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Reason, Meaning, and Resilience in the Treatment of Depression: Logotherapy as a Bridge Between Cognitive-Behavior Therapy and Positive Psychology

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Clinical Perspectives on Meaning

Abstract

Cognitive-behavior therapy and positive psychology are empirically based approaches. Cognitive-behavior therapy is aimed at reducing distress, while positive psychology focuses on increasing well-being and resilience. Logotherapy is an empirically supported and meaning-focused approach that anticipated certain concepts of both cognitive-behavior therapy and positive psychology. It is focused on that which is uniquely human, and highlights living for someone or something greater than the self. It is especially relevant to the task of finding meaning despite human suffering. The objective of this chapter is to analyze logotherapy’s relationship with both Beck’s model of cognitive-behavior therapy and positive psychology, and propose an integrative clinical model for depression, by using the concept of meaning as a bridge to broaden the cognitive-behavior model and lead to a more balanced positive psychotherapy of resilience, that also includes suffering and the tragic side of human life.

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  1. Calle Periodista Azzati 5, 4A, 46002, Valencia, Spain

    Matti Ameli M.S.

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  1. Matti Ameli M.S.
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Correspondence to Matti Ameli M.S. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Counseling and Human Development, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel

    Pninit Russo-Netzer

  2. Department of Psychology Clinical-Disaster Research Center (UM-CDRC), University of Mississippi, University, Mississippi, USA

    Stefan E. Schulenberg

  3. International Academy of Philosophy, University in the Principality of Liechtenstein, Vienna, Austria

    Alexander Batthyany

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Ameli, M. (2016). Reason, Meaning, and Resilience in the Treatment of Depression: Logotherapy as a Bridge Between Cognitive-Behavior Therapy and Positive Psychology. In: Russo-Netzer, P., Schulenberg, S., Batthyany, A. (eds) Clinical Perspectives on Meaning. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41397-6_11

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