Meaning Centered Psychotherapy

In cognitive and emotion-centered therapy the goal is to change the way you think or feel. Psychodynamic therapy focuses on understanding how your past relationships impact you. These forms of therapy can be very powerful, but sometimes there is need for another kind of treatment: a meaning based therapy, or Logotherapy. Logos is Greek for “Word” or “meaning, so Logotherapy means health through meaning.

Logotherapy helps clients discover the meaning in a particular situation, or in life in general. By discovering meaning, suffering can be alleviated, even when the reality of the situation has not changed.

Sometimes there is no cure— the death of a loved one cannot be “solved” by thinking differently. Managing a long-standing depression sometimes cannot be overcome through medication or multiple behavioral strategies. Logotherapy teaches that even in the most miserable of situations, meaning can be found. Meaning does not erase suffering, but it can provide comfort and a reason to persevere.

Logotherapy also assists in discovering an individual’s core values, such as compassion or creativity, which allows people to live more genuinely and may also be helpful in finding an appropriate career or discovering more depth in their relationships.

I am the only practicing diplomate in Logotherapy (the highest credential) in Houston, and I also provide advanced training and supervision to therapists around the world.