Identity and mission - Who we are and what we work for

The Institute for Logotherapy & Existential Analysis Salzburg was founded in 2001 by Christoph Schlick as an independent private educational institution. It has since become an important establishment for personal development, scientific investigation, solid training and continuing education.
 

As a center that offers educational activities, counseling, seminars, and various formats of encounter we provide a wide range of pursuits, always in close context with logotherapy and existential analysis. Our activities are based on the image of the human being and the teachings of logotherapy and existential analysis as it was developed by the Viennese physician and philosopher Univ. Prof. DDr. mult. Viktor E. Frankl (1905-1997). We undertake to keep his work and his spirit alive in our work and to develop it further.

Following the path that Viktor Frankl described, we move along with courage, with the firm intention to contribute in teaching, exchange, and research to the growing awareness that the potential in all persons can develop and unfold, be brought to life and consolidated. We strive to live Frankl's mission that we can become whole, we can heal through meaning, bring personal meaning into the world and thus contribute to the healing of the individual and the world.

We understand ourselves as an institution that actively contributes to the further development of logotherapy and existential analysis: in scientific research, the development of new concepts of thought and teaching in specific training courses, continuing and further education, and in personal counseling and mentoring.

We promote Frankl’s vivid concepts and their further development in four complementing areas:

• counseling, coaching, personal development, self-experience, therapy, and mediation
• training, further and continuing education (post-graduate offers), supervision
• further development and scientific foundation of LTEA (books, lectures, research projects)
• settings for encounter: lectures, discussion groups, Thursday impulses, exchange on social media, “Impulse for Meaning” meetings

According to Frankl's approach of supplementing rather than replacing previous concepts, we feel indebted to openness and exchange with all those showing a serious interest in the comprehensive development of the human being, the world of work, of society, and of culture.

We commit ourselves voluntarily to the ethical guidelines of the “Code of Professional Conduct for Psychotherapists” (Austrian Ministry for Health, 2012).

The Institute for Logotherapy & Existential Analysis is part of SinnZENTRUM Salzburg and at the same time represents its contextual and structural foundation. The SinnZENTRUM also provides room for activities that go beyond logotherapy and existential analysis as primary focus.

The achievement of our constantly evolving goals, the manifold promotion and further development of logotherapy, the support and satisfaction of our clients and students are our central concern and define our daily motivation.

For whom are our offers?

Our educational programs are aimed at people who are seeking for meaning and ways to consciously live their values, who want to engage with ethical and social questions, and at all who work with other people and would like to apply the principles of logotherapy and existential analysis or imaginative logotherapy and existential analysis in this work. We are also here for those who have undergone training in logotherapy and want to expand their scope, who want to pursue a professional career as a diplomate life coach (psychological counseling;  state license in Austria) and/or want to explore in more depth the principles of logotherapy and existential analysis with its image of the human being at the core as well as its developments in a structured, real-life, practical as well as scientific way in seminars and lectures.

How do we work and what distinguishes us?

We offer adult education through competent and high-quality lessons in small groups and appealing surroundings. The Institute provides an excellent infrastructure that facilitates meetings, lessons, and exchange on site as well as online and in hybrid and asynchronous forms.

Our lecturers keep up to date through continuous further education. They are committed to our mission statement and take time for the individual needs of each student. They share a high degree of motivation and practical experience in logotherapy in a wide variety of settings and contexts (especially but not exclusively coaching, counseling, therapy, couple counseling, consulting, education, career sports, spiritual care).

We fulfil our educational mandate in the form of offers such as lectures, seminars, training courses, publicly certified courses, and symposia on the one hand, and in individual and small group sessions such as counseling, therapy, coaching, or mediation on the other.

In addition to the joint experience and transfer of the contents of logotherapy and existential analysis, we strive to create spaces for meetings, personal development, exchange, joint research, and study. Common engagement with the thoughts of Viktor Frankl and their further developments and the experience of applied logotherapy and existential analysis in their up-to-date forms as well as the experience of collegial support are of great importance to us.

In our group offers and, in particular, in our activities in individual and small group setting we aim at fostering responsibility for the self of all involved and thus also the individual abilities for self-determination and self-care.
 

Our competent team, a well-developed, evaluated and outlined training concept and curriculum, that has grown since 2001, enable us to do what we consider so important: personal support, courageous and appreciative joint learning and development, and a high degree of flexibility. Our programs generally take place on site. However, we also offer programs in hybrid and/or online format with the same consistent quality.

More details about the methods applied can be found in the detailed outlines of individual programs, seminars, and further education training courses.

How do we continue to grow?

With our comprehensive and structured measures for quality management, we want to continuously improve and develop the Institute further. Our internal quality management is built on regular exchange, appreciative dialogue, and the vivid engagement with the contents of logotherapy and existential analysis. We carry out a yearly assessment of our activities and our own conduct based on feedback and impulses of the educational board as well as of external speakers during an annual internal meeting. Regular team meetings are attended by all employees and senior team members, with affiliate team members and lecturers invited.

Essential for our reflections is the feedback from our students and clients collected by our counselors, supervisors, and lecturers individually and in team settings, serving as impulse and invitation for development and evaluated in appreciative dialogue. These impulses are collected through feedback, observation, and discussion during courses, as well as through evaluation questionnaires suited to the character of the course. In addition, we are available for personal conversation and interested in any kind of feedback about our conduct.

Depending on the course type and progress of the training, individual lecturers or the course leadership team also give feedback to individual participants about their progress in the course and the application of the taught contents.

Lived values: sustainability, social fairness, and an appreciative and open together

Our value- and meaning-oriented, social, sustainable, environmentally friendly and holistic lifestyle-focused corporate management goes to the extent to take into account resource- and energy-saving techniques. In purchasing we use, as far as at all possible, sustainable, energy-saving, biological, regional, and fair-trade products. Through our own sustainable actions, we strive to set an example and make a conscious contribution to the preservation of a future-oriented ecological and social system of our world. For we cannot teach values, we can only live them (Frankl) and thus give an example to all.

We are happy to help with organizational challenges, offer continuously updated learning documents and teaching materials, and inform you about specialist events both within and outside our Institute.

To get to know our offers, interested parties are welcome to participate in our events as guests.

In the case of economic hardship, special conditions tailored to the situation can be arranged for. We also inform our applicants about possible external funding of their training costs.

At the Institute we cooperate in a highly value-oriented way indebted to and informed by the image of the human being of Viktor Frankl. We feel particularly committed to the principles of open dialogue both inside the Institute and towards the outside. Our daily work is realized with a highly qualified and motivated team. We work in partnership with our employees and in fair and secure working relationships. The respectful interaction with each other is a matter of course. We meet all people with interest and openness, prudence, and appreciation.

Christoph Schlick and the Management Team October 2021