At the age of 14, Frankl wrote a school paper, “We and the World Process”. In this he expressed the idea that there must exist a universal balancing principle. At age 15, he attended night classes in the people’s college even though he was still in high school. He took courses in applied Psychology and experimental Psychology. This course work motivated Frankl to write to Sigmund Freud. After Freud replied, a correspondence developed. During this time Freud accepted Frankl’s article Internationale Zeitschrift fur Psychoanalyse, for publication. However, by the time this article was published, Frankl had come under the influence of Alfred Adler and Individual Psychology. At the age of 17, Frankl gave a lecture at the people’s college, for a philosophy seminar. His topic was The Meaning of Life. From this lecture he developed two main points for his future theories. The first was that life does not answer our questions about the meaning of life but rather puts those questions to us, leaving it for us to find the answers by deciding what we find meaningful. The second point was that the ultimate meaning of life is beyond the grasp of our intellect, but is something we only can live by, without ever being able to define it cognitively. After the First World War, there were years of great soul-searching in Austria. Existential questions were on everyone’s mind and they all dealt with the meaning of life. It was at this time that Adler established a school of psychology that searched for concepts that would allow individual freedom. This attracted Frankl and the man who had once followed Freud’s theories began to form new concepts. He became a Social Democrat and in 1925 published Internatinale Zeitschrift fuer Individualpsychologie. Frankl became well known and well liked in this group. He soon began to develop ideas that were outside the traditional framework of Adler’s system of thinking. However, even until his death, Frankl felt an attachment to Adler’s Individual Psychology. The main difference in Logotherapy and Individual Psychology are views concerning the meaning of life. In the 1930’s, Frankl developed new concepts and coined new terms. The term Logotherapy was first used in 1926 when Frankl presented a lecture at the Academic Society for Medical Psychology. He later used the term Existenzanalyse, (existential analysis) but this was later found to be confused with Binswanger’s Daseinsanalyse and Frankl went back to the term Logotherapy. With the rise of Hitler, Frankl was taken to a concentration camp. Although he was stripped of everything, during this time he managed to write his book Aerztliche Seelsorge, later published in English as The Doctor and the Soul. This book contained the essence of Frankl’s thoughts and theories. Frankl considered this experience a validation of the concepts on which Logotherapy is based. The three tenets of Logotherapy were tested in the camps. After being released from the concentration camps, Frank ...

1. At the age of 14, Frankl wrote a school paper, “We and the
World Process”. In this he expressed the idea that there must
exist a universal balancing principle. At age 15, he attended
night classes in the people’s college even though he was still in
high school. He took courses in applied Psychology and
experimental Psychology. This course work motivated Frankl to
write to Sigmund Freud. After Freud replied, a correspondence
developed. During this time Freud accepted Frankl’s article
Internationale Zeitschrift fur Psychoanalyse, for publication.
However, by the time this article was published, Frankl had
come under the influence of Alfred Adler and Individual
Psychology.
At the age of 17, Frankl gave a lecture at the people’s college,
for a philosophy seminar. His topic was The Meaning of Life.
From this lecture he developed two main points for his future
theories. The first was that life does not answer our questions
about the meaning of life but rather puts those questions to us,
leaving it for us to find the answers by deciding what we find
meaningful. The second point was that the ultimate meaning of
life is beyond the grasp of our intellect, but is something we
only can live by, without ever being able to define it
cognitively.
After the First World War, there were years of great soul-
searching in Austria. Existential questions were on everyone’s
mind and they all dealt with the meaning of life. It was at this
time that Adler established a school of psychology that searched
for concepts that would allow individual freedom. This attracted
Frankl and the man who had once followed Freud’s theories
began to form new concepts. He became a Social Democrat and
in 1925 published Internatinale Zeitschrift fuer
Individualpsychologie. Frankl became well known and well
liked in this group. He soon began to develop ideas that were

2. outside the traditional framework of Adler’s system of thinking.
However, even until his death, Frankl felt an attachment to
Adler’s Individual Psychology. The main difference in
Logotherapy and Individual Psychology are views concerning
the meaning of life.
In the 1930’s, Frankl developed new concepts and coined new
terms. The term Logotherapy was first used in 1926 when
Frankl presented a lecture at the Academic Society for Medical
Psychology. He later used the term Existenzanalyse, (existential
analysis) but this was later found to be confused with
Binswanger’s Daseinsanalyse and Frankl went back to the term
Logotherapy.
With the rise of Hitler, Frankl was taken to a concentration
camp. Although he was stripped of everything, during this time
he managed to write his book Aerztliche Seelsorge, later
published in English as The Doctor and the Soul. This book
contained the essence of Frankl’s thoughts and theories. Frankl
considered this experience a validation of the concepts on which
Logotherapy is based. The three tenets of Logotherapy were
tested in the camps.
After being released from the concentration camps, Frankl
became the head of the neurological department at the
Poliklinik Hospital in Vienna. This time proved to be important
in the development of Logotherapy. Frankl was able to practice
and refine the methods of Logotherapy on thousands of patients.
During the fifteen years after his release, Frankl continued to
write and in the process refine, polish, strengthen and expand
Logotherapy.
At the age of 14, Frankl wrote a school paper, “We and the
World Process”. In this he expressed the idea that there must
exist a universal balancing principle. At age 15, he attended

3. night classes in the people’s college even though he was still in
high school. He took courses in applied Psychology and
experimental Psychology. This course work motivated Frankl to
write to Sigmund Freud. After Freud replied, a correspondence
developed. During this time Freud accepted Frankl’s article
Internationale Zeitschrift fur Psychoanalyse, for publication.
However, by the time this article was published, Frankl had
come under the influence of Alfred Adler and Individual
Psychology.
At the age of 17, Frankl gave a lecture at the people’s college,
for a philosophy seminar. His topic was The Meaning of Life.
From this lecture he developed two main points for his future
theories. The first was that life does not answer our questions
about the meaning of life but rather puts those questions to us,
leaving it for us to find the answers by deciding what we find
meaningful. The second point was that the ultimate meaning of
life is beyond the grasp of our intellect, but is something we
only can live by, without ever being able to define it
cognitively.
After the First World War, there were years of great soul-
searching in Austria. Existential questions were on everyone’s
mind and they all dealt with the meaning of life. It was at this
time that Adler established a school of psychology that searched
for concepts that would allow individual freedom. This attracted
Frankl and the man who had once followed Freud’s theories
began to form new concepts. He became a Social Democrat and
in 1925 published Internatinale Zeitschrift fuer
Individualpsychologie. Frankl became well known and well
liked in this group. He soon began to develop ideas that were
outside the traditional framework of Adler’s system of thinking.
However, even until his death, Frankl felt an attachment to
Adler’s Individual Psychology. The main difference in
Logotherapy and Individual Psychology are views concerning
the meaning of life.

4. In the 1930’s, Frankl developed new concepts and coined new
terms. The term Logotherapy was first used in 1926 when
Frankl presented a lecture at the Academic Society for Medical
Psychology. He later used the term Existenzanalyse, (existential
analysis) but this was later found to be confused with
Binswanger’s Daseinsanalyse and Frankl went back to the term
Logotherapy.
With the rise of Hitler, Frankl was taken to a concentration
camp. Although he was stripped of everything, during this time
he managed to write his book Aerztliche Seelsorge, later
published in English as The Doctor and the Soul. This book
contained the essence of Frankl’s thoughts and theories. Frankl
considered this experience a validation of the concepts on which
Logotherapy is based. The three tenets of Logotherapy were
tested in the camps.
After being released from the concentration camps, Frankl
became the head of the neurological department at the
Poliklinik Hospital in Vienna. This time proved to be important
in the development of Logotherapy. Frankl was able to practice
and refine the methods of Logotherapy on thousands of patients.
During the fifteen years after his release, Frankl continued to
write and in the process refine, polish, strengthen and expand
Logotherapy.