The Doctor and the Soul: From Psychotherapy to Logotherapy.

Abstract

The author has evolved a theory of neurosis and therapy in which will to is the core of our difficulties. He believes that nihilism, the sense of void, emptiness, and alienation, has become the mass neurosis of our time. This heuristic model is extended to include therapy which comes under the rubric of logotherapy. Dr. Frankel modestly regards his contributions as the most fruitful since Freud, as the only technique able to instill fulfillment and meaning to our existence. It is cleverly written, simple to read, yet devoid of meaning and fulfillment. I find this text full of platitudes and redundant to the point of exasperation. While I do feel that existential theory has added a new dimension to psychiatry, I would never know it from this soul-searching survivor of the concentration camp. It would seem that the insights offered by Bingswanger, Strauss, and May are not to