In Defence of Meaning: Stories of Military Personnel Studying Logotherapy

Authors: Andrii Sofiichuk, Dmytro Kaluzhyn, Serhii Esaulov, Alona Pasiuha

Logotherapy in Times of War: Witnessing the Strength of the Human Spirit

Logotherapy did not arise from war but from Viktor Frankl’s profound understanding of the human being, which he formulated as early as the 1930s. His experience in the concentration camps became a test of the validity of these ideas – a verification of whether meaning and the freedom to choose one’s attitude remain possible even within the confines of captivity.

Today, in a time of new trials, Logotherapy speaks to us once again in a special way – as a path toward preserving humanity, faith, and inner freedom.

In this section, we hear the voices of service members and their families who are living through war, loss, and uncertainty, yet continue to search for meaning, help others, and carry life forward even in the darkest of days.

Andrii Sofiichuk

“Today, more than ever, I understand: this is the time for Logotherapy.”

By education, I am a medical psychologist. I worked in large private companies in HR and staff training, and as a practicing psychologist. With the onset of the full-scale invasion, I joined the “Rubizh” Operational Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine. I progressed from soldier to officer and now serve as a psychologist officer at brigade headquarters.

I am currently in my second year of formal training in the Logotherapy method – yet more and more, I realize I have been studying it all my life.

My path to Logotherapy was anything but accidental. I was searching for a foundational school of psychotherapy when I came across the association’s page on Instagram or Facebook, and saw an announcement about a new study group.

I had long felt close to Frankl’s ideas – his view of the human being, freedom, and meaning, even in suffering. Logotherapy immediately resonated with me as something relevant, alive, honest, and deep.

What particularly appealed to me was the fact that this approach is only beginning to develop in Ukraine – there is room to create, to build a school of meaning. Nataliia Khmelova and her professional work to expand the method in our country also made a great impression on me. It is truly inspiring to be part of this work.

Logotherapy became very close to me, as I had intuitively sensed and practiced many of its ideas even before my training. I have always tried to see in a person not only their problems or trauma, but above all their strength, capacity for recovery, and striving for meaning.

When I began studying Logotherapy, I realized that Viktor Frankl had described these approaches long before. For me, it was like meeting a kindred spirit – an opportunity to understand more deeply what is already present in my practice: not merely supporting a person, but helping them restore faith in what is healthy, alive, and capable of creating within themselves.

“We cannot always influence what happens to us, but we can always choose how we respond”.

There is much in Logotherapy that resonates deeply with the experience of military service. The first thing that comes to mind is attitude. We cannot always influence what happens to us, but we can always choose how we respond.

When someone gives up – or has taken from them – the life they once knew, parts of their identity, is put into uniform, and told what to do, something still remains that cannot be taken away: the last of human freedoms – the freedom to choose one’s attitude.

It is this very freedom that enables one not only to remain true to oneself, to preserve dignity and humanity even in the hardest of moments, but also to rise above the person they were yesterday. Perhaps this is the greatest strength of Logotherapy – it reminds us that meaning and inner freedom are always within reach, even when everything else feels lost.

And indeed, as we know, every era has its own neurosis – and every era requires its own psychotherapy. Today, more than ever, it is clear: this is the time for Logotherapy.

Dmytro Kaluzhyn

“I found a source of support for myself in this method – and now I’m able to offer support to someone beside me”

My name is Dmytro Kaluzhyn. I am an active-duty service member in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. I have been studying Logotherapy for just over a year. At first, it interested me as a way to help myself – to cope with everything I was going through at the time.

My experience is distinctive in that I spent some time in the infantry on the front line at the beginning of the war. Those who have been through this understand how difficult it is afterward to adapt and return to normal life. Studying Logotherapy helped me accept things I had been unable to accept for a long time. It helped me look at the war and my service from a different perspective, change my attitude where the circumstances could not be changed, and stop placing blame.

The infantry suffers the greatest losses. At the same time, it has the fewest resources, because everything is destroyed and lost very quickly. It is as if the mind resists, saying: “This cannot be happening,” “This is not real.” At such moments, you need to find at least something that can sustain you. When death is constantly nearby and becomes commonplace, many people cannot bear this burden and subconsciously begin looking for someone to hold responsible for everything that is happening. I noticed that I no longer needed to do this. What sustained me was responsibility for others – for the people under my command.

“Logotherapy does not see me as ill or traumatized, but sees the best in me. And it is precisely because of this that the best in me begins to grow.”

I found support for myself in this method and can now support someone beside me. I do so when I have the opportunity. Logotherapy interested me so much that I enrolled at university and am now studying to become a psychologist.

It helps me recover because it reduces the tension between who I am today and who I can become. Logotherapy does not see me as ill or traumatized, but sees the best in me. And it is precisely because of this that the best in me begins to grow.

Through this, I accept myself.

Serhii Esaulov

“Treat a person as if they had already become who they are capable of being, and they will become that person.” – Viktor Frankl.

I am Serhii Esaulov, currently a military psychologist in the 4th Operational Brigade “Rubizh” of the National Guard of Ukraine. My introduction to Logotherapy – or rather, the beginning of my studies – came in January 2023, when I enrolled in Timo Purjo’s course “Spiritual Capabilities of Viktor Frankl’s Logotheory”.

Until then, my understanding of Logotherapy had been limited to reading Viktor Frankl’s book Man’s Search for Meaning: A Psychologist in a Concentration Camp. What struck me most in Timo Purjo’s course was how closely Frankl’s ideas resonated with my own worldview and my guiding principles in how I approach others.

They say that people, knowledge, and situations appear at the right time, when we have a question or a need. That is how psychology came into my life almost by chance many years ago, when I began my studies. And the same happened when I joined the Logotherapy course.

The search for myself, my path, the meaning of my existence, and ways to help people who have faced the harshest and most difficult trial – war – and experienced irreversible losses and the destruction of their plans for the future: these are only some of the questions on which Logotherapy has opened new horizons of understanding for me.

A military psychologist is also a service member, so the needs, crises, and inner questions of the soldiers are familiar to me. One of the key concerns is psychological recovery after time on the battlefield, where life is constantly in danger, after the loss of comrades, destruction, and the rethinking of life values.

Logotherapy does not merely reduce symptoms; it initiates a search for meaning that restores inner support, dignity, and faith in the future, and brings back the sense that you are still a human being rather than a “mechanism of war”.

Every day, the ideas and “techniques” of Logotherapy help me build contact with soldiers, support them, create an atmosphere of love, humanity, and respect for human dignity, and discover meaning amid the chaos of war.

According to Viktor Frankl’s approach, even in the most difficult circumstances, a person can find meaning in life through the realization of their values: creative, experiential, and attitudinal values. But is there a place for these values in war? Yes, of course. To remain human, you spontaneously practice self-transcendence even in simple everyday actions: watching the extraordinary colours of a sunset, enjoying a breath of fresh air, feeling the wind carrying the scent of grass, or rescuing a stray kitten from a ruined building. This allows you to reach a level where you can once again feel your own agency and freedom. In war, such moments become a temporary homecoming – inwardly rather than geographically.

His name is Django, and he came into my life recently. I went into a shop to buy cigarettes for the guys, and the shop assistant was holding a tiny ginger creature. I jokingly asked whether he came “with the purchase”. She replied: “Exactly! Will you take him? He kept running into the shop from the street, so I picked him up to warm him.” I stood there thinking: I do not know… I need to consult the guys. I thought for a minute and… decided to take him. He looked far too sweet and defenceless :) I let him into the car, and he sat quietly and obediently on the back seat throughout the journey. At home, he behaved like a truly well-mannered, tidy little boy: when I put down a metal ammunition box filled with sand, he immediately understood, without any hesitation, that it was his toilet. The next day, Django’s hunting instinct awoke: he caught his first mouse. He can also purr like a tractor and sleep on top of my head – literally – and he especially loves playing with beards when a bearded man picks him up.

Alona Pasiuha

“Meaning is always there – even when everything seems meaningless.”

My name is Alona, and I have been studying Logotherapy for over a year. I am a service member by profession, but Logotherapy has become more than additional knowledge for me – it has opened a new dimension in understanding myself, other people, and meaning in the most difficult circumstances of life.

I learned about Logotherapy at a time when I was searching for answers to the question of how to preserve inner resilience when the outside world is falling apart. My service, the events of the war, human losses, and pain made me reflect more deeply on what makes a person human even in inhumane conditions. It was through Logotherapy that I felt that meaning is always there – even when everything seems meaningless.

A revelation for me was the realization that we cannot change the past or our circumstances, but can always choose our stance in responding to life’s challenge. This is not merely knowledge, but inner freedom. I learned to see meaning even in pain, silence, and loss.

“For service members, Logotherapy is about dignity, about choosing to remain human despite the war.”

The theme of recovery is very close to me. Logotherapy helps me not merely “survive”, but continue living by rethinking my experience and transforming trauma into a source of strength. During my service, this knowledge enables me to support my comrades, help them find their own meaning, and not lose faith even when everything seems lost.

For service members, Logotherapy is about dignity and choosing to remain human despite the war. It is a path that leads not only to recovery, but also to a deeper understanding of what we live for.