I read “Man’s Search for Meaning,” and was intrigued by the concepts of logotherapy, though that book didn’t focus on it as much. This is a series of essays that describes it in far greater detail. What intrigued me most was the concept of paradoxical intention. It’s based on the idea that anytime we try very hard to NOT do something, or not to think about something, invariably, that’s what we think about. This struck me as being exactly what the Apostle Paul wrote about in Romans 7, describing man’s struggle against his flesh, in contrast with Romans 8, which describes freedom of the Spirit in Christ. The last chapter of the book in particular was a series of essays demonstrating how paradoxical intention can be applied to numerous psychological conditions, to brilliant effect.

My rating: ****