The Affect of Viktor Frankl on Edith Eger

Dr. Edith Eger Stands on the Shoulders of Viktor Frankl, each Figuratively and Philosophically. Her life and work exemplify the residing software of Frankl’s core tenet: that which means will be present in each second, particularly amidst struggling

“Viktor Frankl writes, Man’s seek for which means is the first motivation in his life … This which means is exclusive and particular in that it should and will be fulfilled by him alone; solely then does it obtain a significance which is able to fulfill his personal will to which means. Once we abdicate taking duty for ourselves, we’re giving up our skill to create and uncover which means. In different phrases, we hand over on life.” ― Edith Eger

Summary

“This paper explores the profound affect of Viktor Frankl, the founding father of logotherapy and Holocaust survivor, on Dr. Edith Eger, additionally a Holocaust survivor and acclaimed psychologist. It investigates how Frankl’s philosophy of discovering which means in struggling deeply knowledgeable Eger’s therapeutic strategy, writings, and private journey of therapeutic. Drawing from main texts, together with Frankl’s Man’s Seek for Which means and Eger’s The Selection and The Present, this report illustrates how Frankl’s existential humanism formed Eger’s methodology, enabling her to combine trauma, resilience, and hope in psychotherapy. The dialogue expands to contemplate medical, cultural, and philosophical implications, providing insights into how their mixed legacy continues to form fashionable psychotherapy and trauma restoration.

1. Introduction

Viktor Frankl and Edith Eger are two towering figures within the discipline of psychology whose lives had been marked by the horrors of the Holocaust. Their survival and subsequent contributions to the understanding of trauma, resilience, and which means in life kind a legacy that continues to affect therapeutic apply worldwide. Whereas Frankl is greatest identified for his improvement of logotherapy, Eger has change into an influential voice in trauma restoration, explicitly acknowledging Frankl’s affect on her considering and apply. This paper examines the direct and philosophical affect Frankl had on Eger’s private {and professional} life, highlighting their shared emphasis on human freedom, duty, and the pursuit of which means amidst struggling.

2. Viktor Frankl: Background and Philosophy

Viktor Frankl was an Austrian neurologist, psychiatrist, and Holocaust survivor. His seminal work, Man’s Seek for Which means (Frankl, 2006), chronicles his experiences in Nazi focus camps and presents his psychological framework of logotherapy. Central to Frankl’s thought is the concept that life has which means underneath all circumstances, even essentially the most depressing ones, and that the human drive is just not pleasure (as Freud argued) or energy (as Adler proposed), however the pursuit of which means.

Logotherapy is based on three major ideas:

• Life has which means underneath all circumstances.
• Our major motivation for residing is our will to search out which means.
• We have now the liberty to search out which means in what we do, what we expertise, or at the least within the perspective we take towards struggling.

Frankl emphasised that whereas struggling is an inevitable a part of life, people can select their response and, by this, discover a greater function. He drew from private expertise, arguing that even in Auschwitz, one might retain dignity by selecting their perspective, holding on to religious freedom when all else was stripped away.

3. Edith Eger: Biography and Skilled Work

Dr. Edith Eger was born in 1927 in Kosice, Czechoslovakia. At age 16, she and her household had been deported to Auschwitz. Her mother and father had been killed upon arrival, and Eger endured unimaginable struggling within the focus camps, together with compelled labor and the notorious cruelty of Dr. Josef Mengele. Surviving the camps, she emigrated to the USA, earned a Ph.D. in medical psychology, and started working towards as a psychotherapist.

Eger has written two bestselling books, The Selection (Eger, 2017) and The Present (Eger, 2020), which element her private story and therapeutic insights. Her work emphasizes forgiveness, resilience, and the power to reclaim company within the aftermath of trauma. Eger developed a therapeutic strategy that mixes cognitive-behavioral strategies with existential ideas, significantly influenced by Frankl.

4. Assembly of Minds: Frankl and Eger

Though they didn’t work straight collectively, Eger acknowledges Frankl as a religious and mental mentor. She usually cites Man’s Seek for Which means as a foundational textual content in her restoration {and professional} improvement. Eger’s writing and remedy are deeply rooted in Frankl’s existential ideas, significantly the emphasis on discovering which means in struggling.

Eger met Frankl later in life and held him within the highest regard. In interviews and writings, she notes that Frankl’s survival and psychological outlook mirrored her personal journey from sufferer to survivor to healer. She thought of him a task mannequin, whose philosophy validated her perception that even essentially the most horrific struggling could possibly be transcended by meaning-making.

5. Frankl’s Philosophical Imprint on Eger’s Work

5.1 Which means in Struggling

Eger’s central message mirrors Frankl’s logotherapeutic precept: we can’t change the previous, however we are able to select how we reply to it. In The Selection, she recounts her personal struggling and the way she discovered to reframe her experiences not as everlasting wounds however as sources of power. This cognitive reframing is quintessentially Franklian.

Frankl wrote, “Once we are not in a position to change a state of affairs, we’re challenged to alter ourselves” (Frankl, 2006, p. 112). Eger echoes this when she writes, “Struggling is common. However victimhood is non-compulsory” (Eger, 2017, p. 105).

5.2 The Energy of Selection

Frankl’s notion of inside freedom—the concept that one can select their perspective in any given circumstance—is deeply embedded in Eger’s therapeutic message. The title of her first e book, The Selection, is a direct homage to this precept. Eger encourages shoppers to acknowledge their company, to step out of the position of sufferer, and to make selections that empower them (Eger, 2017).

5.3 Accountability and Authenticity

Like Frankl, Eger believes in radical duty: people should take possession of their ideas and actions, even amidst uncontrollable exterior occasions. Her remedy focuses on serving to shoppers transfer from blame to self-empowerment. This mirrors Frankl’s concept that which means is just not given however have to be found by genuine residing and duty (Frankl, 2006).

5.4 Transcendence and the Human Spirit

Each Frankl and Eger spotlight the transcendent dimension of the human spirit. Frankl’s logotherapy contains the idea of the “noölogical” dimension—the place which means, values, and the religious area reside. Eger integrates this into her remedy by serving to shoppers uncover a way of function that transcends ache. Her view that “we change into stronger within the locations that had been damaged” displays the redemptive imaginative and prescient shared with Frankl (Eger, 2020).

6. Comparative Evaluation: Frankl and Eger on Trauma and Therapeutic

6.1 Similarities

• Each emphasize meaning-making in response to struggling.
• Each reject the sufferer id as a everlasting state.
• Each incorporate religious and existential dimensions into remedy.
• Each advocate for human freedom and selection, no matter circumstance.

6.2 Variations

• Frankl’s work was extra philosophical and summary; Eger’s is extra private and emotionally accessible.
• Frankl centered on the philosophical basis of which means; Eger integrates this with trauma-informed remedy.
• Eger emphasizes emotional processing and somatic therapeutic alongside existential perception.

7. Medical Functions of Frankl’s Affect in Eger’s Remedy

Eger’s remedy classes usually begin by serving to shoppers confront the previous, settle for their ache, after which transfer towards a future outlined by function. She makes use of storytelling and metaphor, usually sharing her personal journey, to mannequin resilience. This technique echoes Frankl’s personal use of non-public narrative in Man’s Seek for Which means (Frankl, 2006).

In apply, she helps shoppers:

• Reframe previous trauma as a catalyst for progress.
• Determine self-limiting beliefs and rework them.
• Embrace forgiveness as a liberating pressure.
• Discover private which means that guides future motion.

8. Philosophical and Cultural Implications

The dialogue between Frankl and Eger’s work speaks to broader philosophical debates about freedom, duty, and the human situation. In a time the place psychological well being narratives usually emphasize analysis and pathology, Eger’s Franklian message of company and which means gives a counterbalance. Their work invitations therapists and shoppers alike to reclaim their dignity and humanity.

Furthermore, their shared Jewish heritage and Holocaust expertise lend a cultural and historic weight to their psychology. Eger, like Frankl, transforms cultural trauma into common classes, displaying how struggling could be a crucible for knowledge fairly than destruction.

9. The Broader Legacy: Frankl and Eger’s Mixed Affect

Collectively, Frankl and Eger have considerably contributed to trauma-informed existential remedy. Frankl laid the groundwork with logotherapy, providing a philosophical framework that values function over pathology. Eger prolonged this with fashionable therapeutic practices, making existential therapeutic tangible and relevant in numerous medical settings.

Their mixed legacy is clear in fashionable psychology’s rising recognition of the significance of which means, narrative, and spirituality in psychological well being. Their work resonates with post-traumatic progress concept, optimistic psychology, and integrative psychotherapy. Therapists immediately proceed to attract from their philosophies when working with shoppers dealing with grief, loss, PTSD, and existential despair.

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10. Conclusion

Dr. Edith Eger stands on the shoulders of Viktor Frankl, each figuratively and philosophically. Her life and work exemplify the residing software of Frankl’s core tenet: that which means will be present in each second, particularly amidst struggling. By remodeling her personal trauma right into a supply of therapeutic for others, Eger has prolonged Frankl’s logotherapy into the twenty first century, providing a message of hope, resilience, and freedom.

The affect of Viktor Frankl on Edith Eger is not only an educational consideration; it’s a profound lineage of psychological and religious perception, handed from one Holocaust survivor to a different, after which to the world. Their shared perception within the energy of which means affirms that even in our darkest hours, the human spirit can shine.” (Supply: ChatGPT 2025)

References

Eger, E. (2017). The selection: Embrace the doable. Scribner.

Eger, E. (2020). The present: 12 classes to save lots of your life. Scribner.

Frankl, V. E. (2006). Man’s seek for which means (4th ed.). Beacon Press. (Unique work printed 1946)

Marshall, M. (2020, August 15). Edith Eger: Holocaust survivor, therapist and creator. BBC Information. https://www.bbc.com/information/world-53770865

Pytell, T. (2015). Viktor Frankl’s seek for which means: An emblematic Twentieth-century life. Berghahn Books.

Sommers-Flanagan, J., & Sommers-Flanagan, R. (2015). Counseling and psychotherapy theories in context and apply: Abilities, methods, and strategies (2nd ed.). Wiley.

Report Compiler: ChatGPT 2025

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