Viktor Frankl's Existential Unconscious in Marital and Family Psychotherapy

Abstract

In recent years, considerable conflict has occurred in the family treatment movement around the relationship between insight and change. A majority of family therapists believe that insight and awareness do not evoke change, but instead, follow change. In this article, the author presents an existential argument for the importance of awareness and insight in creating family change that is based upon the Existenzanalyse concepts of the late Viennese psychiatrist, Dr. Viktor Frankl.

Key Words:

• Marital therapy
• existential therapy
• couples therapy