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The State of Empirical Research on Logotherapy and Existential Analysis

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Abstract

Although research on psychotherapy advanced considerably during the past years, the demand for empirical outcome and clinical studies providing evidence for the effectiveness of the applied treatment is still growing and can be considered a critical challenge for psychotherapy as such as well as for individual schools of psychotherapy, like Viktor E. Frankl’s logotherapy and existential analysis which is the focus of this chapter. In order to address this demand, after giving a short overview about the history of research on logotherapy, this chapter provides a systematic review of 42 empirical studies on the theoretical foundations and the effectiveness of logotherapy covering the years 2010–2015. The implications of these findings for future research on logotherapy are discussed.

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Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank ABILE (Austrian Training Institute for Logotherapy and Existential Analysis) and in particular Prof. Dr. Otmar Wiesmeyr for the generous financial support, which made it possible to prepare a preliminary version of the following research report to be submitted to the Austrian Ministry of Health, and for their collaboration in its publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Viktor Frankl Institute Vienna, Prinz Eugen Str. 18/12, 1040, Vienna, Austria

    Michael Thir & Alexander Batthyány

  2. Viktor Frankl Chair of Philosophy and Psychology, International Academy of Philosophy, Bendern, Principality of Liechtenstein

    Alexander Batthyány

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  2. Alexander Batthyány
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Correspondence to Michael Thir .

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  1. Bendern, Principality of Liechtenstein a, Viktor Frankl Chair of Philosophy and Ps, Wien, Wien, Austria

    Alexander Batthyány

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Thir, M., Batthyány, A. (2016). The State of Empirical Research on Logotherapy and Existential Analysis. In: Batthyány, A. (eds) Logotherapy and Existential Analysis. Logotherapy and Existential Analysis: Proceedings of the Viktor Frankl Institute Vienna, vol 1. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29424-7_7

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