Published : 2025-11-20

From Biography to Therapy

The Life of Viktor E. Frankl as the Locus of the Logotherapeutic Model of Psychotherapy

Abstract

This article explores the connection between Viktor Frankl’s personal experiences and the foundations of logotherapy, which he developed. Frankl, a psychiatrist, neurologist, and author of the bestselling book Man’s Search for Meaning discovered through his own suffering in concentration camps that the search for meaning is a key motive of human life. Logotherapy, as the third Viennese school of psychotherapy, focuses on the existential aspects of the human condition, emphasizing the will to meaning as the most significant motivating factor. The article also analyzes therapeutic techniques such as humor and gratitude that Frankl used in practice to help patients find meaning in difficult life circumstances. His biography, interwoven with tragic experiences and a universal message, serves as a strong argument for the credibility of logotherapy as a therapeutic method.

Keywords:

Viktor Emil Frankl, logotherapy, meaning, biography



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Hornik, P. (2025). From Biography to Therapy: The Life of Viktor E. Frankl as the Locus of the Logotherapeutic Model of Psychotherapy. Biografistyka Pedagogiczna [Biographical Studies in Education], 10(2), 199–219. https://doi.org/10.36578/BP.2025.10.36

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"Biografistyka Pedagogiczna" received funding for the years 2022-2024 from the funds of the Minister of Education and Science under the programme „Rozwój Czasopism Naukowych”.

Project duration: 2023-2024.

The amount of co-financing is 65 992,00 PLN

Contract number: RCN/SP/0434/2021/1