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counteractthe negativetendencies and lead a person to discover new meanings in
his/herwork and relationships by emphasising the values ofcommitment and respon­
sibilityand helpinghimlherto build up the necessary self-esteemthat is lacking.
In short, a meaningless life at work brings conflictand stress. It leads to unhappiness
and behavioralpatterns that are negative and destructive for the individualand the
particularfamily involved. Frankl was ofthe opinionthat meaningin life may be
found in four ways; through the meaning ofwork, love, sufferingand death (De Vos
1995:246-248 & Ras 1998:156-158). The beliefis that mental health is promoted by
tacklingthe tasks oflife in a meaningful and intentionalmanner. Ifwe find meaning
in what we do we will be happy and healthy.
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It alreadyhas been pointed out (point 4.2) that logotherapy is used in family settings.
Where family-life is creating problems, logotherapy is especially suitable to bring
meaning back into the family circle (Lantz 1986:124-135). It assists the family in
discovernew meaningand to realize that no matter how difficultcircumstances,
members have the abilityto transcend and to discover meaningin their relationships
to one another.
Logotherapeutic techniques are employed in family settings such as gaining trust,
finding satisfactorycommunications between therapist and client and assisting the
client to discovernew meaningsin hislher life. Simplyput, the central idea behind
these techniques is that there is meaningful relationships that can exist amongst mem­
bers and that ways must be find to make it work. Thisprocess starts with every indi­
vidualmemberwho must discover meaningin hislher life and then attach meaning to
those around himlher and/or find meaning through interactingwith others (Fraillon
1982:11-19).
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