Viktor Emil Frankl (26 March 1905– 2 September 1997) was an Austrianneurologist and psychiatrist as well as a Holocaustsurvivor. Frankl was the founder of logotherapy, which is a form of existential analysis, the "Third Viennese School of Psychotherapy". His best-selling book Man's Search for Meaning (published under a different title in 1959: From Death-Camp to Existentialism, and originally published in 1946 as Trotzdem Ja Zum Leben Sagen: Ein Psychologe erlebt das Konzentrationslager, meaning Nevertheless, Say "Yes" to Life: A Psychologist Experiences the Concentration Camp) chronicles his experiences as a concentration camp inmate, which led him to discover the importance of finding meaning in all forms of existence, even the most brutal ones, and thus, a reason to continue living. Frankl became one of the key figures in existential therapy and a prominent source of inspiration for humanistic psychologists.
Life before 1945
Frankl was born in Vienna into a Jewish family of civil servants (Beamtenfamilie). His interest in psychology surfaced early. For the final exam (Matura) in Gymnasium, he wrote a paper on the psychology of philosophical thinking. After graduation from Gymnasium in 1923, he studied medicine at the University of Vienna and later specialized in neurology and psychiatry, concentrating on the topics of depression and suicide. His early development was influenced by his contacts with Sigmund Freud and Alfred Adler, although he would later diverge from their teachings.
"The one thing you can’t take away from me is the way I choose to respond to what you do to me. The last of one’s freedoms is to choose ones attitude in any given circumstance."
"When we are no longer able to change a situation - we are challenged to change ourselves."
"What is to give light must endure burning."
"Love is the only way to grasp another human being in the innermost core of his personality."
"Each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible."
"Those who have a 'why' to live, can bear with almost any 'how.'"
"We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."
"For the meaning of life differs from man to man, from day to day and from hour to hour. What matters, therefore, is not the meaning of life in general but rather the specific meaning of a person's life at a given moment."
"Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life; everyone must carry out a concrete assignment that demands fulfillment. Therein he cannot be replaced, nor can his life be repeated, thus, everyone's task is unique as his specific opportunity."
"The last of human freedoms - the ability to chose one's attitude in a given set of circumstances."
... and actions to be “the product of reason.” Further, like fellow Holocaust survivor, Viktor Frankl, he rejects the notion of any group culpability, such as blaming all Germans for his suffering.
One I've turned to on multiple occasions, Viktor Frankl’s well-known book, “Man’s Search for Meaning,” because if someone can provide hope after surviving a Nazi concentration camp then I am more than willing to receive the advice ... Frankl’s answer.
Karen Natzel ...Spoiler alert. these tactics backfire. The intense feelings get internalized and amplified, resulting in the burden of carrying an even bigger emotional load ... Dr ... (Note ... In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” – Viktor Frankl ... ....
Ergo, how do you make time to introspect your emotions without being distracted by the omnipresent smart devices? Viktor Frankl, a psychiatrist and psychotherapist, said, “Between stimulus and response there is a space ... (HT File) ... [email protected].
NEW YORK — As 2024 comes to a close, I dare say that this has been an especially gruesome year for millions upon millions of young children, their parents and their teachers ... "Gaza is apocalyptic right now." ... In the immortal words of Viktor Frankl ... ....
For the past two months I have been dealing with a moderate depressive episode. I’ve been holed up in our family’s media room half working, half streaming my favorite shows ... Psychologist Viktor Frankl said, “What is to give light must endure burning.”.
As Viktor Frankl, the world-renowned psychologist and Holocaust survivor, told us, the antidote to despair remains our abiding faith that life has meaning and purpose beyond the tragic existential circumstances in which we find ourselves ... .
Elizabeth Hughes Gossett shouldn’t have survived beyond 11, the age at which she developed type 1 diabetes ... Emaciated, unable to move or grow ... Twentieth-century thinkers like Bernard Williams and Viktor Frankl posited that death gives life meaning ... .
When the Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist Viktor Frankl was imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps, he noticed that the men who tended to survive the longest had usually made a commitment to ...
As the renowned psychologist and author Viktor Frankl, who survived the atrocities of Nazi concentration camps, wrote in his seminal book Man’s Search for Meaning... Frankl’s insight about having a ‘why’ ...
As the renowned psychologist and author Viktor Frankl, who survived the atrocities of Nazi concentration camps, wrote in his seminal book Man’s Search for Meaning... Frankl’s insight about having a ‘why’ ...
In his 1946 book Man’s Search for Meaning, Austrian psychologist and philosopher Viktor Frankl, seen here in 1947, wrote ... Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. Frankl knew a thing or two about living through a time of rising authoritarianism.
Baltimore Sun
03 Dec 2024
Baltimore Sun
03 Dec 2024