Reinterpretation of Logotherapy’s Dimensional Ontology via Embodied Phenomenology

This article examines foundational tenets of logotherapy and proposes an embodiment-focused reinterpretation of Frankl’s dimensional ontology. We begin by contrasting negative orientations to suffering via the existential vacuum with positive orientations to transformation grounded in three expressions of the noetic: discovery of meaning, self-detachment, and self-transcendence. Next, we examine the philosophical basis for an embodied logotherapy via a reinterpretation of meaning discovery as well as a reinterpretation of soma, resulting in somatic reinterpretations of the noetic expressions of discovery of meaning, self-detachment, and self-transcendence. Finally, clinical applications with transcriptions are used to illustrate how somatic-experiential methods can be more intentionally integrated into clinical practices while ensuring logotherapy remains true to its philosophical commitments.