Frankl's status as a Holocaust survivor affords him a special
perspective that few get, or would want to. On the other side of PTSD,
for a lucky few, is "post traumatic growth". I won't claim it's a
super-power but it gives a perspective in which many "meaningless"
things melt away and one sees the world vividly.
IIRC (it's a while since I read Frankl) logotherapy starts from a
point of utter meaninglessness, in the camps or on the battlefield
where people die for no reason. With all the "meaning" stripped away
one is free to build ones own.
Frankl gave an enormous gift with that book and his work in clinical
practice, up there with Donald Winnicott. Sadly very little makes it
into ordinary life, perhaps because the subject matter is too
challenging.
IIRC (it's a while since I read Frankl) logotherapy starts from a point of utter meaninglessness, in the camps or on the battlefield where people die for no reason. With all the "meaning" stripped away one is free to build ones own.
Frankl gave an enormous gift with that book and his work in clinical practice, up there with Donald Winnicott. Sadly very little makes it into ordinary life, perhaps because the subject matter is too challenging.