The Diploma in Logotherapy and Existential Analysis is an advanced programme for existing Therapists/Counsellors, Psychiatrists, Psychologists, Social Workers, and others with relevant expertise and professional standing.

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The course is fully Accredited by the International Society of Logotherapy and Existential Analysis at the Viktor Frankl Institute Vienna. Following successful completion of the course, graduates will be awarded the Diploma in Logotherapy and Existential Analysis from Vienna; they will also be recognised as individually Accredited Logotherapists, following payment of a registration fee (renewable every two years), and are then able to offer professional services as Logotherapists.

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The Viktor Frankl Centre is the newest of 147 accredited centres across 45 countries. It is the first, and currently only organisation of its kind in Northern Ireland, and only the second on the Island of Ireland.

 

In addition to the Diploma course, we offer short seminars on a range of topics including:

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• Healing Trauma: The Role of Logotherapy & Existential Analysis

• Wisdom From The Monastery: Living A Meaningful Life In The Moment

• Ecotherapy: Finding Meaning In Nature

• Understanding Burnout: Prevention & Treatment

• Applied Dream Analysis

• An Existential Approach To Addiction

• Perspectives On Dying: Finding Meaning In End Of Life Experiences

• Using Socratic Dialogue In Therapy

• Logotherapy & Reflective Practice For Professionals

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What is Logotherapy?

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Logotherapy and Existential Analysis is a talking therapy developed by the Viennese Psychiatrist, Neurologist, Philosopher and Holocaust Survivor, Prof. Viktor Frankl.

 

The key element in Logotherapy is an acknowledgement that we can find meaning in unavoidable suffering. By tapping into that sense of meaning, we are enabled to see new, and more satisfying ways of living a life that is authentic and purposeful.

 

As Frankl himself wrote in his Autobiography: “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” Logotherapy helps us to do just that.

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Logotherapy also functions on Frankl’s premise that: “Everything can be taken from a person but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” Again, Logotherapy provides us with the tools to facilitate change in how we view life’s challenges, and it does so in a way that is focused, empowering and re-humanising.

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Logotherapy has a broad applicability across a range of diagnoses, including depression, anxiety, addiction, and trauma. It can be used as a stand-alone therapy, or in conjunction with other therapies. It is also used as a means of navigating stressors in everyday life, including grief, chronic illness, relationship issues, career choices, and end of life situation.

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The Diploma

 

Entrance Criteria

 

Candidates are recommended to be qualified, registered and insured with the appropriate professional bodies in the fields of nursing, psychiatry, counselling, midwifery, social work and psychotherapy. We will also accept clergy with a suitable background in pastoral care, health-care chaplaincy and/or spiritual direction. Other candidates who fall outwith these groupings, including business and personal coaches, and who are deemed to be sufficiently experienced, will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

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To register an interest, contact the Centre Director, and Founder, Dr. Scott Peddie, via email at: scottpeddie@sky.com. Please note that the first intake of students will occur in January 2025, and yearly thereafter.

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Teaching Format and Delivery

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Core Teaching will consist of lectures, seminars and practicums, with reflective practice (applied Logotherapy) and self-care (utilising Logotherapy for the therapist) as an integral part of the programme. Teaching is currently exclusively provided by remote learning via Zoom or MSTeams.

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There are 4 contiguous semesters in total, with students expected to attend classes as follows:

• 2 x 6hr sessions at the beginning of each semester.

• 1 x 6hr session per month (scheduled for Saturdays) during each semester.

• The course will be completed in 18 months.

• There will be a total of 120 hours of learning (72 hrs face-to-face; 48 hrs self-directed Learning), which will consist of interactive lectures, case studies, practicums and reflective practice. Students will be expected to explore meaningfully how they will integrate what they have learned into their current therapeutic practice, as well as being able to apply Logotherapy as a standalone therapy, safely and effectively.

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Our ethos is summed up in the words of John Dewey: ‘we do not learn from experience….we learn from reflecting on experience’.

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Students are expected to attend at least 80% of classes, with discretion for those who have legitimate reasons for not reaching this figure. In any case, students are required to complete a 750 word reflective piece at the end of each semester; this will be read by the tutor, and discussed with the student, but will not be graded. The aim is to enhance clinical skills via meaningful reflective practice.

 

Curriculum:

 

The modules (one per semester) are as follows:

1. General Philosophical Perspectives on Mental Health:

   1. Understanding Ontology, Phenomenology, and Nosology as the Philosophical Basis of Psychotherapy.

   2. Comparison of Psychotherapeutic Methods (Psychodynamic/Psychoanalytic, Humanistic, Cognitive-Behavioural etc).

   3. Frankl’s Philosophy of the Person (contra Freud and Jung) as the Basis of Logotherapy & Existential Analysis.

2. Applied Philosophical Perspectives on Logotherapy and Mental Health:

   1. Freud, Adler and Frankl: Will to Pleasure; Will to Power; Will to Meaning.

   2. Part 1: Will-to-Meaning, Defiant Power of the Human Spirit, Suffering and Tragic Optimism, Consciousness, Existential Vacuum and the Tragic/Neurotic/Triumphant Triad.

   3. Part 2: Self-Transcendence and the Realisation of Values (Experiential, Creative, Attitudinal).

   4. Philosophical Influences: Heidegger and the Stoics.

3. Clinical Application of Logotherapy and Existential Analysis:

   1. Frankl’s Theory and Therapy of Mental Disorders.

   2. DSM and ICD in the Context of Logotherapy.

   3. Logotherapy as a Transdiagnostic Therapy.

   4. Logotherapeutic Techniques: De-Reflection, Socratic Dialogue, and Paradoxical Intention as Meaning-Centred Applications.

   5. Autogenic Training.

   6. Medical Ministry

   7. Extensive Case-Studies

4. Advanced Clinical Application of Logotherapy and Existential Analysis:

   1. Scientific/Evidential Basis for Meaning-Based Psychotherapies.

   2. Case Formulation.

   3. Use in Treating and Facilitating Recovery in Addictions, Bipolar Disorder, Trauma and Psychosis.

   4. As a Stand-Alone Therapy.

   5. As a Co-Therapy with Particular Emphasis on EMDR and Trauma.

   6. As a Means of Building Resilience.

   7. Extensive Case Studies.

 

Calendar

 

The course is designed to be flexible in order to meet the needs of the participants. For that reason, we are only providing a start date for the first semester at this stage – 25th January 2025 - the rest will be scheduled by agreement with the group.

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Personal Therapy

 

There will also be a requirement for students to engage in a minimum of 12 personal therapy sessions over the duration of the course; these will be facilitated primarily by Dr. Peddie, but also by other Accredited and suitably experienced Logotherapists working internationally; it is likely that most of the therapy will be delivered remotely. This provides an excellent opportunity for self-exploration and understanding in an Existential framework.

 

Supervision

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Given the Clinical focus of the Diploma, 10 hrs of supervision, free of charge, is offered for each student across the course of study; this will augment the theoretical underpinning of the Diploma course, whilst also supporting Logotherapists in training. Supervision is key to ensure students remain grounded, maintain ethical boundaries, develop their skills, and focus on effective self-care.

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Director of the Viktor Frankl Centre

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Dr. Scott Peddie

BSc., MSc., MDiv., PGCert., PhD., GradCertTh., Diploma in Logotherapy & Existential Analysis., Advanced Diploma In Jungian Therapy, Diploma in Jungian Theory & Practice., Diploma in Jungian Psychology., FISPC., FiL., FRSPH., FRSA.​

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Scott is a Logotherapist & Existential Analyst and Consultant EMDR Therapist working in private practice; he is the first, and yet only, Northern Ireland based Logotherapist. He is also an Honorary Lecturer in Mental Health at the School of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences at Queen’s University of Belfast.

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Since 2015, Scott has been working as a Logotherapist, and latterly also as an EMDR Therapist/Consultant, where he specialises in the treatment of PTSD, complex PTSD, Bipolar Disorder, Anxiety, Depression, Eating Disorders and a range of other conditions. He also sees clients with ‘life issues’ including grief, relationship breakdowns and those who are discerning career choices, and has a busy private practice based in Antrim, but also sees clients across the UK/Ireland and internationally.

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​Scott is an Ordained Minister (retired) and has a wealth of experience in a range of pastoral care settings. He has delivered seminars to the NI Healthcare Chaplains Association and taught pastoral care and Logotherapy as a Guest Lecturer at the Church of Ireland Theological Institute in Dublin. Scott has also delivered a number of seminars to the Irish Society for Counselling and Psychotherapy.

 

He has previously held posts including Managing Director and Co-Founder of an International Consultancy Company (with clients in Venezuela, The Netherlands, Belgium, Australia, Norway, and Canada), Directorships of four Charities with an international remit, and two commercial organisations. He has also held senior posts in Industry and Academia, including Editorial Director, Chief Examiner, R&D Manager, and Learning and Service Innovation Manager. 

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In 2011, Scott was awarded Fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts, in the UK – this is an award granted to individuals that the RSA judges to have made ‘outstanding achievements to social progress and development’. In 2022, he was awarded a Fellowship of the Mental Health Collective, an organisation focussed on developing connections throughout the mental health community. Later that year he was awarded Fellowships at the Institute of Leadership (in recognition of his experience in management), the International Society of Psychotherapy and Counselling (where he is also Head of the Ireland section), and the Royal Society of Public Health.

 

Scott is an Accredited Member of the National Counselling & Psychotherapy Society, an Accredited Fellow of the International Society of Psychotherapy & Counselling, and an Accredited Member of the International Society for Logotherapy & Existential Analysis at the Viktor Frankl Institute Vienna.

 

He has/has had clients from 33 countries including Iceland, New Zealand, the USA, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Norway, Thailand, Germany, Luxembourg, Oman, Australia, Croatia, and Italy. 

 

Guest Lecturers, who are experts in their field, will be part of the teaching team at various points throughout the course; their expertise will be utilised to augment the student experience and to widen the scope of the core teaching.

 

Cost

 

Each module costs £750 (Total £3,000), plus personal therapy, which will be charged at a reduced rate of £50 per session (Total £600), that is an overall cost of £3,600. Payment plans are available to spread the cost of both tuition and therapy. It is recommended that each student considers further personal therapy beyond the basic requirements, again at the discounted rate, but this is entirely optional.

 

How do I Apply?

 

Applications for the January 2025 intake open on 1st September 2024 and will close on 1st December 2024. Each application should contain the following information and should be e-mailed to the Director of the Viktor Frankl Centre prior to the closing date via scottpeddie@sky.com.

 

1. Applicants are required to submit a short (two-page maximum) CV/Resume detailing relevant experience.

2. A 1,000 word reflection on how the applicant sees Logotherapy impacting on their current practice and how it will potentially benefit them both professionally and personally. There is an option to have a further discussion with the Director to explore how you will benefit from the course – this is supportive and non-formal in nature.

3. If relevant, proof of Professional Accreditation/Indemnity Insurance. Copies of relevant Qualifications (Academic and Professional/Vocational) are also required.

 

Any Questions?

 

Please do contact the Director should you have any queries in relation to the Diploma course!

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