we remove our shoes on a daily basis, may we be mindful of the existential encounter with l:Thou in the divine ground of being and becoming (Exodus 6:3) in cosmic connections and responsibilities. 
Like ancient sages and scientists, let us echo some perennial phrases reflecting the noetic dimension of human ontology entering the 
21st 
century. May the outward and inward be one. Oikaimen. Venite Adoremus. May all matters and manners be sacred with an incarnate and eternal Amen. 
CAROL MILLER, SND, [millerc@usfca.edu] and GEORGE SCHULTZE, SJ, are members of the Interdisciplinary Team in College of Professional Studies at the University of San Francisco. 
References 
1. 
Anderson, L. (1990). Healers on healing. NY: Jeremy Tacher, Inc., p. 65. 

2. 
Arras, J., & Steinbock, B. (1974, 1998). Ethical issues in modern medicine. Mountain View: Mayfield Publishing Company. 

3. 
Begley, S. (2001, January 29). Searching for the god within. Newsweek, p. 59. 

4. 
Caplan, A. (1997). Am I my brother's keeper? Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. 

5. 
Frankl, V. (1946, 1985). Man's search for meaning. NY: Washington Square Press. 

6. 
Monzel, P. & D'Alusio, F. (2000). Robosapiens: Evolution and new species. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute Of Technology. 


7. Sagen, C. (1990). A path where no man thought: Nuclear winter and the end of the arms race. NY: Random House. 
8. Wallis, C. (1994, July 11 ). Medicine for the soul. Newsweek, p. 64. 
29 
The International Forum for Logotherapy, 2003, 26, 30-35. 
A PERSONAL JOURNEY FROM OBJECTIVISM THROUGH LOGOTHERAPY TO MEANING 
Everard Polakow 
19th
August 1985. 11 :45 p.m. The weather was somehow chilly that night in Johannesburg. I had spent hours writing a chapter of my experiences using some applied Objectivism techniques to assist some patients who needed to assert themselves to a greater degree in their employment situations, their relationships, and so on. I completed the typing of the chapter on my Apple lie computer, made a copy on a 5¼-inch floppy disc, tidied up the books and papers on my desk, and walked 

toward the few steps leading up to the bedroom section of our house. The children were asleep, and the upstairs was in darkness. 
It was then that the telephone rang. A pause ... a click -was I being put through to casualty? The labor ward? -Was I about to spend another sleepless night? It was my sister; she was calling from Europe. She was in tears and could hardly control herself. The news was shocking, awful, terrible, and painful. It was too much for me to comprehend, too vast to assimilate, and I froze. The bottom had just dropped out of my world. Struggling for words, I took my sister's number, and said I would call her back when I had collected my thoughts and composed myself. 
Time for me then didn't exist. I wasn't there. I was in a vacuum. I don't know how long I stood there in the study, but my intellect was testing the limits of the path of Objectivism that I had followed for 21 years since 1964. I walked up the few stairs and into our bedroom. My wife had switched on the light and became alarmed at my ashen face. I told her what my sister had told me and she wept quietly. I was numb, unfeeling, shocked. Sunk to the floor in a helpless, unbelieving, defeated state of mind. How could this happen to me, to us? Why me? Why us? I now had to deal with death. Couldn't remember what Ayn Rand had written about death. Ayn Rand -she had kept me on the straight and narrow since 1964 .... 
1964. Winter in Cape Town. I was staying at the Medical Residence adjacent to Groote Schuur Hospital. It was a Friday afternoon and the Registrar had given me my patient to clerk as a 4th year medical student. This case was to be for examination purposes, so he said I should not leave any stone unturned in my approach to the case. The "case" was a patient in bed 9 who was a 62-year-old man who had presented with an ongoing cough. X-ray examination had revealed an advanced stage of lung cancer. 
30 
I clerked him carefully, examined him and took copious notes, since I would be presenting him as my case study the following week. Completing the exercise, I looked at my watch. It was 4:45 p.m. The traffic had picked up on De Waal Drive, and the winter wind that day was causing ever-changing patterns in the grass on the slopes of Table Mountain. I stood up, and on second thoughts, sat down again. What would I do back in residence? Sleep? Too late for that. I thought that it might be an idea to get to know this patient, find out his personal life history; after all, I had time to kill. We chatted for a long while until I left. 
Just made it back to Medical Residence by 6:45 p.m. in time for dinner, 
which I remember that night was edible for a change! Thought about the 
patient in bed 9 -he was a lonely man -hadn't seen his wife or children for 
over 20 years he told me. I suspected that his side of the story seemed 
rather biased in his favor, but I had not challenged any detail in his story. He 
seemed to appreciate my interest and the opportunity our conversation had 
given him to express his emotions as they related to his life story. Such a 
lonely man, I thought, shaking my head in sympathy with the memory of our 
interaction. I felt bonded to him. We had become friends. I regretted the 
arrogant, egotistic "time to kill" thought I had entertained. The sympathetic, 
altruistic, sensitive medical student had formed an emotional bond with a 
patient and felt good about it. 
Monday morning. Groote Schuur. Adult Ward. Male: I walked into the 
ward -the patient in bed 9 had been moved. He wasn't there next to the 
window overlooking De Waal Drive and the lower slopes of Table Mountain. 
"Excuse me nurse, where's the patient in bed 9?" "He died yesterday!" I felt 
distinctly uncomfortable. Cornering the Registrar, I asked again "What 
happened to the patient in bed 9, the one with advanced lung cancer?" He 
replied "Yes, he died yesterday -the post mortem is at 10 a.m., so get down 
to Pathology, and attend the PM and see where all the secondaries were, 
correlate them with your clinical examination and you'll have an excellent 
case report!" Cold. Calculating. Unfeeling. Ruthless. 
I felt more uncomfortable. Went down to the PM room, and watched in horror as the pathologist dismembered my new friend piece by piece. They sawed off his skull and took out his brain, then ripped out his heart and lungs with seeming indifference ... "This was a lonely man!" my soul shrieked, "He had feelings!" -"He hadn't seen his wife and kids for over 20 years -be gentle with him, he's human, he's not just organs!!" I slowly retreated into a place of disbelief and cold anger. If this is what Medicine was all about, it was not for me! I couldn't cope with this callous disregard for the sanctity of human life as expressed by the registrar and pathologist. Things began to blur, become surreal. 
I don't recall the rest of that winter week of 1964. I wasn't there -I had left Medical School in my mind and was slipping away from the study of a 
31 
profession that I had worked so hard to enter. That weekend, actively 
contemplating leaving Cape Town University and the study of Medicine, I 
found myself browsing titles of books in a bookstore through a haze of 
psychic pain and revulsion. One title spoke to me; it was Atlas Shrugged by 
Ayn Rand. I bought it and read this monumental tome the whole of that 
weekend and the following week. 
This was the answer! This was the defense: I needed to protect my 
vulnerable feelings from establishment abuse! The philosophy of rational self
interest; rational selfishness; trading and no sacrifice appealed to my 
shattered withering inner-self. Now I could protect myself -defend that which 
was precious to me from the insensitive expressions of the establishment and 
the system! My whole life experience had to be based on trade and no 
sacrifice. There could be no altruism, no unconditionality, only trade. Trade of 
values, trade of self, but no giving, no sacrifice. To be rationally selfish was a 
safe way to conduct one's self in this world without values, a world that I 
didn't really trust. The enforcement and protection of the process of "trade" 
was necessary as a defense against the unfeeling establishment. If one 
never sacrificed, one never lost anything of value belonging to one's self, so I 
could protect and maintain that which I had. "Meaning" was the orientation of 
self, one's own world and everything that mattered to the individual, i.e., one's 
own unique self. Ayn Rand and her philosophy of Objectivism worked well 
for me after that -or rather until the night of August 19th 1985. 
August 20th , 1985. I flew from Johannesburg to the USA and met my sister. 
She had flown over from Europe. We buried our parents -both of us unable 
to comprehend the tragedy of their deaths. Returned to Johannesburg on the 
Sunday, having arrived in the USA on the Tuesday. My family needed to 
mourn the deaths of their grandparents and I had not been there with them. 
After the week's mourning, I commenced work again in my practice. Ayn 
Rand was not working for me. I was sinking into a similar yet more severe 
state of desperation and meaninglessness, as I had been in 21 years earlier. 
I knew where I was going and knew it was very dangerous. Nevertheless, 
nothing seemed to stop my slide into this abyss of darkness. It proceeded 
slowly, grinding away relentlessly. No Psychiatrist, Psychologist, nor 
representative of the Faith could offer me any meaningful way out of my Hell. 
September 1985. A new patient walked into my consulting rooms, a 
woman in her late 50's or early 60's. She had a minor ailment for which I 
prescribed an appropriate treatment. I had never seen nor heard of her 
before, neither had she been referred to me by a colleague nor by any of my 
patients. A stranger to the practice. 
As she was leaving with her prescription, she turned around and placed a worn, obviously frequently read book on my desk. "I think you need to read this," she said. This startled me and jolted me out of my deep dark abyss temporarily. How did she know that I was struggling to cope with the recent tragic death of my parents? How did she know that while I could certainly acknowledge the pain and suffering of my patients, that I now saw them, and Life, from the bottom of a deep meaningless abyss? I was very far away, far removed from Life and reality. A very dangerous place to be! Could she really have noticed that I was in serious trouble, and that I was suffering? How could she know that Life had lost its meaning for me, and that I was in the grip of despair? Why did she do this? What was the payoff for her? How did she stand to benefit from the act of giving me this book? She wasn't trading with me; she was giving me something without asking anything in return. Unconditionality. Why? This was not Objectivism. 
The book on my desk, placed there by grace from a stranger, was Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. I accepted the book and thanked her, wondering how and why this stranger had come to me. 
Couldn't put the book down that night -read till 3 a.m. the next morning! 
I felt at last there was something to accept, not as a crutch, but a method of 
thinking that could address the pain of a tragedy and turn it into a triumph of 
human endeavor. 
I loved Frankl's books -enjoyed Doctor and the Soul and began clawing 
my way out of the abyss inch by inch. It took a while, but it worked. 
Objectivism was no more -it had served its purpose. Objectivism could not 
help me to cope with a tragedy; it could not give me values and principles 
with which to empower myself to climb out of a tragedy. It could not give me 
a meaning to yearn for; there was no light for me at the end of the tunnel of 
Objectivism. But, in retrospect, it had managed to keep me blindfolded and 
rooted in Medicine for over two decades until questioned by another of Life's 
challenges. "Maybe it was not what I wanted out of Life, but what Life wanted 
out of me". Objectivism to me at this point seemed futile; very limited, 
restricting its horizons to the physical, material, sense-bound world, whereas 
Frankl addressed meaning, Soul, Spirit, and one' s own sense of Divinity. 
All these facets were not within the boundaries of Objectivism. 
Objectivism was an atheistic philosophy, with no soul, no spirit, and no 
Divinity. The individual human was the center of his/her own universe, and 
there were no other universes other than this, from this perspective. Rational 
selfishness. Everything revolved around where you found yourself to be. The 
world was as you perceived it to be from your vantage point. 
Frankl's categorical imperative forced me to look at myself and ask 
myself the question whether I wished to remain in the abyss of despair or go 
someplace else. I had to take the responsibility myself for being where I was 
and bearing the consequences of my previously flawed Objectivist thinking, 
or reaping the rewards of a different method of thinking. I chose the latter. 
One thing led to another and I slotted my thoughts into Frankl's 
logotherapeutic methods; and healing began. The abyss was no more, and I 
33 
had emerged from this nightmare relatively intact but a totally different being than when I slid into this dark dank place of meaninglessness. 
Over the next decade, I began using logotherapeutic principles in my practice while counseling patients. I found the techniques to be short, incisive, and beneficial. The sessions began to take shape and mould themselves into a pattern. I became intrigued with Frankl's Dimensional Ontology and realized that it too needed to be included into the pattern. To assist with the therapeutic rehabilitation of a patient suffering from meaninglessness, one has to address the patient's perception of their own concept of Divinity. Medicine delegates this facet of a patient's life to the Priest or the Church. It was my firm belief that no permanent therapeutic change could ever come about without addressing and including this concept in the therapeutic process. 
The forces of Sympathy and Antipathy were defined and included within the arsenal of tools so that the patients could judge for themselves what forces they were generating and choose whether to continue with their expressions. If "Like attracts Like," and an individual expresses Antipathy in the majority, then Antipathy will be attracted to this individual. The responsibility for the expression and its consequences rests with the person who generates the force. Once the individual could actually confirm this within their life situation, then they have a benchmark reference point of what not to do. More choices. Jungian Collective Unconsciousness was included in a model to illustrate what could happen to continuously energized negative, antipathetic thoughts, and that the responsibility for the maintenance of these thoughts attracted consequences detrimental to the individual (i.e., "What goes around, comes around"). 
A structured approach was developed in order to present some of Frankl's methods in a tool format to people who needed a logical, consequential approach to meaning. Thirteen tools were developed and presented to patients in a chronological fashion. The patient's problems were never even touched on initially, only the tools were discussed, with the promise that once we had agreed on all the tools, and understood them, we would together, with these tools, fix the problem. After all, we would be armed with concrete tools, rather than talk abstractly about meaninglessness. Some of the tools were natural extensions and progressions of Frankl's thinking, whereas others were perhaps cautious ventures into areas where Angels fear to tread; but it was found that it appealed to the vast majority of patients, and they responded well to the methodology presented. They took away the tools, which became permanent reference points for them; and they felt security as a result of being armed with these principles in their unique life situations. 
Thinking in a global scenario, various models of the human being were conceived and analogies made with the solar system. Since the models 
34 
embraced the human Soul, the concept was named Your Soular System to embrace the concept of a Soul. The Inner Self/ Higher Self was represented by the Sun -hence the center of one's Universe is one's "Soular Sun." Every role that one plays, every "hat that one wears," is the expression of consciousness in a "satellite" that revolves around one's Soular Sun. Every Soular Sun is connected to "Source," which is Divinity itself. Each satellite, within which the patient has invested a measure of his/her consciousness, is examined and named. Patients are given a choice of whether to remain locked permanently in this so-called satellite or remove one's vested interest or consciousness from this satellite as per Frankl's Categorical Imperative choices and responsibility again. 
Looking at the various problems that one sees in patients, many common themes began to emerge -i.e., common satellites with common errors, and similar inappropriate responses to trauma. There are archetypal satellites -these were described in poetry form and worked through with the patients, who identified themselves and their satellites as roles they wished not to play. All responses, however inappropriate, were perceived as windows of opportunity for the individual to change their position, their attitude -again as per the categorical imperative. It was found that once patients had the tools and could see their satellites for what they were, that this acknowledgement in itself was the basis for their healing and recovery. Through the concept of their Soular Sun they could acknowledge that there was a special inner sacred part within themselves; through the concept of Source, it could be felt by patients that their Soular Sun was indeed a part of and connected to their own concept of Divinity. They then connected to themselves and to their concept of Divinity; and they had the methodology and tools to manage themselves within their own life scenarios (their own Soular System) with their own concept of Divinity. 
After much thought, it was decided to publish these concepts and patterns of therapy in book form. Your Soular System was born and has been reviewed and received enthusiastically by patients and caregivers alike. 
DR. EVERARD S. POLAKOW [www.geocities.com/soularsystem] is a Family Physician living in Johannesburg, South Africa, where he is in private practice. This article is an expanded version of an article published by Patti Havenga Coetzer (Editor) in the Joernaal/Journal: Viktor Frankl Foundation of South Africa. His book, Your Soular System, is published by Spearhead Press. 
35 

The International Forum for Logotherapy, 2003, 26, 36-43. 
THE VALIDITY OF ONLINE PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH: IMPLICATIONS FOR LOGOTHERAPY STUDIES 
Stefan Schulenberg 
Computers have been utilized in psychological research for decades. Computer technology is a force in a wide variety of mental health fields. 25 With the advent of the World-Wide Web (WWW), or the Internet, many researchers have begun conducting their studies online. Indeed, "the number of studies on the Internet is more than doubling each year." 1· p.4 2 Various types of research are being conducted, includin~ questionnaires, surveys, and experi-. .. ments.1 Although there are a growing number of 
20 26
studies being conducted on the WWW, it is still a novel approach.9· · 
Online Research: One Future Direction for Logotherapy 
Undoubtedly, online research will continue to proliferate. However, the validity of the modality must be better established through the systematic study of a wider variety of variables. The initial results are promising, and it appears to be time to consider expanding online research to include meaning-related constructs (e.g., self-transcendence, existential vacuum). The question then becomes, what types of studies should logotherapists consider conducting online? What are the risks? What are the benefits? The purpose of this article is to discuss some of the issues related to the validity of online psychological research, outlining implications for logotherapists interested in measuring meaningrelated constructs. There are benefits to conducting logotherapy research online; however, there are concerns that must be debated and addressed as well. 
Benefits of Online Research 
The Internet possesses an advantage in terms of recruiting participants.26 In particular, researchers can recruit people from a variety of settings with little cost. Web-based studies afford people the opportunity to participate in research for the first time, as might be the case when geographical constraints have hindered participation in the past.22 Large numbers of individuals can be obtained, with increased 
1921 23 
access to special populations or persons with specific disorders.1• • • For instance, researchers can advertise in certain places on the Internet in order to target persons who have depression. 
An added potential benefit of online research is that participants may demonstrate increased levels of self-disclosure.8 This latter finding is consistent with research conducted over the last several decades that indicates that people tend to feel more open and accepting of a computer-administered format than more conventional formats (paperand-pencil).24 
Web-based research may be less expensive (less money spent on copying), more interactive (rapid feedback), and faster (data automatically deposited into a database).1•21 ·23 However, whether time is actually saved has been debated. For example, more time may be spent replying to responder comments and adapting surveys/questionnaires into an electronic format.9 Therefore, although little or no time may actually be saved, conducting studies online may come with the added advantage of facilitating more feedback from responders.9 
Considerations of Online Research 
Although the advantages to using the WWW for research are many, there are distinct disadvantages. For instance, participants recruited online may not be representative of the population at large.1 •21 Access to computers may not be representative across cultural and socioeconomic boundaries. 13 Specifically, non-Hispanic whites, and those with more education and a larger annual household income, tend to have increased 
13 
access. Another disadvantage is that researchers lose some experimental 
26
control over their participants. 1· Differences in hardware, software, and connection speeds may be apparent among Internet users, which may be a particular problem in studies involving the visual/auditory presentation of stimuli.1 The fact that researchers cannot standardize the testing environment that online users experience may result in variations in the presentation of stimuli. 12' 19 
Researchers must be cautious about the potential for skewed findings because of problems such as mult~le responses (individuals submitting responses more than one time). 6 Multiple responses is a security concern, and has been noted to be an issue elsewhere in the 
21 23
literature.1 • • 
In addition to loss of experimental control and non-representative samples, there may be the added danger of researchers violating the ethical standards of their respective professions. For example, the potential exists for violations of participants' confidentiality, and there are problems with ensuring that participants truly read and comprehend the 
37 
online informed consent.2 Also, it is possible for unethical persons to take researchers' ideas off the Web after viewing their online protocols.2 
Despite these concerns, there is a general sense in the literature that increases in the availability and affordability of computer technology, improvements in technology, and creative research designs can effectively address many of these concerns. The advantages of conducting online research may outweigh the disadvantages. Readers further interested in the pros and cons of online research are referred to publications by Michalak and by Michalak and Szabo. 19·20 Additionally, a chapter in a book provides a detailed analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of Web-based research, offering solutions to particular
22
concerns. 
Validity of Online Psychological Research 
One of the key issues in online psychological research relates to the validity of the medium. The validity of online psychological research has yet to be definitively established.16 For instance, just as computerized versions of paper-and-pencil measures may not be statistically equivalent because of the presence of subtle confounds such as feelings of computer aversion,25 so may be the case when paper-and-pencil questionnaires are adapted for use on the Internet. One method of testing the validity of Web-based research is to compare these studies with results obtained using traditionally validated methods of research. For instance, "the closer the results are between a study carried out on the WWW and an identical study carried out in traditional paper-and-pen manner, the more the use of the contemporary method is justified." 26·P-342 The importance of conducting the same study over the WWW and in a laboratory has been noted by others, and one review of the available literature concluded that "there seems to be a surprising match between laboratory and Web versions of surveys, scales, and experimental variables." 16·17· P-55 Similar support for the validity of Web-based research 
has been reported by many others.1,s,6,a,9,12,16,21,16 Although initial support for the validity of online psychological research is favorable, not all studies are supportive. For example, in a study of social desirability and anonymity, "the participants using the WWW scored significantly lower on measures of social desirability and 
social anxiety and scored marginally higher on a measure of self-esteem than did the participants completing the questionnaires with pen and paper." 14· P.43 Thus, certain variables may yield different results when 
WWW and non-WWW data sets are compared. 
38 
Online Research with Logotherapy Measures 
In a review of logotherapy research, the need has been noted for verificational studies of logotherapy instruments. "Verificational studies refer to those that are needed to verify the reliability and validity of existing logotherapeutic research tools and measuring devices as to their applicability to a wide variety of population groups in various situations." 10· P·199 Although this was not referring specifically to conducting logotherapy research online, some researchers may see the Internet as a potential means of conducting these verificational studies. Researchers may wish to examine the potential adaptability of logotherapy measures such as the Purpose-in-Life test (PIL),7 the Life Purpose Questionnaire (LPQ), 11 and the Meaning in Suffering Test (MIST)27 to the medium of the Internet. However, there are risks associated with this approach. 
Risks of Online Research with Logotherapy Measures 
One risk of conducting research online with logotherapy measures relates to test security. Some instruments "could be compromised if their security were violated." 15· P·159 If test security were violated, it may detract from the validity of a measure so that its ability to assess its purported construct is diminished. Although test responders can make educated guesses as to the meaning of item content on existing logotherapy measures, violations of test security may further compound the problem. One way that the security of these instruments could be violated is if they were printed or downloaded from the Internet by online research participants or others. Another potential problem is that certain measures "have substantial potential for abuse in the hands of untrained individuals and therefore should be made available only to individuals trained in their 
15 159 
use and application." · P· One way to address these issues is by providing a disclaimer on the web site and by using passwords to restrict access to invited participants. But are these methods sufficient to address these potential problems? Clearly there are risks involved in using logotherapy measures online. The pros and cons of such a practice should be debated before researchers proceed. 
Benefits of Online Research with Logotherapy Measures 
Existing logotherapy measures such as the PIL, the LPQ, and the MIST must first be translated to an electronic format so that they are virtually identical to their paper-and-pencil counterparts. Once the measures have been translated, they must be evaluated to determine that they are measuring their purported constructs in a reliable and valid manner. It is important to remember that just because two instruments are virtually identical (except in terms of administration format) they may 
39 
not be measuring the same construct because of subtle differences between administration modalities. Thus, the psychometric equivalence of paper-and-pencil and computer formats must be established empirically to ensure that these instruments are measuring the same constructs. There are many empirical questions that need to be answered. For instance, would logotherapy instruments that are adapted for research use on the Internet yield equivalent results to their paperand-pencil counterparts? Would people completing online logotherapy measures be more open and accepting of the electronic modality (as the research suggests)? How might a person's feelings (e.g., aversion) toward the computer and/or the Internet influence online research? 
Once these validation studies have been performed, the Internet might then be used as a means to further establish the reliability and validity of logotherapy measures with a larger number of individuals from a wider variety of backgrounds (keeping in mind the potential for sampling bias). Expanding the depth and breadth of the participant pool should allow researchers greater opportunities to draw statistical inferences. They may also enjoy the added capability of being able to effectively target specific groups (persons with depression, Internet users, etc.), depending on where they advertise their research on the Internet. One study has reported that increased Internet use was associated with negative outcomes (decreases with communication with family members, increases in depression, increases in loneliness, etc.). 18 Studying Internet users with online measures of meaning could potentially add to the understanding of meaning-related issues in this population. 
Conducting Original Logotherapy Surveys and Experiments 
There are other avenues to conducting logotherapy studies online. Some researchers may be interested in developing their own surveys and conducting their own experiments of meaning-related constructs online. As noted above, the medium of the Internet would allow logotherapy researchers access to numerous and substantial potential benefits. The concerns outlined above could conceivably be addressed during the design phase of a study. 
Logotherapy researchers interested in conducting online research may find the work of Birnbaum as well as Michalak and Szabo to be useful references. Birnbaum's Introduction to Behavioral Research on the Internet is a beginner's "how to" book,3 while his edited text, Psychological Experiments on the lnternet, 4 is a treatise as to the current state of affairs in online research. Michalak and Szabo provide a useful set of guidelines for conducting online research.20 
40 
Summary 
The risks of conducting online research with existing logotherapy measures need to be debated and addressed. Issues of test security and inappropriate use of logotherapy measures by untrained individuals remain potentially problematic. Also, it has yet to be determined whether meaning-related constructs validated through traditional methods would be valid when studied online. Finally, researchers interested in developing their own surveys and/or conducting their own experiments involving meaning-related constructs may begin to determine the potential utility of the Internet, once they are apprised of the risks and benefits. 
STEFAN E. SCHULENBERG [SESchulen2@aol.com] received the Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology with a specialization in Clinical/Disaster Psychology from The University of South Dakota in December of 2001. He received the Associate in Logotherapy credential through the Viktor Frankl Institute in October of 2000. He currently works as a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Mississippi in Oxford. The author would like to acknowledge Jessica Kaster, MS, for her editing assistance. 
References 
1. 
Azar, B. (2000, April). A web of research. Monitor on Psychology, 31, 42-44. 

2. 
Azar, B. (2000, April). Online experiments: Ethically fair or foul? Monitor on Psychology, 31, 50-52. 

3. 
Birnbaum, M. H. (2000). Introduction to behavioral research on the Internet. Upper Saddle, NJ: Prentice-Hall. 

4. 
Birnbaum, M. H. (Ed.). (2000). Psychological experiments on the Internet. San Diego, CA: Academic Press. 

5. 
Buchanan, T., & Smith, J. L. (1999). Research on the Internet: Validation of a World-Wide Web mediated personality scale. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 31, 565571. 

6. 
Buchanan, T., & Smith, J. L. (1999). Using the Internet for psychological research: Personality testing on the World Wide Web. British Journal of Psychology, 90, 125-144. 

7. 
Crumbaugh, J. C., & Maholick, L. T. (1964). An experimental study in existentialism: The psychometric approach to Frankl's concept of noogenic neurosis. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 20, 200-207. 

8. 
Davis, R. N. (1999). Web-based administration of a personality questionnaire: Comparison with traditional methods. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 31, 572-577. 

9. 
Frey, B. F. (2000). Investigating moral intensity with the WorldWide Web: A look at participant reactions and a comparison of methods. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 32, 423-431 . 

10. 
Guttmann, D. (1996). Logotherapy for the helping professional: Meaningful social work. NY: Springer Publishing Company. 

11. 
Hablas, R., & Hutzell, R. R. (1982). The Life Purpose Questionnaire: An alternative to the Purpose-in-Life test for geriatric, neuropsychiatric patients. In S. A. Wawrytko (Ed.), Analecta Frankliana (pp. 211-215). Berkeley CA: Strawberry Hill. 

12. 
Hecht, H., Oesker, M., Kaiser, A., Civelek, H., & Stecker, T. (1999). A perception experiment with time-critical graphics animation on the World-Wide Web. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 31, 439-445. 

13. 
Jerome, L. W., Deleon, P. H., James, L. C., Folen, R., Earles, J., & Gedney, J. J. (2000). The coming of age of telecommunications in psychological research and practice. American Psychologist, 55, 407-421. 

14. 
Joinson, A. (1999). Social desirability, anonymity, and Internetbased questionnaires. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 31, 433-438. 

15. 
Koocher, G. P., & Keith-Spiegel, P. (1998). Ethics in psychology: Professional standards and cases (2nd ed.). NY: Oxford University Press. 

16. 
Krantz, J. H., Ballard, J., & Scher, J. (1997). Comparing the results of laboratory and World-Wide Web samples on the determinants of female attractiveness. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 29, 264-269. 

17. 
Krantz, J. H., & Dalal, R. (2000). Validity of Web-based psychological research. In M. H. Birnbaum (Ed.), Psychological experiments on the Internet (pp. 35-60). San Diego, CA: Academic Press. 

18. 
Kraut, R., Patterson, M., Lundmark, V., Kiesler, S., Mukopadhyay, T., & Scherlis, W. (1998). Internet paradox: A social technology that reduces social involvement and psychological well-being? American Psychologist, 53, 1 017-1 031 . 

19. 
Michalak, E. E. (1998). The use of the Internet as a research tool: The nature and characteristics of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) amongst a population of users. Interacting with Computers, 9, 349-365. 

20. 
Michalak, E. E., & Szabo, A. (1998). Guidelines for Internet research: An update. European Psychologist, 3, 70-75. 

21. 
O'Neil, K., Penrod, S., & Ray, R. (2000, March). The validity of conducting research over the World Wide Web: Experiences from psycholegal research. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the American Psychology-Law Society, New Orleans, LA. 

22. 
Reips, U. -D. (2000). The Web experiment method: Advantages, disadvantages, and solutions. In M. H. Birnbaum (Ed.), Psychological experiments on the Internet (pp. 89-117). San Diego, CA: Academic Press. 

23. 
Schmidt, W. C. (1997). World-Wide Web survey research: Benefits, potential problems, and solutions. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 29, 274-279. 

24. 
Schulenberg, S. E. (1998). A comparison between the computerized and paper-and-pencil versions of the Beck Depression Inventory-I/. Unpublished master's thesis. The University of South Dakota, Vermillion. 

25. 
Schulenberg, S. E., & Yutrzenka, B. A. (1999). The equivalence of computerized and paper-and-pencil psychological instruments: Implications for measures of negative affect. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 31, 315-321. 

26. 
Senior, C., Phillips, M. L., Barnes, J., & David, A. S. (1999). An investigation into the perception of dominance from schematic faces: A study using the World-Wide Web. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 31, 341-346. 

27. 
Starck, P. (1983). Patients' perceptions of the meaning of suffering. The International Forum for Logotherapy, 6, 110-116. 


41 
42 
43 
The International Forum for Logotherapy, 2003, 26, 44-48. 
NOGUERA'S RESPECT PROGRAM: A LOGOTHERAPEUTIC APPROACH TO YOUTH VIOLENCE 
Arlen Salthouse 
Violence in schools, and among children and youths generally, has become a matter of concern to parents and educators, as well as young people whose lives are affected by it. Contrary to the opinion of those who view aggression as a primary
1 359
drive, • P· logotherapy contends violence and violent behavior are not inherent in human beings. Instead, aggression is a learned attitude and behavior, which thrives in the psychological dimension when positive human values, such as meaning, respect for life, and self-esteem are absent.3-P·691 Children learn to act out aggressively over a period of years. Constant exposure to violence and violent role models, in real life and media, gradually desensitizes youngsters to the personal and social consequence and tragedy of violence. It also conveys the message that aggression is an acceptable, or even only, way to resolve conflict, get one's own way, or reverse a sense of powerlessness. Ready, unsupervised access of youths to firearms, a communication gap between adults and children, as well as that sense of personal invincibility characteristic of adolescents and pre-adolescents, create a volatile situation. 
Other "risk factors" associated with violent behavior include social and cultural influences emanating from the neighborhood/community, school, peers and family, as well as individual characteristics such as intelligence, personality traits, and physical and mental health. Possible correlations between violent behavior and biological factors such as hormonal imbalances, head injuries, and genetic characteristics are sometimes mentioned, as are familial dysfunction, child abuse, community disorder, racial discrimination, and poverty. While not dismissing the importance of these factors, neither they, nor stiffer punishments and incarceration, have yielded positive results in stemming the tide of youthful violence. Some piece of the puzzle seems to be missing. That missing piece is what may be called "the meaning factor": the basic quest of the human spirit for meaning in life. 

44 
In the years following World War II, Frankl described the growing social phenomenon he called "existential vacuum." 2' P-111 Briefly, this is the condition of emptiness within persons that exists when the basic human will to meaning is repressed or denied. It is the very condition in which the learning of violence thrives. In 1978, he observed, "The feeling of meaninglessness, the existential vacuum, is increasing and spreading to the extent that, in truth, it may be called a mass neurosis." 4 · P-25 
While not unique in our time, there are factors at work nowadays that contribute to the increase of existential vacuum in children and youth. Among these are the erosion of traditional, commonly accepted values and standards, coupled with the decline of religious and moral education and influence. The cultural milieu in which life is cheap is reinforced by the commonly accepted idea that persons are merely physical objects or animals, determined by physical and emotional drives, as well as the pop culture that espouses the notion that life has no meaning. Many students in high schools that are too large and where there is minimal personal contact with teachers, and limited opportunities to participate in activities such as varsity sports and music, feel anonymous and lost. The latter is especially significant in the light of the distorted emphasis on athletic prowess, together with physical attractiveness or strength and popularity, as sole sources of meaning. Youth who fail to excel in those, no matter how much they achieve in other areas, are frequently looked down upon by peers, and suffer from low self-esteem and lack of meaning. 
Speaking of the contemporary void of meaning as a cultural phenomenon, Frankl states, "In a way, the existential vacuum may well be considered a sociogenic neurosis." 3• P-140 Referring to the prevalence of existential vacuum among youth, Gould states, "Frankl accuses contemporary education of contributing to the erosion of the sense of meaning by offering students a relativistic and subjective image of the self that counteracts the original zest and idealism of youth with its concern for values. Educators ... have settled for developing skills (sometimes minimally) rather than helping children see themselves as full human beings." Gould quotes Lukas, "How can the young people feel satisfaction with their own work, pride in workmanship, how indeed can they be at all motivated to seek fulfillment in work, even in hobbies, if everything that results in human accomplishment has been devalued into derision." 5' P-146 In a misguided, counter-productive attempt to avoid presumed "repressive" disorders, parents may seek to raise their offspring with no objective values or standards, and in a climate of virtually unlimited freedom. In their desire to be liked by their children, parents may be reluctant to impose rules, discipline, or consequences likely to create conflict. Instead of linking freedom with responsibility, the young have been allowed all too frequently to confuse freedom with 
45 
license. Thus, both home and school, together with other social factors mentioned above, contribute to the existential vacuum of the young, which is the breeding ground for aggressive behavior. 
Like Frankl, Pedro Noguera, Professor of Education at the University of California, Berkeley, proposed that youthful violence be understood as a cultural phenomenon and treated accordingly. While this could be misunderstood so as to absolve individuals from personal responsibility by casting blame on society, this is not what he intends. His contention is that, "Violence among young people must be understood as more than just an expression of aggressive individual behavior. It must be seen as part of a larger cultural phenomenon, one that is inextricably woven into the history and social fabric of our society. Though we may be repulsed by certain forms of violence, we must acknowledge that our society glorifies and is entertained by violence." 6 Indeed, 20th century America has been referred to as a "culture of violence," which exalts selfcenteredness and violence. Noguera continues, "We may react strongly to child abuse or crimes against the elderly, but in our culture we honor and heap admiration upon individuals in sports or the military whose capacity for violence enables them to overcome their opponents or trounce their enemies. Violence and violent images are pervasive, infiltrating our language through metaphors and helping to define our collective sense of who we are as a people and as citizens of the most powerful nation on earth." Noguera perceives violence as learned, rather than innate behavior, promoted and conditioned by the media and other expressions of popular culture through subtle images. He contends that even the way we respond to the threat of violence by employing other forms of violence, such as accepting the idea that personal safety can be achieved by allowing citizens to be armed, or sanctioning of killing the killers, contributes to the learning process. While some other societies experience high levels of violence, America is unique in the high rate of interpersonal violence involving young people. Noguera believes that to reduce the incidence of juvenile violence, attempts must be made to challenge and counter the ways in which it is normalized and becomes seen as a legitimate way to respond to certain situations. He gives case studies of programs in which this was implemented with positive results in reducing youth crime. One such, in Berkeley, California, called 
R.E.S.P.E.C.T. (Racial & Ethnic Sharing Providing Empowerment to Our Community Today) has been successful because it gave youths a meaningful role and restored their sense of responsibility. The program reinforces logotherapy's affirmation that all persons are unique and valuable, and that life has meaning in all circumstances, even the most adverse. 2· P-115 That meaning is never abstract or general, but always concrete and specific to the individual in his/her particular circumstance. 
46 
In the R.E.S.P.E.C.T. program youths were involved in the initial conversations that drew up recommendations out of which the program emerged. The key to its success was the implementation of the idea that young people could play a role by providing an escort service, patrolling, and by mediating conflicts and promoting safety through their presence on the previously dangerous streets of Berkeley. This involvement gave them a sense of their unique value and enabled them to find meaning in a concrete circumstance of their lives. It provided a sense of personal responsibility in youths participating in the program. Noguera explains, "R.E.S.P.E.C.T. allowed young people to take responsibility for creating a safer environment on the Avenue, a goal that most youth could understand and accept." 6 
While logotherapy affirms that neither society, nor the conditions it creates by frustrating the will to meaning, causes the existential vacuum or the violence that breeds in it, it can and does provide a climate in which existential vacuum and consequent violence thrive. By the same token, society cannot give meaning to persons within it. Nonetheless, it can stimulate, challenge, and encourage meaning in persons by establishing programs to support meaning-finding, offering models for it, and providing opportunities (e.g. vocational and educational) for it to happen. The R.E.S.P.E.C.T. program is one such model. There are undoubtedly many others, with still more to be developed as human potential is exercised in meaningful ways. The affirmations of logotherapy can become the basis for a curriculum that might be used in schools, churches, neighborhood centers, and everywhere children and youth can be gathered. Whereas much contemporary schooling is thought to be irrelevant among juvenile aggressors, education based on the principles of logotherapy is absolutely relevant to the very survival of those whom it seeks to challenge with the meaning of life. 
47 
ARLEN R. SAL THOUSE, PH.D. [2761 Arrowhead Drive, Langhorne, Pennsylvania 19053 USA] is an Associate and Life Member of the Viktor Frankl Institute of Logotherapy, and served on its Board of Directors. He is a Pastor Emeritus, and until recently was in private practice in Counseling for Meaningful Living, Flemington, New Jersey, and frequent leader and speaker at conferences and retreats. 
References 
1. 
Atyeo, D. (1979). Blood and Guts: Violence in Sports. NY: Paddington. 

2. 
Frankl, V. (1984). Man's Search for Meaning. NY: Touchstone. 

3. 
Frankl, V. (1997). Man's Search for Ultimate Meaning. NY: Plenum. 

4. 
Frankl, V. (1978). The Unheard Cry for Meaning. NY: Touchstone. 

5. 
Gould, W. (1993). Viktor E. Frankl: Life with Meaning. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole. 

6. 
Noguera, P. (1996, April). Reducing and Preventing Youth Violence. Education Rights/In Motion Magazine [On-line journal]. 


48 
The International Forum for Logotherapy, 2003, 26, 49-57. 
ON THE COMPATIBILITY OF COGNITIVE THERAPY AND LOGOTHERAPY 
Jeffrey M. Benware 
People are fundamentally complicated entities. Based on this complexity, it is easy to understand the difficulty for any one theory of psychotherapy to completely capture the uniqueness of the individual. The application of an eclectic viewpoint can be beneficial in providing a therapist with a broader, more comprehensive perspective from which to conceptualize and treat the client. However, the eclectically oriented therapist must be mindful of the potential underlying counteractions inherent within each school of therapy. The applications of therapeutic interventions with conflicting underlying philosophical assumptions may result in discordant clinical conceptualizations and contradictory therapeutic techniques. Ultimately, the implementation of therapeutic interventions with antagonistic underlying assumptions may lead to clinical practices that are ineffective and unreliable. 
In regards to the co-application of cognitive therapy and logotherapy, it may be reasoned that these two schools of psychotherapy are complementary as opposed to contradictory. This conclusion is based on the compatibility of significant philosophical assumptions contained within each theory. In support of this thesis of compatibility, three philosophical assumptions are reviewed and discussed below. These assumptions include: a) the composition of the human psyche, b) humankind's fundamental positive versus negative nature, and c) the question of human freewill. 
The Composition of the Human Psyche 
The question concerning the composition of the human psyche addresses the issue of the basic structure of the human psyche or mind. The manner in which a healing professional conceptualizes the patient has a significant influence on how that patient is diagnosed and treated. For example, a conceptualization of how the human body works, leads to a physician being able to diagnose and care for 

49 
a patient. In the practice of psychotherapy, the therapist's understanding as to how the mind is structured provides a framework from which to conceptualize the origins of mental illness and ultimately guide clinical interventions. An approach to psychotherapy from conflicting conceptualizations may result in a nonsensical understanding of the client's presenting concerns. Therapeutic interventions that follow a compromised conceptualization may or may not address the client's needs. Essentially, treating a client from the position of non-sensical assumptions of human nature is analogous to changing a flat tire on a tank. Tanks do not have tires, only treads. Participation in a task without an accurate understanding of the necessary components may be an exercise in futility. Thus, implementation of therapeutic interventions should follow a relatively accurate and congruent conceptualization of the client. 
A great amount of knowledge gained in cognitive science and cognitive therapy has been developed in the fields of information processing and computer science.7 The idea that the mind operates much like a computer is based on the theory that software is to a 
8
computer what thinking styles are to a brain.7· In regards to the composition of the human psyche, cognitive therapy views the individual as consisting of a physical dimension and a psychological dimension. The physical dimension consists of the biological components, such as the nervous system and chemical neurotransmitters, and is considered to be analogous to the hardware of a computer. The psychological dimension includes an individual's personality, cognitive schemas, and learned behavior. The psychological dimension is considered to be analogous to the software of a computer. Cognitive psychotherapy considers human behavior as being a product of these two dimensions. 
Logotherapy holds the philosophical position that the nature of humankind consists of three dimensions. These dimensions include 
35
the physical, psychological, and noological or spiritual dimension.2· · These assumptions are similar to those held in cognitive theory with the addition of the noological dimension. In describing the noological dimension, Frankl notes, "Man passes the noologial dimension whenever he is reflecting upon himself -or, if need be, rejecting himself; whenever he is making himself an object -or makin~ opJection to himself; whenev~r he ~xhibi~s hi~ bei~g conscientious." · P-For Frankl, the noolog1cal d1mens1on 1s urn~uely human and 
1
separates the human being from other animals.3· Essentially, the noological dimension is the part of human nature that allows one the 
50 
capacity of self-transcendence and self-distancing. Examples of this dimension can be seen in human traits such as humor, heroism, love, and conscience.5 It is the noological dimension that is responsible for humankind's ability to move beyond instincts or biological drives and behave in ways that are uniquely human. 
Despite the difference between cognitive therapy and logotherapy in regards to the composition of the human psyche, the addition of the noological dimension does not make these two theories incompatible. Frankl did not object to the existence of a physical or psychological dimension of human nature. In fact, he acknowledged the preponderance of psychological disorders that had a basis in these dimensions. According to Frankl, "There is no a priori objection against 'shots and shocks' in cases of what is called in psychiatry an endogenous depression. It is perfectly legitimate and justified to use drugs and, in severe cases, even to apply electro convulsive treatment." 5 The adoption of a noological dimension does not contradict or conflict with the existence of the physical or psychological dimensions. Instead, the noological dimension allows for an additional perspective from which to understand the client and his or her present situation. 
From a cognitive perspective, the addition of a noological dimension is complementary as opposed to conflicting. This complementary nature is based on (a) the inability of the computer analogy to completely conceptualize human behavior and (b) the fact that much of the field of psychology has already begun to accept a more spiritual dimension of humankind. 
Conceptualizing the mind as a computer operating system is a useful yet incomplete analogy. There are numerous characteristics that are unique to the human being that the computer analogy fails to address. For example, an information-processing model does not adequately account for characteristics such as altruism, compassion, or conscience. Attempts to explain these characteristics from a computer-based model typically fail the rule of parsimony. The addition of a noological dimension not only provides explanation for these unique human characteristics, but also it brings additional attention to these characteristics by providing a more complete and accurate picture of the individual. The combination of a logotherapeutic perspective with a cognitive orientation may result in an enhanced understanding of the patient and a greater appreciation for the patient's humanness. 
51 
Psychology as a profession has recently become more accepting to the possibility of there being a spiritual side to people. As Michael Mahoney, a noted cognitive psychologist, states: "Late 20th century psychology not only has become value conscious but also has softened its traditional aversion to questions of spirituality, values, and the wisdom traditions." 9' p.a Mahoney notes that this growing acceptance of a spiritual dimension is a significant evolution in our understanding of human nature. This acknowledgment of humankind's spiritual side will continue to permeate all aspects of the psychological sciences and is likely to be a significant influence in the behavioral sciences in the 21 st century. 
Humankind's Fundamental Positive versus Negative Nature 
The question of humankind's fundamental positive versus negative nature addresses the issue as to whether or not people are considered to be fundamentally good or evil. This issue of axiology is related to psychotherapy in that it contributes to the understanding of the human condition. An appreciation for humankind's moral compass is particularly useful in providing a therapist guidance as to what behavior may be considered normal versus abnormal and in what context a behavior may be viewed as maladaptive or deviant. 
An approach to psychotherapy with different conceptualizations of humankind's fundamental nature may result in the application of clinical techniques with conflicting objectives. For example, based on the assumption that a client possesses an innate drive towards goodness and health, a therapist could apply interventions aimed at freeing what may be hindering this client's natural growth. On the other hand, assuming that a client has an innate drive towards chaos or destructive behavior, a therapist could apply interventions aimed at helping the client control or reduce these innate drives. The simultaneous application of techniques with different or conflicting assumptions regarding humankind's innate nature may result in a confused client and little or no therapeutic progress. This situation is analogous to simultaneously pressing on both the break and gas pedal in an automobile. The only thing achieved from this exercise is an inordinate amount of smoke and noise. 
Cognitive therapy views humankind as basically neutral in regards to our fundamental nature. This position is an offshoot of the conceptualization of the mind functioning much like a computer. Based on this model, computers are objects constructed to process information based on their prior programming. It may be reasoned that computers have no innate or inborn drive to be good or evil. A computer's "behavior'' may be seen as a product of an external influence via their programming. When this model is applied to human nature, people may be conceptualized as entities with neither good nor bad intentions. Thus, people do not possess an inherent drive toward goodness or chaos. Instead, people's behavior may be seen as a product of their social environment or past programming in conjunction with their biological drives. When an individual behaves in such a manner that is considered "good" or "evil," this act is seen as a product of past experience as opposed to an inherent trait. 
Logotherapy, with its emphasis on self-transcendence, conceptualizes humankind's fundamental nature as being intrinsically good. This idea that humankind is inherently good stems in part from the principle that one of our most precious resources is selftranscendence. While logotherapy acknowledges the existence of biological and instinctual drives, individuals are seen as being able to rise above these animalistic drives and purposefully choose how to act and react in a given situation.3 As noted by Frankl: "Selftranscendence is the essence of existence. Being human is directed to something other than itself." 5· P-50 
Logotherapy's idea that humankind is fundamentally good additionally stems from logotherapy's position that people possess an inborn attraction toward discovering a unique sense of meaning. According to Frankl, "Man's search for meaning is the primary motivation in his life and not a 'secondary rationalization' of instinctual 
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drives." · r-Thus, humankind's ability to be self-transcendent, coupled with human motivation to pursue meaning, reduces the tendency towards hostility and deviant behavior, or, conversely, increases the inclination to listen to one's conscience and to evaluate one's life on a moral or ethical level.5 Due to the fact that the human pursuit of meaning reduces one's propensity to be violent or immoral, then it can be reasoned that it is humankind's innate nature to be good as opposed to evil. 
In regards to humankind's fundamental nature, cognitive therapy and logotherapy fail to contradict one another. A contradictory relationship would exist had the theories possessed diametrically opposed views in regards to this assumption. The fact that logotherapy and cognitive therapy are not opposed to each other in regards to this assumption gives credence to the notion that they can coexist as theories employed to conceptualize compatible objectives. 
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The compatibility between cognitive therapy and logotherapy in regards to this assumption stems from cognitive therapy's neutral stance on humankind's fundamental nature. Cognitive therapy's position of neutrality may be observed in its emphasis on techniques. A cognitive system of psychotherapy views psychological problems as originating from maladaptive or illogical thoughts.11 Treatment of said problems focuses on the application of specific techniques aimed at identifying these cognitive errors and assisting the client in modifying these thoughts or beliefs. From this perspective it may be seen that the client's innate nature fails to play a significant role in the diagnosis or treatment of the client's presenting concern. This stance suggests that a cognitive approach may be employed with other theories of psychotherapy that possess different views on humankind's innate nature without any a priori contradictions. 
A major component in a logotherapeutic perspective is its emphasis on the way the therapist relates to and understands the client. As Irvin Yalom describes it, an existential perspective is the "extra ingredient" in the therapeutic setting. 12 This is also supported by Frankl who states, "what matters is never a technique per se but rather the spirit in which the technique is used." 5' P,29 
Given logotherapy's emphasis on the therapist's perception of the client and the therapeutic relationship in conjunction with cognitive therapy's emphasis on techniques, it may be reasoned that the two are in fact complementary. Thus, the co-application of the two theories allows for a more complete appreciation for the therapeutic process by taking into account both the necessary techniques for a positive change delivered in a manner that appreciates the client's humanness. 
The Question of Human Freewill 
The question of human freewill addresses the manner in which the individual interacts with the environment. In general, a theory may conceptualize people as being either passive or active. A theory that views the individual as passive in regards to the environment conceptualizes human behavior as being a reaction to the environment. Human beings, in this sense, are nothing but pawns of the universe possessing no responsibility for their actions. A theory that views the individual as active in regards to the environment sees him or her as a player in the game of life with the freewill to choose how to interact and directly influence life. This second position 
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ascribes the individual with the ability to make decisions about how to react to the world, rather than just reacting to it. 
This particular philosophical assumption has much relevance in the application of psychotherapy. It provides the therapist with some orientation as to how clients change as well as to how this change is evoked. For example, a theory of psychotherapy that sees the client as having no freewill conceptualizes therapy as a process in which the therapist takes control and shapes or reconfigures the client. Whereas in a theory of psychotherapy that acknowledges the client's freewill, the therapeutic process is seen as a collaborative process where the therapist facilitates, as opposed to controls, the client's ability to achieve goals. 
Unlike the two philosophical assumptions described earlier, the question of humankind's freewill is an area where cognitive therapy and logotherapy are not only compatible but also are in agreement. Both schools of psychotherapy view the individual as possessing some degree of freewill and, therefore, an active orientation in relation to the environment. 
Cognitive therapies view of humankind's active involvement in the environment can be traced back to Jean Piaget, one of the forefathers of cognitive science. Ginsburg and Opper, in summarizing Piaget's basic ideas, note "In Piaget's view, human beings inherit few particular intellectual reactions; rather, they inherit a tendency to organize their intellectual processes and to develop particular adaptations to their environment." 6' P-19 This statement clearly demonstrates that from a cognitive perspective humankind does more than simply passively react to the environment. Rather, individuals actively seek to make sense of their world and modify their behavior as needed. This perspective is significantly different from the behaviorist traditions that view humanity as passively responding to various schedules of reinforcement. 
From a therapeutic standpoint, Dobson, Backs-Dermott, and Dozois note three essential elements or assumptions present among cognitive therapies. These three assumptions include "(1) cognitive activity affects behavior (the mediational hypothesis), (2) cognitive activity may be monitored and altered (the access hypothesis), and 
(3) desired behavioral change can be effected through cognitive change." 1· p.422 The key factor among these three assumptions is that people have the ability to monitor and alter their cognitive activity. The fact that people can examine and modify their cognitive activity demonstrates the presence of freewill. From these assumptions it 
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may be reasoned that cognitive therapy views people as active consumers of information in that they autonomously seek out information and strive to organize it in an effort to better understand the information. Therefore, from this perspective, the individual does not merely react to his or her environment, but instead is active in regards to his or her role in the world. 
In regards to the question of human freewill, logotherapy conceptualizes humankind as being fundamentally active with regards to the environment. Specifically, logotherapy conceptualizes freewill as freedom in the face of biological instincts, inherited dispositions, and environmental influences. Although people are impacted by all of these, they still possess the freewill to reject or accept them and to take a stand on these conditions. Thus, individuals do not simply exist; instead they choose what their existence will be. 10 According to Frankl, "What matters is not the features of our character or the drives and instincts per se, but rather the stand we take toward them. And the capacity to take such a stand is what makes us human beings." 5· P-17 Humankind's ability to control their behavior and thoughts places them in an active position with regards to their role in the universe. In regards to the question of human freewill, the fact that cognitive therapy and logotherapy agree leads to the obvious conclusion of compatibility. 
Conclusion 
Given the mass of empirical evidence supporting the effectiveness of cognitive-based therapies,1 and given Frankl's observation that approximately 20% of clients at outpatient settings suffer from noogenic neuroses,4 it may be concluded that therapeutic interventions that include both cognitive and logotherapeutic strategies will produce a powerful means by which to address human suffering. The co-application of cognitive therapy and logotherapy will equip the therapist with a more complete vantage point from which to conceptualize and treat the client without compromising treatment due to incongruent underlying philosophical assumptions. This enhanced perspective has potential to facilitate the overall effectiveness of the therapeutic endeavor. 
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JEFFREY M. BENWARE, MS [University of Houston, Department of Educational Psychology, 491 Farish Hall, Houston, Texas 77204] is a Doctoral Candidate in Counseling Psychology at the University of Houston. He is currently completing a pre-doctoral internship at the Missouri Health Sciences Consortium. 
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Prochaska, J., & Norcross, J. {1994}. Systems of Psychotherapy: A Transtheoretical Analysis (3rd ed). Belmont, CA: Cole Publishing Company. 

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ISSN 0190-3379 IFDDL 26(1)1-64(2003) 
The International Forum for  
LOGOTHERAPY  
Journal of Search for Meaning