How to Combat Anxiety: Logotherapy Techniques You Need

Do you tend to panic or struggle with anxiety? Are you in (perpetual) negative feedback loops, expecting things to go wrong? If the answer is yes, I have good news. Logotherapy might offer the solutions you’ve been looking for.

Developed by Viktor Frankl, Logotherapy is an existential analysis. It views finding meaning as the key to overcoming psychological blockages. It posits that even in challenging situations, we can (actually) thrive by identifying a purpose to live for.

Unlike conventional approaches dwelling on the past, Logotherapy focuses on the future. Namely, the power of choosing our response to life’s challenges. In a previous video, I covered its main principles. In this one, I’ll examine a few of its techniques. So stick around if that’s interesting.

Paradoxical Intention

Paradoxical intention is one of Logotherapy’s primary techniques. It intentionally initiates fear (or behavior) more intense than what you’re experiencing. By facing it straight ahead, you become less overwhelmed, which helps you build tolerance and no longer feel threatened.

In a nutshell, you practice intending your precise fear(s). Such an approach transforms the pathogenic fear into a paradoxical wish you can (actually) control. Eventually, the anxiety or fear-triggering patterns lose momentum, become manageable, and fade away. In the words of Frankl:

“A wish is a mother to the thought, whereas fear father to the event. “

Paradoxical intention can (also) employ your capacity for humor as a device for detachment. American psychologist Gordon Allport states that:

“The neurotic who learns to laugh at himself may be on the way to self-management perhaps, to the cure.”

According to Frankl, paradoxical intention validates that clinically. Its starting point is the so-called anticipatory anxiety. By exaggerating or (hyper-intending) it, you become immune to its influence.

Anxiety and Phobias

One example is inviting insomniacs to stay awake. This reduces the pressure, increasing the chances of falling asleep. For OCD, it can be intentionally thinking obsessive thoughts. For social anxiety, exaggerate symptoms like sweating and blushing daily.

If you have panic attacks like I used to, try escalating your fears, which likely won’t be difficult. Whether that’s feeling like choking, getting a heart attack, fainting, or having difficulties swallowing, make a conscious effort to escalate it. Regularly doing so in a safe space diffuses tension around a feared outcome. And the more you practice, the more you build that tolerance and reduce the likelihood of it happening.

Start Small

Like bodybuilding or learning skills, the key is to start small and work yourself up. Gradually upping up the ante lets you build the tolerance safely. And if that helps, progress-track via journaling and noting particular sensations and (overall) experiences.

Common Grounds

Paradoxical intention isn’t wholly exclusive to Logotherapy. It (actually) shares common ground with other mighty techniques. An example is the Stoic meditation of imagining worst-case scenario(s). By contemplating such possibilities (which seldom tend to happen), you reduce their power, even if they do.

Paradoxical intention (also) bears similarities with exposure therapy as both involve direct confrontation. This includes:

1. Gradual Exposure: Both encourage gradually facing fears, which either involves (safely) confronting yours by exaggerating or exposing yourself to them in a controlled way.
2. Desensitization: Exposure therapy aims to desensitize you to your fears. Paradoxical intention seeks to build tolerance by intentionally engaging with them.
3. Controlling Anxiety: Both work to reduce the intensity of fear, helping you regain control over it. Whether through gradual exposure or intentional exaggeration, actively engaging with your fears empowers you to start controlling them.

Feel free to share your experiences.

Personal Experience

From my experience, pushing beyond your fear threshold is crucial. Once you do, you regain control, and the fear loses its power. Although I wasn’t aware of paradoxical intention during my panic disorder, it makes total sense, as my most severe panic attacks revealed nothing (really) happens other than fear itself.

Challenges

The biggest challenge with paradoxical intention is that it can be challenging and (somewhat) disturbing. Or at least at first. If it is excellent. That’s precisely the goal.

The saying goes:

‘Get comfortable feeling uncomfortable.’

In the case of paradoxical intention, swap that out for:

‘Don’t be disturbed by the disturbances. Embrace them.’

If it helps, consider what Ayawaska shamans say to less experienced psychonauts when they feel like dying:

“Let yourself die.”

While I am not into psychedelics, this helped me numerous times, teaching me to surrender rather than resist fear. The more I did, the more I could ignore it, shifting the focus of attention and dropping a panic attack from ten to five.

Dereflection

Speaking of shifting attention brings us to the second Logotherapy technique. Aligned with the saying: analysis paralysis, this is one of detachment. Frankl found that rather than helping, common hyper-reflection approaches (actually) lead to inaction. Hence, he came up with dereflection.

Like paradoxical intention helps you confront fear directly, dereflection shifts your focus away. It enables you to find balance and perspective.

Dereflection redirects attention from obsessively fixating on a problem or symptom toward external and more meaningful aspects of life. For example, instead of dwelling on your performance anxiety, focus on something meaningful and (perhaps even) exciting. Or (merely) help others. Frankl often highlighted that helping others or contributing to a meaningful cause can diminish self-focused anxiety.

Self-Transcendence

As mentioned in the previous video, Logotherapy views self-transcendence as most essential to self-actualization (and healing). Embodying this, dereflection emphasizes moving beyond yourself. It encourages you to find meaning outside your symptoms and be less trapped in your head.

Originally, dereflection was developed to treat sexual disorders in which the patient’s desire for pleasure becomes an obstruction. On the contrary, it isn’t limited to that but finds application for various conditions.

Frankl found that often, the negative experiences (per se) are (really) not the root cause of those. Actually, it’s the reinforcement and fixation on them that puts you in a (negative) feedback loop, anticipating things to go wrong.

“(…) a young woman came to me complaining of being frigid. The case study history showed that in her childhood, she had been (…) abused (…). However, it had not been this traumatic experience in itself which had eventuated in her (…) neurosis (…). For it turned out that, through reading popular psychoanalytic literature, the patient had lived constantly with the fearful expectation of the toll which her traumatic experiences would someday take.”

— In Search for Meaning. P. 99

Frankl taught that lady the dereflection technique. This dissipated her accumulated tension, eventually breaking down her anxiety. And that can be any kind of anxiety.

According to a 2020 study by Shirin Rahgozar and Lydia Giménez-Llort, paradoxical intention and dereflection can help immigrants find meaning and purpose in their lives and have applications for various mental health problems.

By consciously choosing to focus on something else, dereflection helps to break the vicious cycle, reducing the pressure that (often) exacerbates the problem. As I learned through first-hand experience, shifting your attention can shut down a panic attack almost instantaneously. Let me know if that resonates.

Dereflection creates a space where the problem becomes less overwhelming, allowing for a new perspective and healthier mind states. Such a space enables us to engage more fully with life, freeing us from the trap of concerns.

Conclusion

Paradoxical intention and dereflection complement each other. The first confronts the fear by exaggerating it. The second works by moving attention from it altogether. Using them in conjunction can be a powerful tactic for combating various anxiety disorders, especially when incorporated into a healthy lifestyle, with proper dieting and fasting, relaxation, daily exercise, and less social media, which are beyond the scope of this video. But that’s just my opinion. Let me know your thoughts. Consider my products and books, and thank you for your time.