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MANAGING GRIEF: A LOGOTHERAPEUTIC PERSPECTIVE
BY JAY I. LEVINSON, PH.D.
World Congress of Logotherapy – Chicago, September 24, 2026
Little attention has been paid in the literature to the existential factors in bereavement. There are many reasons why laypersons and mental health professionals alike seem to lack a clear understanding of the existential aspects of bereavement. Often, widows are viewed as suffering from some form of “depression” due to their overwhelming sadness. Yet, if death is a normal part of life, and bereavement the normal response to the death of a loved one, how can we label and treat widows as “depressed”, a term denoting clinical psychopathology? The diagnosis of “depression” implies that widows are coping with their grief in an inappropriate way, when indeed their reactions are appropriate given the severity of the stressor (death of a spouse). This study examines the existential components of grief and bereavement as related to Frankl’s notion of existential vacuum. In addition, the results of the study are integrated with Frankl’s concept of meaning in life and Kubler-Ross’s concept of meaning in death into an existential model of bereavement that will assist clinicians in understanding and treating those in mourning.
Dr. Jay Levinson is a licensed psychologist in private practice in Baltimore, MD for more than 45 years, served as a forensic psychologist for the Circuit Court for Baltimore City for 25 years, and also practiced community psychology for several years. He has lectured internationally and served on the faculties of both the Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Dr. Levinson is the only person to publish research integrating the work of Dr. Viktor Frankl (meaning in life) and Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross (meaning in death). He was privileged to serve as Special Assistant, colleague, and friend to Dr. Frankl for over 20 years and edited his last book, Man’s Search for Ultimate Meaning. In addition, Dr. Levinson’s books, Existential Psychotherapy of Meaning (2009) and Logotherapy and Existential Analysis (2024), co-edited with Dr. Alexander Batthyany and Dr. Charles McLafferty respectively, are compilations of the second and third generations of work in logotherapy. He was recently honored by the Vienna Institute of Logotherapy with its Lifetime Achievement Award and was made an Honorary Member of the Austrian Medical Society. In an effort to give back to his community, Dr. Levinson has served on the boards of several charitable foundations including the Vienna Institute of Logotherapy and is the founder of the Baltimore Ronald McDonald House.