Logotherapy in Working with Addictions
Authors: Anastasiia Salnykova, Vasyl Katrych, Tetiana Solyhan
Under the guidance of Nadiia Yurieva
Presented at the Student Forum on 27 February 2025.
Relevance
Support groups for people with substance dependence are extremely important and relevant, because group therapeutic work enables people with addictions to overcome self-isolation, develop a positive attitude towards themselves, receive support from people who have faced similar problems, and develop more sustained motivation for a sober way of life.
For many years, mutual-support groups such as Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous have shown good results in many countries around the world. However, people with addictions who attend such meetings and wish to recover do not always have access to professional psychotherapeutic help. At present, our country faces an acute shortage of psychotherapy groups for people with addictions, and none with a logotherapeutic orientation. Yet most people with addictions ask themselves questions about finding meaning and putting their own values into practice on the path towards sobriety.
The Phenomenon of Addiction from a Logotherapeutic Perspective
Addiction is an acquired, intense need to perform certain actions despite their negative consequences. Substance dependence is an irresistible craving for a particular substance. Frankl associated the existential vacuum with the so-called mass neurotic triad: depression, addiction, and aggression (Frankl, 2011, p. 99). (Editor’s note)
The role of logotherapy in work with addictions is to help people develop motivation for change.
“When life is not seen as meaningful, when the unconditional significance of life is no longer defined, when no fundamental motivation to live is apparent, all this releases approval of self-destruction.” — Timo Purjo (translated from the Ukrainian quotation).
Aims, Tasks, and Relevance of the Therapeutic Group “The Space of Our Freedom” for People with Substance Dependence
Aims
To help participants find meaning in recovery and in life
To help participants develop a responsible stance towards recovery and their own lives
To help participants develop their value orientations
Tasks
Teaching participants to recognize and develop their uniqueness and worth
Helping to create a healing, safe space in which participants develop an appreciation of their own worth
Engaging participants in developing their spiritual capabilities
Helping participants discover their values and goals
Encouraging the search for meaning beyond existence (survival)
Helping participants become aware of their freedom of choice
Supporting the development of participants’ potential for recovery and for building a meaning-oriented life in the future
Structure of the Therapeutic Group
Session Plan
Session 1
The three pillars of logotherapy: freedom of will, the will to meaning, and meaning in life.
“Between stimulus and response, we have the space of our freedom.”
Session 2
The human person from the perspective of logotherapy. Self-esteem, self-worth, and uniqueness.
Developing self-confidence. Practical exercise: “Traits of My Personality”.
“We are conditioned, but not determined.”
Session 3
Three paths to finding meaning. The concept of values.
Practical exercise: “The Apple Tree of Values”.
“A person can endure any ‘how’ if they know their ‘why’.”
Session 4
The concepts of self-distancing and self-transcendence.
Developing the understanding that “I am more than my addiction”.
Practical exercise: “Flying above the Problem”.
Session 5
Freedom and responsibility.
Developing an active, responsible stance towards one’s own life.
“Freedom of will is the ability to choose our own attitude towards circumstances we cannot change.”
Session 6
Developing an integrated perception of oneself. Restoring wholeness.
Practical exercise: “The Lighthouse”.
Session 7
Developing communication skills. Relationships and communities. The concept of love.
Practical exercise: “But You”.
Session 8
Developing self-regulation skills.
Practical exercise: “The Active Self-Regulation Technique”. “What is to give light must endure burning.”
Session 9
Relapse prevention. Prochaska’s model of change.
Writing practice: “A Letter to Myself at a Critical Moment”.
Session 10
Working on goal-setting. The path to self-knowledge.
Practical exercises: “Jug of My Goals” and “The Corridor of Support”.
Summing up.
Adjunctive Therapeutic Activities. Mountain Therapy: Aims, Tasks, and Practical Experience
Within this programme, mountain therapy is considered an adjunctive practice combining time in a mountain environment, manageable physical activity, social interaction, and reflection on personal experience. A shared hike can provide a space for discussing values, personal difficulties, mutual support, and the search for meaning.
Mountain environments are characterized by reduced atmospheric pressure and a lower partial pressure of oxygen. The route, altitude, and physical demands therefore need to be chosen with participants’ health in mind (Hackett & Shlim, 2025). Spending time in the mountains does not replace treatment for addiction or other health conditions. (Editor’s note)
Building trusting relationships through facing difficulties together and spending time together.
In the context of logotherapy, mountain therapy means using the mountains as a means of existential healing.
Logotherapy focuses on the search for meaning in life, and the mountains can provide a powerful setting for this process:
Distance from everyday life: being in the mountains helps people step away from routine and reconsider their values in life.
Physical challenge and self-knowledge: completing exhausting ascents symbolizes overcoming life’s difficulties.
Contact with nature: contemplating the grandeur of the mountains awakens existential questions and the search for deeper meaning.
Adaptation and the development of resilience: being in a mountain environment requires endurance and flexibility, fostering psychological resilience.
This can be compared with Frankl’s idea of the “challenge of fate”: through overcoming difficulties, a person finds meaning even in suffering.
Informational Sessions for Loved Ones of People with Addictions: Aims, Tasks, and Practical Experience
Therapeutic work with the family members and loved ones of people with addictions is an important part of overcoming addiction.
Codependency, in turn, is an unhealthy form of relationship in which one person depends excessively on another emotionally, psychologically, or even physically.
We Propose the Following Ways of Providing Help in Work with Codependency:
Creating support groups for the loved ones and family members of people with addictions.
Education and training to prevent toxic relationships between people with addictions and their loved ones.
Teaching self-help methods to people experiencing codependency: how to help oneself and a loved one who uses substances.
How Can Logotherapy Help with Codependency?
1. Finding Meaning beyond the Relationship
People experiencing codependency often find meaning only in pleasing another person. Logotherapy helps them find a deeper meaning in life that is not confined to a particular person or relationship: a parallel, rather than pyramidal, appraisal of values.
2. Developing Responsibility for One’s Own Life
Frankl believed that freedom of choice and responsibility for one’s own life help a person become more autonomous. This is important for moving out of codependent relationships.
3. Transforming Suffering into a Source of Growth
Frankl taught that a person can find meaning even in difficult situations. Recognizing that suffering can have meaning helps people experiencing codependency stop fearing change and being alone.
4. Focusing on Inner Values
Instead of seeking meaning in controlling others, logotherapy helps people find it in their own principles, creativity, spirituality, and service to others without self-sacrifice.
Concluding Comments
The use of logotherapy in group work helps people with addictions reconsider their values, develop responsibility for their own lives, and make a conscious choice in favour of a healthy lifestyle.
Logotherapy is therefore a promising psychotherapeutic approach that merits further development and integration into comprehensive rehabilitation programmes for people with addictions.
References for Editorial Notes
Frankl, V. E. (2011). Man’s search for ultimate meaning. Rider.
Hackett, P. H., & Shlim, D. R. (2025, April 23). High-altitude travel and altitude illness. In CDC Yellow Book (2026 ed.). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/yellow-book/hcp/environmental-hazards-risks/high-altitude-travel-and-altitude-illness.html