I am please to announce my membership in the Viktor Frankl Institute. I have begun coursework through the Institute that I believe will greatly deepen my practice of psychotherapy.
As part of my first course, I was asked why I was interested. My response is reproduced below:
My decision to enroll in this class stems from multiple factors that come together and find their meaning in Franklian Psychology.
I have practiced cognitive therapy for many years. I was trained in a psychology department that strongly emphasized cognitive behaviorism; any exposure to Franklian Psychology was cursory at best. My practice over the years has lead me to believe that the success of psychotherapy is based on the development of what Ellis called a "vital absorbing interest." Rather than simply disputing negative cognitions, my clients and I have worked toward developing cognitions of meaning and purpose. With little or no knowledge of Viktor Frankl, I began calling this approach "meaning-centered cognitive therapy." When further reading led me to Frankl's "meaning-centered therapy," I was intrigued. I found in Frankl's work a full development of the thoughts that I was forming. I wish to study Franklian Psychology because I believe that it may prove to be an intellectual home for the second half of my career.
In addition to my practice of psychology, I have held a long-standing interest in theology. I am enrolled in the Ph.D. program at the Center for Jewish-Christian Studies at the Chicago Theological Seminary. This center was developed out of the Shoah experience. When given the opportunity to study at the only such center in North America, I suspended my psychological practice for two years to complete the residency requirement. Nevertheless, my interest in theology has remained separate from my interest in psychology. Logotherapy appears to fulfill my hope that these two fields might become integrated in my practice.
I believe that the study of Franklian Psychology will bring together these disparate threads. I seek a deeper appreciation of human psychology and psychotherapy, an integration of theology and of the Shoah experience into my psychological theory and practice, and a means of personal reorientation and fulfillment. For these reasons, I am compelled to the study of Franklian Psychology in a way that I cannot ignore.
My decision to enroll in this class stems from multiple factors that come together and find their meaning in Franklian Psychology.
I have practiced cognitive therapy for many years. I was trained in a psychology department that strongly emphasized cognitive behaviorism; any exposure to Franklian Psychology was cursory at best. My practice over the years has lead me to believe that the success of psychotherapy is based on the development of what Ellis called a "vital absorbing interest." Rather than simply disputing negative cognitions, my clients and I have worked toward developing cognitions of meaning and purpose. With little or no knowledge of Viktor Frankl, I began calling this approach "meaning-centered cognitive therapy." When further reading led me to Frankl's "meaning-centered therapy," I was intrigued. I found in Frankl's work a full development of the thoughts that I was forming. I wish to study Franklian Psychology because I believe that it may prove to be an intellectual home for the second half of my career.
In addition to my practice of psychology, I have held a long-standing interest in theology. I am enrolled in the Ph.D. program at the Center for Jewish-Christian Studies at the Chicago Theological Seminary. This center was developed out of the Shoah experience. When given the opportunity to study at the only such center in North America, I suspended my psychological practice for two years to complete the residency requirement. Nevertheless, my interest in theology has remained separate from my interest in psychology. Logotherapy appears to fulfill my hope that these two fields might become integrated in my practice.
I believe that the study of Franklian Psychology will bring together these disparate threads. I seek a deeper appreciation of human psychology and psychotherapy, an integration of theology and of the Shoah experience into my psychological theory and practice, and a means of personal reorientation and fulfillment. For these reasons, I am compelled to the study of Franklian Psychology in a way that I cannot ignore.
2 comments:
Very well written! Bravo! :)
Thanks! It helps to have a friend who is a professional writer, does it not?
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