WCP 2025

Introduction: Meaning is a distinct resource and indicator of human health and well-being. According to Viktor Frankl, founder of Logotherapy and Existential Analysis (LTEA) or the so-called meaning-oriented psychotherapy, music and the arts can play a decisive role in the context of meaning actualization. However, there is a lack of research considering the thematic field of LTEA, music therapy, music and meaning in life.
Methodology/Approach: The author was head of a team that conducted an international mixed-methods survey among logotherapists and music therapists. The survey focused on the potentials of music in the context of meaning-actualization among clients suffering from mental disorders and on the music therapists’ and logotherapists’ music-assisted concepts and approaches in relation to meaning-fulfillment.
Results/Findings: Music was judged to have many beneficial potentials in the context of meaning-actualization in clients suffering from mental disorders. Music seems to be a powerful factor in relation to meaning-fulfillment along creative values. Relying on the outcomes of the survey, a music-assisted model of meaning-fulfillment was developed. The practical application of this model will be demonstrated by clinical case examples.  
Conclusion/Perspective: A music-assisted model of meaning fulfillment, as well as a combination of LTEA, music therapy and music, could complement existing treatment concepts and theories. Such arts-based approaches could prove to be effective when meaning-oriented topics, crises of meaning and feelings of meaninglessness take center stage in psychotherapy and counselling.