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The International Forum for Logotherapy, 1995, 18, 32-36.

THE APPLICATION OF LOGOTHERAPY IN EDUCATIONBianca Z. Hirsch

The focus of Logotherapy is onmeaning. If the meaning of abehavior can be isolated andidentified, chances are that newbehavior can be learned and appliedin the future if such behavior and thedecisions preceding it areunderstood. Thus, identifying themeaning of behavior and questioningthe value of such behavior will helpchildren relate cause and effect in aclear and precise manner and, aftervarious options have been explored,help them make appropriate choicesin the future.

Logotherapy, as a therapeutic tool. is useful in helping children andadults change behavior and attitudes and thus gain control of their lives.Within the educational system, logotherapy is not only prudent but alsopractical. Prudent, because of ongoing budget problems, schools need tofind ways of dealing with personal issues that overwhelm children andinterfere with learning. Practical, because logotherapy is action-oriented,allowing participants to assume responsibility for their own behavior. Dueto the financial crunch, school personnel cannot always depend on parentsto seek outside help. Health Care Organizations and Insurance companiesrestrict the number of visits for mental health services. Additionally, withcurrent threats of job lay-offs, parents are reluctant to absent themselvesfrom work--consequently, it is difficult for parents to take time off fromwork to take children for therapy. Therefore, when mental health servicescan be provided at school, there is a greater likelihood that parents willgive permission for such services, allowing children to participate intherapy and/or counseling sessions on a regular, consistent basis.

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Even though there is awareness of on-going problems children face athome and in school, school districts face budget cuts that result in theelimination of programs and reduction of staff. However, the emotionaland social needs of students and school personnel remain. As a matter offact, budget cuts add another level of problems because classes arebigger, teachers have less time for students, and students feeloverwhelmed by the large number of classmates and school mates. Middleschools and high schools have become so large, that it is extremelydifficult for adults and students to establish positive interpersonalrelationships. This deprives students of one more caring adult in their lives.Often there is no father, or if there is, he may only be a part-time father,living outside the home and having other interests. In many situations, themother is both the sole care-taker, and as a working mother, is oftenexhausted when she comes home from work, and frequently has little timewhen children need nurturing or an opportunity to express feelings andfears. Teachers and counselors, at the same time, have such large caseloads that consideration for the individual student is held to a minimum.School Psychologists are assigned to school for the purpose of testing,and they focus primarily on getting children into or out of specialeducation programs. Consequently, they have little time for in-depthcounseling and therapy. Yet what better place is there for a youngster towork through maladaptive behavior, or problems with peers and/orauthority figures, than on the spot? The immediacy of focussing on aproblem before it escalates, allows change. By contrast, when a situationfesters until the problem has been exacerbated, a severe crisis maydevelop.

A variety of ways have been initiated to provide help for students whoare in need. Brief therapy (as described by such authors as Amatea orFisch, Weakland, and Segal)1,2 offers short term, problem-orientedcounseling which enables children and their families to effect change andutilize personal strengths to resolve difficulties.

Logotherapy, as developed by Viktor Frankl, focuses on the here andnow as well as what can be done in the future, rather than on blamingpast events. The orientation is for clients to look at where they are, wherethey want to be, and what is necessary for the individual to reach thatgoal. The individual is encouraged to assume responsibility for personalactions and attitudes. Logotherapy is not a "head trip" nor an intellectualexercise--Iogotherapypoints out repeatedly that the individual is more thanan intellectual being. The individual is a spiritual being, in search ofmeaning. Instincts, desires, and feelings are strong within each individual;

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the will to meaning is equally strong. Reasoning, planning, and assumingresponsibility are of great importance in deciding what individuals do withtheir lives now and what kind of person they wish to become. Lukaspoints to situations of the chronically ill patient that can be found also inthe chronically maladjusted student (i.e.. "There is often a greatdiscrepancy between what we intend to do and what we have done. Thisdiscrepancy reveals characteristic things about us. "7). We have to helpstudents identify goals and seek their unique paths to reach their goals inpersonally meaningful ways. If children can be helped to see theiruniqueness, working toward the goal can have meaning as well. Thus astudent who wants to become an athlete can be helped to see that themany hours of academic study and athletic practice are parts of achievingthe long-range goal and participation in these activities can be joyful andfulfilling in themselves. There is a meaningful path for each person, whichonly that person can fulfill in his or her own unique way. Lukas stressesthere is something intended for each of us in this world; each of us has atask waiting.

Within the school setting, adults and children can be helped to look atoptions, make choices, define attitudes, and assume responsibility fordecisions in the classroom and in the schoolyard. With training, teachersand counselors can apply the tenets of logotherapy by using Socraticdialogue, dereflection, and teaching children to make choices and assumeresponsibility for their actions and their attitudes. Logotherapy, in itsbroadest sense, is not a technique that is reserved only for therapists.Rather, when understood, logotherapy can be applied by each andeveryone in daily situations. Although a therapist or teacher can be thecatalyst to help an individual find meaning, neither the therapist norteacher can give meaning to an individual or to a specific situation. Eachperson must discover meaning. Tools that can be helpful include the useof a loqochart.":" The logochart helps to focus on specific activities,provides freedom to prioritize and choose, and identifies behaviors that canbe incorporated (or eliminated) in order to enhance the individual's growthand development.

What is ahead for logotherapy in education? Logotherapy, asmentioned, is future-oriented. Schools provide less and less resources tohelp youngsters learn to cope with the issues that will confront them asthey grow up in tomorrow'ssociety. Logotherapyprovides a form of short-term therapy that can be incorporated in the counseling program and/orprovided by the School Psychologist or mental health worker assigned tothe school. We are obligated to provide an environment that will not

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encumber a child's learning because of problems in the home. Finchamtouches on a single aspect (marital conflict) of such an environmentalimpact." Marital conflict may have a lasting influence on child adjustment,depending on how children internalize and externalize problems.Longitudinal studies are proposed to study cause and effect of suchconflict." While the child is in the midst of family upheaval, therapy for thechild may be necessary. What better place, than in the safe surroundingsof the school? In many instances, the school may be the only site ofstability during family disruption. Trained logotherapists can help the childacknowledge that the domestic problems were not the child's fault. Usingtechniques of logotherapy, the child can be helped to identify short-termresolutions that will enable the child to realize what can and cannot bedone (identify choices) and foster an awareness of what stand to take andwhat attitude to assume toward the family crisis.

Training School Psychologists and Counselors to use logotherapy withinthe schools has many positive outcomes. Inasmuch as logotherapy is aform of brief therapy (established long before the current brief therapy andbrief strategic interventions), it is a direct approach that can be used withchildren and adults. Logotherapy does not delve into the past, nor does itseek someone else to blame (my mother did not treat me right...) but thefocus is on the individual at the current moment in time. What areas arewithin the individual's control? For what is the individual responsible?What are the student's responsibilities? What can the student do tochange a situation, or what change of attitude is needed toward thespecific situation?

Teachers can use Socratic dialogue to help students identify feelings,problems, concerns. Wilson describes the use of Socratic dialogue in aclassroom and suggests the following: "Make participants aware of theresources of the human spirit: self-discovery, choice, uniqueness,responsibility, and self-transcendence ... Help participants become awarethat it is in their power to use these resources to find meaningdirections ... ,,8This is exactly what is needed to bring to the awareness ofstudents that they are not helpless victims but they can be responsible;and once they have discovered where they want to go and what theywant to do, the road becomes meaningful as well. Logocharts and othertools can be utilized to chart the course and provide direction. The LifePurpose Questionnaire can be used with the adolescent population inorder to measure the degree of life-meaning in adolescents."

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BIANCA Z. HIRSCH, Ph.D. [115 San Anselmo Ave., San Francisco,California 94127 USA) is Past-President of the Viktor Frankl Institute ofLogotherapy, a School Psychologist in the San Francisco Unified SchoolDistrict, and on the clinical faculty of the University of California MedicalSchool, Division of Behavioral and Developmental Pediatrics.

References1. Amatea, E. (1989). Brief strategic interventions for school behavior

problems. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.2. Fisch, R., Weakland, J., & Segal, L. (1986). The tactics of change.

San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.3. Fincham, F. (1994). Understanding the association between maritalconflict and child adjustment: Overview. Journal of FamilyPsychology, 8.

4. Hirsch, B. (1990). A modified logochart for youth. InternationalForum for Logotherapy, 13, 61-63.

5. Hutzell, R., & Finck, W. (1994). Adapting the Life PurposeQuestionnaire for use with adolescent populations. InternationalForum for Logotherapy, 17, 42-46.6. Khatami, M. (1988). Clinical application of the logochart.International Forum for Logotherapy, t t , 67-75.

7. Lukas, E. (1992). Meaning and goals in the chronically ill.International Forum for Logo therap y, 15, 90-98.

8. Wilson, R. (1994). Logotherapy in the classroom. InternationalForum for Logotherapy, 17, 32-41.