Mental_Health_Counseling_History

Mental Health Counseling History Brad Erlandson University of Phoenix World War Two, Hitler, Nazi invasion, anti-semitism, all these terms have become somewhat academic in our culture. However the terms Holocaust, Ashwits death camps, speak deeper to the souls of most people, even if they are not sure what really happened during those days or why. “The word Holocaust comes from two Greek words, olos, meaning whole, and kaustos, meaning burnt. Originally, it was used to refer to burnt sacrifices.” (Redsand, 2006 p.) Today when the word Holocaust is spoken it usually has reference to 6 million Jewish people and millions of others being gassed and cremated simply for being who they were. Years before the War began, a baby was born, March 26, 1905. His name Viktor Frankl son of Elsa and Gabriel Frankl. A new baby coming into the world, born to loving parents is a reminder that life goes on, life continues, another generation is born to take the place of the previous generation. New beginnings, new hope and joy. Few things in life compare to one’s own flesh and blood being introduced to the world, Elsa and Gabriel must have been estatic. Elsa and Gabriel were born in what was then Czechoslovakia, which was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. (book) Gabriel came to Vienna, Austria hoping to go to medical school, but had to stop because of finacial reasons. He later became the Director of Social Service. (book) Elsa and Gabriel were drawn together by their Jewish roots. Though they were not strictly orthodox they did observe the Jewish Holidays and dietary codes. (book) “Every morning, Gabriel Frankl went into his room to pray. He put on phylacteries, small leather boxes containing verses from the Hebrew Bible. He prayed the Shema Yisrael, the principal prayer of the Jewish Faith: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One God; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.’ (Redsand, 2006) Viktor overheard his father pray in this way, it left a deep impression, he would draw from the strength of this pray in days to come. Gabriel was delighted when he heard his three year old son say he wanted to be a doctor. Fathers often want their children to do what was in their heart to do, even if they were unable to. When I was three years old I have very few memories. The thought of becoming a doctor or a lawyer was the farthest thing from my mind. Toy trucks, sandboxes, bikes and having fun was all I remember during those early years. Viktor had vision for his life early, a vision that would come to pass, but not without opposition, and not the way he thought. In high school Viktor became interested in philosophy and psychology. He read the theories of Freud, the founder of Psychoanalysis. Viktor examined the views of Sigmund Freud, he wondered if Freud was right about the idea that most human behavior is motivated by unconscious sexual needs and desires (book) Viktor loved to talk about psychology with his classmate which earned him the title, “Mr. Philospher.” (book) Viktor was hungry for knowledge and understanding, which set him apart from most of his classmates. After World War I ended, “it was an exciting time to be in Vienna, a city sometimes called the birthplace of the Modern Age, many people who would later be world famous were experimenting with theories in art, music, architecture, economics, medicine, physics, literature, psychology and philosophy.” (Redsand, 2006,p17) Viktor and Freud became aquainteces due to Viktor’s persistence, writing him often and sending him one of his high school papers. At 17 years old, undaunted by Freud’s fame Viktor reached out to Freud. “At the age of 20, Viktor met Freud on the street and introduced himself. Freud responded. ‘Just a minute’ then rattled off Viktor’s address, which he knew by heart from their frequent correspondence.” (Redsand, 2006, p.19) The relationship would become strained in the coming days, but for the time, Viktor learned a great deal becoming associated with great minds. Most associate Sigmund Freud as one of the spearheads of modern psychology. Fortunatly Viktor Frankl would be associated with this wave of psychological thought that did then, and is now still influencing the world. Viktor’s views would change over the years, his views would become more defined and then tested. Though he was a true intellectual, Viktor was introduced to mountain climbing in his twenties. A friend introduce him to this and immediately Victor loved the challenge, “of conquering any fears that arose as he met a rock wall with his body and tested his limits.” (Redsand, 2006, p.20) Though Viktor was not interested in sports, he took to mountain climbing, and did it the rest of his life. He found solace while climbing and being out in nature, breathing the fresh air. The time climbing became his sanctuary, his place of peace and renewal. Viktor dedicated himself to his early vision for his life, to become a doctor. While in medical school Viktor wondered about what he should specialize in. “For a season he thought he would specialize in obstetrics or dermatology” (Redsand, 2006, p.24) One day a fellow student approached him with some advice, that for Viktor was prophetic. “He told Viktor that his real gift was in psychiatry and quoted the famous Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard to make his point, ‘Don’t dispair at wanting to become your authentic self.’ When Viktor looked back at this moment, he wrote, ‘It is diffcult to believe what decisive turns in our lives we sometimes owe to even casual remarks made by another person.” (Redsand, 2006, p. 25) From this point on he focus his energies on becoming a psychiatist.. He excelled in school, although the ciriculum was heavy Viktor found time to discuss and depate the various therories that were being espoused at the time. After thinking long and hard about psychoanalysis he concluded that to reduce the complexities of being human to a single mechanism of unconscience drives was not accurate. (book, 26) He found another person he could draw understanding from, Alfred Adler. He became an active member and made a name for himself quickly within the sicioty. However, after giving a talk at the International Congress for Individual Psychology in Dusseldorf, Germany, what Viktor spoke of did not fully agree with Adler. As a result, he was expelled from the sicioty. “He stated that some behaviors might look like the symptoms of illness but could actually be expressions of one’s innermost being, one’s true self. For example, someone who showed symptoms of depression might accutally be expressing dissatifation with her life, a need to find a more meaningful career.” (Redsand, 2006, p. 28) Freud stressed all mental issues were related to sexual needs, Adler said mental issues came from social inferiority. Both of these views had strengths and weaknesses for Victor, but never hit the bullseye in his mind. Viktor respected these men emensly, even making a cartoon showing Freud on the top step, Alder just below him and them himself below Adler. (book 30). “Logotherapy, developed and validated by Viktor Frankl has become known as the Third Viennese School of Psychotherapy, after that of Sigmund Freud and Alfred Adler. It is a theory Frankl used in his professional life, but also in his private one. Logos is a Greek word translated as ‘meaning.’ Logotherapy focuses on the future. According to Logotherapy, meaning can be discovered in three ways, by creating a work or doing a deed, by experiencing something or encountering someone, and by the attitude we take toward unavoidable suffering (http://www.logotherapyinstitute.org/life.). Something to do, a noble cause, someone to love, or be loved by, or both, and the strength needed to overcome inevitable suffering. These concepts are what Frankl taught, and lived. Becoming more and more convinced of the value of logotherapy Viktor set out to help hurting and depressed individuals. He encouraged depressed young people, many who were sucidal to involve themselves in activities, paid or not, that would help them overcome their depression. “Once they were engaged in meaningful activities, even if they weren’t paid, their depression often was relived.” (Redsand, 2006 p 30). Viktor would emphasize, “everything can be taken for a man but one thing: the last of human freedom-to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” (Man search for meaning, 86) He made another amazing statement, “A man who becomes conscious of the responsibility he bears toward a human being who affectionately waits for him, or to an unfinished work, will never be able to throw away his life. He knows the ‘why’ for his existence, and will be able to bear almost any ‘how.” Duty, love, strength, these he spoke of to those who were depressed, lacked hope or were suicidal. This is what he taught, and what he taught would be tested in a dramatic way. Hitler was rising to power, his voice was resonating with many Germans who were still discruntaled about WW I. In a savy but sinister way Hitler manipulated the government of Germany to pass the Enabling Act. “With only ninty-four Social Democrats voting against it, the Enabling Act was approved on March 23, 1933.” (Redsand, 2006, p. 39) He now was the dictator the “Fuhrer” meaning leader, the supream leader, who had sole authority to go against the constitution if he thought it was in the best interest of the country. (book 39) 1937 Viktor set up his own practice in his sisters living room, he was excited for this new beginning for him. He did not pay much attention to what was going on polically at the time. He was more absorbed in his work and CNN was not yet on the sceane, so obtaining knowledge of what was happening was a greater challenge. March 12, 1938 Hitler drove tanks into Austria, it was a takeover that was welcomed by the Austrian people, unaware of all that Hilter had in mind. The beginning of the anti-Semitism movement began in Austria. Laws were passed to humiliate the Jewish people. “After the Nazi takeover of Austria, Jewish children were no longer allowed to attend public schools, and Jewish professionals, teachers, doctors, lawyers-were stripped of their credentials” (Redsand, 2006, p. 45) Fear and panic began to set in among the Jewish people, many wanted to leave, some did, others were forced to stay. Victor’s sister Stella and her husband left for Australia, his brother and sister-in-law, Walter and Else, went to Italy. Viktor had a chance to leave and come to America but in a somewhat dramatic way he chose to stay because his parents. (find quote) In (month) of 1942 Viktor and his family were arrested and sent to the concentation camps. His family was split up by the Germans, his mother, father and wife were sent to Theresienstadt, a supposed less harsh camp, while Viktor was sent to the dreaded Auschwitz. “Two hundred fifty miles later, the train slowed, and voices cried out, ‘there is a sign,’ Auschwitz! The name Auschwitz stood for all that was horrible: gas chambers, crematoriums, massacres.” (Redsand, 2006, p.67) Of all the places feared the most during the war Auschwitz was the most feared. “Auschwitz-Birkenau became the killing center where the larges number of European Jews were killed during the Holocaust.” (Gate to Hell, http://www. auschwitz.dk/Auschwitz.htm) This was one of the camps Viktor experienced during Hilter’s riegn. At Auschwitz, logotherapy would be tested. What was mere theory would now be challenged to the extreme. A man, a respected psychiatrist and neurologist, educated, professional, and recently married to Tilly Grosser, is now reduced to complete nakedness in the sight of strangers who were hell bent on destroying him. Aschuwitz would be the incubater used to breath life into what was simple theory. Could logotherapy stand the test, would Viktor survive, would his theory survive' Away from Freud and Adler now, their rejection of him palled in comparison to what lie before him now. Prior to his imprisonment in Auschwitz, Viktor was heckled strongly by the anti-semitic surge. He believed this actually prepared him for the true hatred he would experience. Viktor believed in Providential encouragement and direction. He stayed behind with his parents after debating within himself if he should go to America. He had a chance to go, but finding a statement about honoring your father and mother, he stayed. Now at Ascuhwitz, one of his first experiences, after being stripped, shaved, and ordered to pick clothes from a large pile, “Victor took a thin, torn coat from the heap. As he slipped his hand into one of the pockets, he felt the crinkle of a scrape of paper. It was a torn page from a Jewish prayer book. On it was written the Shema Yisrael, the prayer Viktor had seen and heard his father say every day when he was a boy.” (Redsand, 2006, p. 70) Finding this paper, for Viktor, was no coincedience, he was challenged by it. “Viktor later wrote that finding this prayer in this new ‘coat’ was a challenge to me to live what I had written, to practice what I had preached.” (Redsand, 2006, p.70) With fresh determination he would now set out to actually put into practice what he had written. He began to focus on the future, his wife, what he was going to do, not if, but when he got out. He hoped to publish books and teach logo-therapy. The conditions he and his fellow comrades were in were deplorable and miserable. The loss of physical health, weight, self-respect and lives were tragically abundant. Many died, many committed suicide. Viktor discerned that when his friends lost hope, hope for the future, their future, family, friends, soon they died. He would take advantage of opportunities to talk to his friends, encouraging them to not give up hope. He quoted Friedrich Nietzsche, “That which does not kill me, makes me stronger.” (Redsand, 2006, p. 76) He spoke of logo-therapy. “Logotherapy…considers man as a being whose main concern consists in fulfilling a meaning and in actualizing values, rather than in the mere gratification and satisfaction of drives and instincts.” (Search for meaning 164) For Viktor, meaning was primary. Purpose, direction, the future. “What man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for some goal worthy of him. What he needs is not the discharge of tension at any cost, but the call of a potential meaning waiting to be fulfilled by him. (Search for meaning, 166) I had heard about the book, “The Search For Meaning” from one of my professors. I had never heard of Viktor Frankl or the book, prior to that time. Not long after hearing about Frankl, my son and I stopped at a bookstore in Birmingham, Michigan. As soon as I rolled into the store, right in front of me was the book, “The Search For Meaning.” I purchased the book and began to read it. In mid November of 2009, my wife and I took a needed vacation to Tampa, Florida. The weather was perfect, eighties and sunny for the 5 days we were there. There, on the beach, I finished the book, it resonated deep inside me. After being struck by a drunk driver and paralyzed from the waist down, my life was turned upside down. I questioned everything I had ever known or been taught, my faith in God and humanity being tested to the core. I have made some conclusions about life and meaning, and when I read his book, it confirmed some of my conclusions about meaning, love and suffering. I can relate to Frankl because I also had views about life and suffering that I taught. After being injured, “I was forced to determine who I was and what I believed.” (Erlandson, 2007 p.1) I realized, though experiencing the crash seemed random, there was a purpose, my job to find it and rise to it’s challenge. “The meaning of our existence is not invented by ourselves, but rather detected. (Search, 157) One of the things I have involved myself in is the crusade against drunk driving. Up to 18,000 people are killed each year and multiplied thousands injured. My eyes have been opened to this social injustice and I sense a need to do what I can to reverse the trend. Frankl says that a person has to have something to do, a noble task, someone to love, and strength through suffering. I sensed this, “A man who becomes conscious of the responsibility he bears toward a human being who affectionately waits for him, or to an unfinished work, will never be able to throw away his life. He knows the “why’ for his existence, and will be able to bear almost any ‘how.” Many times in those days after the crash I wondered if life was worth living. Had it not been for my wife, family, friends and the hope of helping people find meaning and hope, I would have died. Viktor Frankl’s contribution to modern psychology is hard to estimate, however from the perspective of many it was and is massive: 1930, graduated from the University of Vienna Medical School, 1940-42-director of the neurological department of the Rothschild Hospital, 1946-70- Director of the Vienna Neurological Policlinic, 1985-received the Oksar Pfister (award presented by the American Psychiatric Association). He lectured at 209 Universities on 5 continents. The American Medical Society, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Psychological association officially recognized Logotherapy as a scientifically based school of psychotherapy. Frankl was considered to be one of the last great psychotherapists of this century, after Freud and Adler. He was he founder of Logotherapy and Existential Analysis. Dr. Frankl was a visiting professor at Harvard, Pittsburg, San Diego, and Dallas. The U.S. International Universtiy in California installed a special chair for Logotherapy. Recipient of 29 Honorary Doctorates from universities around the world. 151 books have been published about Frankl and his work in 15 languages. Statue of Reponsibility Award-this award named in honor of Dr. Viktor E. Frankl. The late Mother Teresa was a recipient of his award.” (Life and Works of Victor Frankl, http://www.logotherapyinstitute.org/life) References Erlandson B, (2007), Walking This Walk, Xulon Press p.1 Frankl V ( ), Search For Meaning, Life and works of Viktor Frankl, http://www.logotherapyinstitute.org/life. Redsand A, (2006), Viktor Frankl: A Life Worth Living, Clarion Books, Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Av. South, New York, NY 10003.