Dr. David Sar Shalom “Viktor Frankl’s Logotherapy and Philosophy of Life as related to the LGBTQIA+ Minority Experience “

On the eleventh LOGO-CHAT gathering took place on 2nd. of November Dr. David Sar Shalom’s topic was “Viktor Frankl’s Logotherapy and Philosophy of Life as related to the LGBTQIA+ Minority Experience “

Viktor Emil Frankl’s Logotherapy and Logo-Philosophy—the Third Viennese School of Psychotherapy (after Sigmund Freud’s and Alfred Adler’s)—constitute a versatile body of knowledge that has proven time and again humanity’s intrinsic freedom of will, the will to pursue meaning, and the existence of meaning to be discovered in the big and small aspects of daily life. As a life philosophy, it is suited for everybody, but minorities and those in distress will most likely benefit from the study and application of its foundational principles. Gender and sexual minorities—collectively grouped under the acronym LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, others)—are an oft-quoted yet generally misunderstood section of the population that has not received much notice with regards to its resilience and potential. And so, for this dissertation, I propose there are two main sets of questions to consider:

1)    How can Logo-Philosophy improve the lives and outcomes of  LGBTQIA+ people? Can Logotherapy be purposefully oriented toward LGBTQIA+ people to awaken meaning discovery, to challenge and awaken the defiant power of the human spirit, and to promote a self-transcendent path in pursuit of meaningful endeavors? Can it be a means of healing the suffering caused by stigma, discrimination, and violence?

2)    What can Logo-Philosophy and the LGBTQIA+ experience teach humankind? Could they serve to elicit a change in society at large to reconceive and rectify some of its notions and attitudes toward sexual and gender minorities? Could this partnership become a means to finding common ground by creating bridges of understanding and appreciation?

In this project, I have followed a logical pathway, from an introduction and description of what each of these sexual and gender minorities represents and how they connect to the broader community, to a discussion of how language and labels shape our understanding of the world through the categories we place ourselves in; to the intersection of such identities and how minority stress impact the totality of the individual. And, ultimately, how addressing the sources and effects of stigma, discrimination, and violence towards LGBTQIA+ people can be accomplished through the philosophical and therapeutic existentialist work of Dr Viktor Frankl.

Most, if not all of us, belong to at least one minority group. I believe in Dr. Frankl’s conviction that every single life in existence is uniquely singular, indispensable, and irreplaceable. All life has meaning to its very end. It should challenge everyone to reflect on the categorical labels we devise as human beings and to consider whether such labels truly merit the considerations and qualities attached to them (for better and worse). Through my graduate project I propose that Viktor Frankl’s Logotherapy, but particularly the principles of Logo-Philosophy, can be one of the paths to understanding and appreciating what Rabbi Jonathan Sacks called “The Dignity of Difference.”