The Greek words logos and therapia were combined by Viktor Frankl to coin the term Logotherapy, “healing through meaning.” Frankl’s life and work before, during, and after the Shoah (Holocaust) embodied the healing power of meaning/purpose in surviving, enduring, and overcoming the worst traumas humans can experience. Frankl’s original book, Man’s Search for Meaning, is one of the best-selling books of the twentieth century and has been hailed by leaders around the world. Frankl’s life’s work and thirty-nine publications have become the foundation of a worldwide phenomenon of practitioners of Logotherapy and Existential Analysis, training institutes, and a wealth of publications.

In this book, Tom Edmondson, an ordained minister and fully credentialed Logotherapist, demonstrates the value of integrating the concepts and techniques of Logotherapy into the work of pastoral care and counseling. Though Logotherapy is not a religious therapy, Edmondson shows how Frankl’s concept of humans as possessing body, mind, and spirit leads to therapeutic practices that are adaptable and compatible with a religious perspective. Edmondson also brings the engagement of ministers and religious professors of past generations with Frankl and Logotherapy forward to the twenty-first century, along with examples from his own ministerial practice.