Spiritual And Attitudinal Change Analysis

1.4 Spiritual and attitudinal change: Inhumane conditions, like sleeping in their own feces and the everyday beatings from the guards became common, people were dropping dead from hunger, suicides became a normal sight. How did one find the strength to carry on? Frankl recalls, on one night were in the freezing cold they were marched out to dig up the icy grounds, as they tracked up the slippery roads clinging on to each other the man beside him whispered, “if our wives could see us now! I do hope they are better off in their camps and don’t know what is happening to us” (Frankl 1969, p.48). A thought went through his mind, he didn’t even know if his wife was dead or alive, and it didn’t matter at that moment, for he learned that love went …show more content…
Logotherapy, logos is a Greek word translated as (meaning), Frankl sees the meaning in one's life as the primary motivation, many people who attend counselling are unable to see a meaning in their lives, frankl developed his theory to help such people find a meaning, people without a meaning in their lives are what Frankl calls the existential vacuum, are manifested by boredom, emptiness, and apathy (Frankl, 1969). He calls this noogenic neurosis from existential distress, this can be brought on by unhappiness due to meaninglessness, a bereavement or loss. Logotherapy can help overcome such distress and eliminate any noogenic neuroses, here the counselor helps the client to face up to their responsibilities and to find a meaning in their lives, in grieving the counselor focuses on what possibilities are available to the client, to find an attitudinal change ( frankl, 1969). Frankl quotes “ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather he must recognise that it is he who is asked in a word, 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” (Frankl 1969, …show more content…
This article reminded me of my own loss of my father, in 2013 my father was taking into the hospital, he was at the early stage of dementia, while he was in the hospital he got pneumonia and passed away. When I look back I can see the five stages of grief Elizabeth Kubler-Ross (1969) describes, ( denial, bargaining, depression, anger, and acceptance), I remember carrying on my daily routine as if everything was ok, thinking my dad would be coming home, this was the denial stage, then when things became a bit more real, I found myself praying a lot bargaining with god, known as the second stage, the third stage was my anger, I blamed my sister for giving him a hard time when he was at home, this lead to many arguments, I remember becoming very depressed, staying at home and feeling very down, after a few months of feeling depressed at home I finally had an attitudinal change, I needed to find a meaning in my suffering, the main meaning for me, was my wife and my three children, I wanted to better my life for them, and that lead me back to education. Frankl (1969) makes a strong argument that even in the most traumatic experiences and losses can lead us to find meaning and purpose in our suffering, and the choices we make in response to the