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meone's spiritis tied down with a relentlesspursuitofworldlygoods and with all
kind ofgratifications or when someone's existence on this earth is based on satis­
fying hislherneeds only, without considering the will and interests ofother people,
the compulsive, hyper-intending and self-negating elements combine to lower the
individual to a levelnot worthyofa human being. Thisis one ofthe reasons why
Franklhas emphasized so strongly the necessitythat a person must find meaningin
life and/orattachmeaning to other persons/objects, in order to move away from a
selfish self-centered point ofview and/orlifestyle.
According to David Guttmann (1996:106-107) dereflection's therapeutic power can
be successfully used in cases ofaddictions, chronic,psychosomatic and neurotic
conditions, both in group and in case work. The therapistis urged to be careful ofthe
"diagnosis
and to be aware ofpotentialethicalproblems. Before any action is taken,
one should anticipate whetherthere would be the possibility to regret the move. The
therapist could experiment with logotherapeutic alternatives and reinforcethe
positiveresults achieved by this technique.
Thismethodmay be used on its own in cases where normal conditions, for exam­
ple, sleep and orgasm are forced by the client/patient, and when these functions are
blockedby harmful hyper-intention. In such cases derefIection changes the attitude
that previously caused the blockage. At times people are trapped and strangled by
normal and abnormal behavioral patterns that cause much anguish and suffering.
Whenboth conditions are present, the logotherapist may use a combination oflogo­
therapeutic techniques by first hberatingthe client/patient from anticipatory anxiety,
and after that, by removing the blockage and changing the client'slpatient's attitude
toward the selfand others. Many aberrations ofbehaviourcan be eliminatedor at
least reducedin intensity by a changein direction - from self-punishing, self-Iower-
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