The Doctor and the Soul: From Psychotherapy to Logotherapy Paperback – August 6, 2019

The Doctor and the Soul" by Viktor E. Frankl offers a transformative journey from psychotherapy to logotherapy. The revised and expanded edition delves deep into existential psychology, providing profound insights. Frankl's perspective is both enlightening and practical, making it a must-read for those interested in the human psyche. The book arrived promptly in new condition, and the price of ZAR 298.63 is reasonable for the value it provides. Highly recommended for anyone seeking meaning and purpose in life.

A major theme of the book is the fact that decisions related to racism, law, and practice were not made by Hitler or some Nazi politicians, but rather by a wide variety of highly educated professionals including lawyers, biologists, geneticists, medical doctors, and academics. This fact was reflected in the conclusions of Viktor Frankl, Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor:If we present a man with a concept of man which is not true … as a mere product of instinct, heredity and environment, we feed the nihilism to which modern man is, in any case, prone. I became acquainted with the last stage of that corruption in my second concentration camp, Auschwitz. 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 lecture halls of nihilistic scientists and philosophers.How true.

Anything by Dr Victor Frankl can be considered a must read if you are interested in psychotherapy. Why? Because it was his insights that got him through the grueling experience of the Nazi concentration camps!In this book Frankl outlines the reasons for considering his two major competitors. Freud and Adler, only part of the picture and the details of his more encompassing process which he calls Logotherapy. With a push that would give Nietzsche and the Existentialists a run for their money Frankl emphasizes freedom and responsibility as the true basis for human action in whatever condition we find ourselves.In short, this text may be considered a further elucidation of some of the ideas presented in 'Man's Search For Meaning' the Frankl book that was considered by Time Magazine to be one of the 10 books most necessary to bring with us into the 21st century.It should be added that there is nothing herein that could not be thoroughly understood by the average reader without any significant knowledge of psychotherapy.

If you've read "Man's Search for Meaning," this is the next logical step. This book, while more dense, is much more comprehensive. There's certainly overlap with "Man's Search for Meaning," in the content, stories, and ideas. But this book is much more in depth. I think this is essential reading for anyone looking to become a logotherapist.

This is the book that was confiscated from Dr. Frankl when he entered the concentration camp. It is not the most organized presentation, but his thinking is clear and very well articulated. It is dated in the sense that he spends a lot of time positioning Logotherapy between psychotherapy, which he distinguishes from it as articulated by Freud and Adler, and religious counseling. I am using this a text in my professional training and find myself commenting with some frequency to my instructor on the mysticism, but with no response. Perhaps Frankl wouldn’t accept some of his thoughts as mystical either, but the question about the meaning of existence and of our personal lives is unavoidable, if, like me, you still wonder what all this life experience amounts to.

Frankl does not shy away from spiritual issues, like most of his colleagues from his time and from today. His courage helped him in the death camps, and also in his profession, where he was the first to stand for the dignity of the human being, to caution against the reification, the objectification of people in psychology and psychiatry. He critisizes Freud that in Freud's attempts to be objective, he ended up objectifying. He was the first to see the dehumanizing approach of his comtemporaries in psychiatry and psychology in their attempts to make them "real sciences", and restored humanity to his profession in the noblest way possible.By Roumen Bezergianov, author of "Character Education with Chess", a Logotherapy method with chess

This book is a continuation of the concepts that Frankl so compellingly presented in "Man's Search for Meaning". It is not an easy read; it demands the reader's full attention, but it is worth every bit of energy that you put into it. Frankl discusses practical ways for a person to find meanings and purposes, both as part of the therapeutic process and in everyday life. It is deep deep deep. But if you work hard enough to understand it, this book will change your life.

This book is definitely for therapist and not for the general public. I enjoy reading medical books but this one is repetitive and hard to understand completely. I love Viktor Frankle and his other books are inspiring. This one is more focused for the medical mind.